Leopard Tuesday: Tape Memory

Tape Memory, the debut album from husband and wife duo Megan and Mathew Mink, is emblematic of the emerging bedroom pop genre. The album consists of synth-heavy, mid-tempo tracks that employ alluring nostalgia. Along with a hazy atmosphere, Tape Memory reveals an intimate portrayal of growing independence. 

Sat Lily recently had the privilege to talk to Mathew about forming Leopard Tuesday and their new album. 

How did you guys start playing music together? 

Leopard Tuesday is mostly my solo project, however sometimes I will ask my wife Megan to sing and she will agree if she feels like it. Me and Megan got married in October of 2018, and I wrote my first Leopard Tuesday song "Crickets Sharks and Popsicle Sticks" as a wedding gift for her. I knew I wanted to do more things with the project but I wasn't sure which direction to go and was pretty busy with my other band Indigo Waves. Then one summer night I was just messing around with the pro tools free version and I asked Megan to come sing some silly words for me. Her voice sounded so amazing in the song that we used those as the main vocals. I hoped she would want to fully join the band, but it stressed her out and so she said she would only sing if I made all of the music. This ended up being the next LT single "Dog Door" (which is the 8th song on the upcoming album). Me and my wife lived in the same apartment complex my freshman year of college, and so we met at our local LDS church there.

What inspired the band's sound?

For this upcoming album I drew a ton of inspiration from Homeshake's latest album Helium. It's so beautiful from start to finish, and I am really inspired at how simple yet strange it is. Simple albums are incredibly inspiring to me because they make me realize that I can make amazing songs too. It is easy to tell that "Dog Door" was heavily influenced by Beach House due to the dreamy nature of the instrumental and Megan's spoken word section (that we use quite often). Once again they are one of those bands that has such simple songs, but that is what makes them so beautiful. We definitely tried to accomplish that minimalistic yet dreamy and strange approach of both of those bands in this album.

What is your usual song writing process?

When writing a song, I will almost always start out with a drum beat. If i feel inspired by a song I've heard I'll usually reference it for the speed and feel of the drums and recreate something similar, but my own on my drum machine. I am a drum sample hoarder and so this is always one of my favorite parts because I finally get to put them to work. Next I'll usually make a chord progression on my synth. For some reason I can't help but start almost every progression with a F major 7th chord. Because I have so many synths this part often takes so long because I am intimidated by the amount of options I have. I like to try and have 2-3 chord progressions so that I can easily make a verse chorus and bridge, but I'm starting to see this as a bad thing because i'm becoming aware that my songs don't evolve as much as I would like them to by the end. Then I'll make a lead, and add in bass. I hate writing vocals so I always put it off until the end, and by that time it's often hard because I've filled that space with other instruments, so I'll go in to delete fluff and record vocals.

You guys describe yourself as bedroom pop, how would you describe that genre? 

Bedroom Pop is a genre that Spotify made up as the name of one of their playlists, and it kind of birthed a new genre. It's an homage to the DIY ethos of so many bands that are becoming popular nowadays due to the increasing easiness of recording music yourself. Artists in this genre usually usually have warble psychedelic sounds that imitate the sounds and vibe of memories from the late 80's and early 90's.

Do you have any message or question that you are trying to get through to the audience?

I've written these songs more for myself than for other people, but that is kind of the point of the album. I write this album to teach myself how to rely on myself for happiness, and not other people. For me these last few years have been hard as I've transitioned from being a carefree young person who was dependent on my friends and family for entertainment, happiness, and money to an adult who now can't rely on others because we all have responsibilities that pull us away from each other. When I started the album I thought I needed others to help me write, mix, and master the music and it was driving me crazy because I felt stuck where I was. I made the decision that I was going to do everything myself because if not it wouldn't ever get done,  so that I could learn how to trust myself and be confident that I can accomplish the things I set out to do regardless of if anyone can help me out. The Cafe is about my addiction to eating out and how it makes me when I do it because I really can't afford it. Not True is about growing apart from your friends even if you think it will never happen. Call It a Night was written as a plea to my wife to stay up later at night because we couldn't be with each other during the day because of work. Inward doesn't have lyrics, but I wanted to show through music how it feels to look within yourself for happiness. You can hear people all around in that song, but the focus is on that unsure, shy, not always perfect melody. Every Piece is about how when we depend on others for our happiness it can feel like we no longer have any of the pieces over to give ourselves. Outward is instrumental again, but was written after I fully felt like I no longer needed others to be happy. It's a song made to share the peace that comes from being dependent on ourselves, and how we can then turn outward and help others who may not be there yet. You can't understand it but that high pitched voice is me on the phone helping a customer at work, which is the equivalent to me of helping others after I feel secure.

Is there pros and cons to being a couple and playing music together? 

The biggest pro to being bandmates with your wife is that you're almost always available at the same time if you want to work on music together. It's just nice having that extra time to spend together doing something other than watching tv as well. It is very motivating to know that if we became successful doing this, it wouldn't isolate one of us at home while the other was out playing shows, but that we could travel and do this together. The hardest part has been that my motivation to make music and do this is much higher than hers, and so it can strain on our relationship when I want to work and she doesn't. Luckily we've figured out how to balance that out so we are both happy.

How is Leopard Tuesday different from other bands you guys have played in? 

Being a solo artist has about an equal amount of pros and cons. In Indigo Waves I have so much fun sharing success, excitement and motivation with my band mates. It is so fun to have people to share your wins with, and be able to talk about problems with. With Leopard Tuesday I feel like I have so much I want to talk about, but no one is really that interested to hear it. On the other hand though, being able to have total creative control over the whole project is the most fulfilling thing I can imagine. It is easy to get frustrated when you're working with others and you spend hours making something you really like to find out that no one else likes it, and while this probably leads to better music in general it can definitely take an emotional toll on you. The biggest downside however is playing shows. My friends have all agreed to doing some shows with me, but it will be way harder to orchestrate than if everyone had made their own parts and was excited to show their music. I feel like I'm using my friends by having them play my songs.

How is your debut album different from your past singles? 

The 7 new songs on Tape Memory are definitely more experimental than the 3 singles I've released off of the album so far. 3/7 are instrumental because 1. I hate writing lyrics and 2. I think instrumentals are what make good albums. Every piece has some heavy hip hop vibes in it, which is pretty different than anything I've ever done with LT, and What's Real feels super jazzy, but I am actually very happy about how cohesive the album feels with each other, and how it portrays the image I want for LT.

What is the story behind the name Tape Memory? 

“Tape Memory” comes from a function that can be found on my 1983 Roland JX3P synthesizer . It’s a common function for the time that allows you to transfer patch data from a cassette tape to the synthesizer via sound so that you could expand the amount of presets available on the synthesizer. This idea of transferring memories via sound fascinated me, as I felt like it was the most accurate description of music possible. This album really feels very similar to me In the sense that it allows me to transfer the experiences, memories and emotions I have been feeling for the last year to others and my future self via sound. I've always loved The Drum's album Portamento because it was named after a synthesizer function, and I thought if I ever found a way to relate one of these functions to my album that I was going to.

Do you guys have any exciting projects/shows coming up?

I had just begun working on getting live sets ready when the Corona Virus hit, and so I am holding off on shows until this whole thing clears up. I am going to be making some limited edition cassettes however if that's any consolation. 

Where do you guys hope to see yourself in the next five years? 

I try not to set any expectations for Leopard Tuesday because I don't want to become a slave to them. I want more than anything to be able to make music for my job, but maybe in a few months I'd rather just release experimental music with no chance of success, who knows? I have a fantasy of touring in Europe with Megan as she asks me to go there like every day, and I want to feel justified for spending thousands of dollars on synthesizers. [laughs]

 Is there anything you guys would like to add? 

I'm always interested in what equipment people use in their albums so I'll put that in here:

Synths: korg volca modular, korg volca fm, korg volca kick, Roland D-05, Casio SK-1, Roland System 8, DSI Prophet 08, Moog Grandmother, Roland JX3P, Akai AX60, Kawai K3.

Mic's: I used a Shure SM57 for all vocals except for The Mall. My friend Jake helped me record those vocals with his mic.

Samplers: Korg Volca Sample, Elektron Model Samples

Guitar: 2003 Fender Telecaster (horse), 2019 Danelectro Pro

Bass: 2019 Fender Mustang

Daw: Pro Tools First, Ableton Live 10 Intro, Ableton Live 10 Standard.

Plugins: Fab Filter Suite

Listen to Tape Memory on Spotify