Interview with Sage Graye

The Dallas based five-piece Sage Graye recently released their very impressive debut four track EP Street Lamps. I recently had the chance to talk to them about the their formation, the EP, where they plan to go from here and more.

 

Can you give me a bit of background on the band and how the five of you got together?

Back in 2021, Devin Foster met up with two other local musicians to release a brand new indie song ‘Seventy Five’ - from here Devin adopted the band name Sage Graye and put together a group of drastically different musicians to help her realize a couple of songs she had written in her car that summer. Nicole (rhythm guitar) had gone to high school with Devin but they never met until after graduation, Milton (drums) and Caleb (bass) both work at the recording studio that Devin was hired at, and Patrick (lead guitar) was stolen from a cover band that we stumbled across playing at a bar. I guess you could say we’re a family band - except none of us are related and we’re more like friends.

I don't often ask this question, but here goes.  For some reason, after listening to your EP, the band name Sage Graye seems to fit perfectly.  Where did that come from?

Sage Graye was what our lead singer, Devin, called the color of the walls from her childhood bedroom as a kid. It seems simple, but no other name seemed to fit the band as well as Sage Graye. We try to be super intentional about everything we do, so every lyric has a personal story behind it, including the band name, but we aim to make our words vague enough so that listeners can attach what they want to what we release. We want our fans to become curious about what more the band name could mean for them! 

From what I've read, it sounds like your vocalist Devin writes the lyrics.  How does the rest of the songwriting tend to work?

Devin also writes the chord progressions for the songs she writes. However, she had very little music theory knowledge when this was produced so the beginning of the production process for Sage Graye always starts with Nicole (rhythm guitar) “transcribing” what Devin writes to the rest of the band. From there everyone else writes their own parts over the chord progression and lyrics. 

I wasn't able to find any album credits online.  Did you produce the EP yourselves or did you work with a producer?

Devin served as the writer, singer, producer, and recording engineer for this project and it was the first thing she ever produced. However, she has to give credit to the rest of the band, especially Milton (drummer), because they all are incredibly talented musicians with great instincts. 

I love the mood set by the opening track “Alone and Untethered”.  It has alot of textures and it’s a beautiful song, but there also seems to be a little bit of tenseness to it.  Would you agree and can you tell me a little more about it? 

The whole EP is about a difficult life period in which every aspect of life changed for Devin and “Alone and Untethered” seems to be sort of the synopsis of the EP. It is straight to the point about what it means to sever the relationships in life that impact you the most and how it feels to grow up too early. “Alone and Untethered” documents the moment of “Oh crap, I am an adult now with huge responsibilities, consequences, and no one to lean on if shit hits the fan”.  

The second cut, “Shoulders” is a really cool song with alot of tempo changes and shifting styles that almost sounds like a suite.  It has a waltz-like opening that reappears later, there’s what sounds like Spanish guitar, a guitar solo that has a strong Eddie Van Halen feel and towards the end there is some harmonica and what to me comes across like acoustic Cranberries.   Can you tell me a little about that track?

“Shoulders” was written to highlight the complexity of how you can feel about losing someone - Devin didn’t think that she could convey how she felt in one song, so she wrote two fragments about the exact same subject to display the anger and then the grief and sadness of loss. “Shoulders” has a lot going on with a ton of different sounds and so she used the line “Life goes on without you, I knew it could, but I didn’t think it had to” to tie the two sections together because that line could be used in both emotional contexts.  

Between the lyrics and the voicemail clips, “Street Lamps” is about as personal as you can get in a song.  Was it hard to put that out there for the world to hear?

Yes. The release of the EP has been quite exposing to say the least. Although it can be uncomfortable to have your business out on display for everyone to listen to, the best music comes from a raw, authentic place. We can do nothing but be as honest as possible in order to make meaningful projects that will hopeful help someone in such a way that so many other musicians have helped us along the way. 

You have a song on YouTube and Soundcloud called “Seventy Five”.  It was posted almost two years ago and isn’t on the EP.  Was that the same band as now and why didn’t you include it?

“Seventy Five” was one of the first songs that Devin ever wrote, however, she had absolutely no clue how to record, produce, and release a song at the time. With the help of two of her friends from high school, she came out with “Seventy Five” as her first ever song. Sage Graye’s members and therefore musical style has shifted dramatically since “Seventy Five”, so it just didn’t make sense to include it in the EP. Similar to the musical progression of Sage Graye from “Seventy Five” to Street Lamps the EP, we plan to continue experimenting within the genre and introducing heavier bass and drum lines for the next album release.

The EP is the first release for Mythic Panda Records.  Can you tell me more about that?

Devin, Milton, and Caleb (bass) all work at the Mythic Panda Recording Studio in Dallas, Texas which is partnered with Rottweiler Records (which is a metal record label) - there seemed to be a good opportunity because of Sage Graye to start a record label that covers genres other than metal.

I didn’t see anything about physical copies of the EP.  Are those available?

Currently there are no physical copies of the EP, however, there are plans in the future to release the EP on vinyl.

Now that the EP is out what’s next?  Also, do you have any touring plans?

We are working on our next album! We are experimenting with a ton of different instruments for this project, such as trumpets, violins, and cellos - instruments that you normally wouldn’t expect to hear in an indie pop rock band! We also decided to put a heavier emphasis on driving drum and bass lines - our bassist, Caleb, and drummer, Milton, both played in metal bands about ten years ago and we realized it would be a shame not to utilize their talents from the metal style.

Currently, we’re focusing on creating and promoting our music in the Dallas, Texas area. To be completely honest, finding gigs in the area who are looking for original bands, and not cover bands, has been quite difficult. Eventually, we’ll be hitting the road full steam and playing our music for the fans we love. We’re very passionate about our music, so we’re ready to exhaust ourselves on the road. 

Are any of you in other bands or is it strictly Sage Graye right now?

Patrick (lead guitar) occasionally plays in a blues cover band called Crossfire. Patrick loves to play the blues, and although you can definitely hear the blues influence in Sage Graye’s guitar solos, he still gets to play with Crossfire to get his blues fix. The rest of the band are strictly Sage Graye people!

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?

Street Lamps the EP was an incredibly healing and motivating project, and we hope that these songs can do something for our listeners as well. Thank you for your time!

(Sage Graye / Sage Graye - Facebook)