ifitbeyourwill S04E02 • Sumner Bright of The Clearwater Swimmers

What drives an artist to bare their soul on stage, and how does that vulnerability shape their musical journey? Join us as we sit down with Sumner Bright of Clearwater Swimmers to uncover the transformative experiences that have brought his music to life. Sumner shares candid memories from his high school performance days, the formative role of mentorship, and the pivotal moments in college that led to the birth of his band. His authentic storytelling offers a rare glimpse into the personal challenges and victories that have defined his path as a musician.

Sumner takes us behind the scenes of the Clearwater Swimmers' creative process, from rekindling a college friendship with bandmate Sander to embarking on a spontaneous mini tour in the Northeast. With vivid reflections, Sumner recounts their exhilarating recording sessions at Big Nice studio, where engineer Bradford Krieger helped them capture a raw, live sound over three intense days. We also delve into the deeper themes of their music—memory, loss, and the passage of time—each woven together like water flowing through a valley. This episode promises a heartfelt and poetic exploration of artistic growth, making it a must-listen for anyone passionate about music and life's ever-flowing journey.

Chapters

• 0:16 Musical Journey and Artistic Growth
• 17:02 Recording Process and Musical Reflection
• 29:55 Moving Forward Through the Valley

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

another episode. We are at episode two already of season four, which just started yesterday. Um, you might want to check it out. I have pang attack. I just put it up today. Pang attack, wicked conversation, some boys from my hometown which I would love to encourage. So go check out that first episode. But moving on to our second episode, um, I have sumner bright here from the clear water swimmers. Just a Love it. I love your name and I love your band name. Just beautiful together. And we're going to talk about Sumner's new record. It's his first self-title that's coming out and kind of how he got to this point through his the various paths that the musical journey has shaped for him, him. So, sumner, it's really cool to have you on really nice to uh, to chat with you today.

Speaker 2: 1:08

Thanks, so much, chris. Yeah, it's.

Speaker 1: 1:10

It's really kind of you to ask me to to be on here today well, I'm very honored that you took me up on the invite and, um, I was really fortunate to get, uh, your PR person to send. Well, they sent it to me without asking, with me not asking, and it's just a really, really solid record. I can't wait for October 4th when the rest of the world can hear what I've already heard, just very, very strong songwriting. So the Clearwater Swimmers is kind of.

Speaker 1: 1:41

It has this base of this you would say indie folk singer, songwriter, but it has this base of this you would say indie folk singer, songwriter, but it has this sonic palette on top of it that brings it into a whole different space of acetone, galaxy 500 ish. So I just so happy that we get to kind of explore how this record came to be. But before we start that summer, how did you get started? Like, how did you get started? Like, how did you get started in this whole musical business and like what were some of the key points in your early life that kind of sparked this musical journey that you're on right now?

Speaker 2: 2:16

Yeah, I mean, I had like a very you know, you hear a lot of it like the musical upbringing where both your parents are, you know, music lovers or music players. I didn't start playing until like high school. Really, I was really fortunate to go to this school where they had like a lot of built-in musical opportunities for someone who, like just started to play guitar to get engaged with. They would kind of put you up in these situations where you would be playing to a room full of people that you've never met. That is a pretty interesting thing to do as a high school student who's just starting to play music, um, and so that that kind of is like what started me, just because I kind of really got thrown into it by way of a couple different like programs at my school um, I was in like a bluegrass band.

Speaker 2: 3:20

Um, in the winter I was in like a cover band, um, that we just like pluck songs from you know rock catalogs and learn covers of them, um, and like all all the while doing that. You know, my teachers in that space were like super proactive and being like this is how you book a show. This is how you um like talk on stage. You know, know, like all all these like things that I'm just, I feel, really thankful to have learned. And then so I, I was just really really hooked on playing music and like the whole process of, you know, playing music in front of people and of course it was hard at like sometimes like writing my first batch of songs that were just like way too uh, uh, deeply specific, and like playing those songs in front of like all my friends, parents, at an afterschool recital. That sucked, that was like. You know, those are like the kinds of nightmares that I have now.

Speaker 1: 4:24

That was like you know, those are like the kinds of nightmares that I have now.

Speaker 2: 4:36

But you know, I got to college and then I went to. I went to college in New Hampshire at this, at UNH, and there was like not anything and like not a significant scene of like house shows.

Speaker 2: 4:41

But I went to one and it just like lit a fire under my ass and I was like, oh my god, I want to, I want to, I want to do this so badly, um, it's so much fun. And so then I worked on starting a band with my friends who I met there, who are now, uh, two of the people in that band are now, um, in this band, um, and so, yeah, I I feel like the clearwater swimmers now is just kind of like an amalgamation of like all these little um stepping stones, um, this, this project kind of came to be because of, um, all the things that I've got to experience in the past, and I think that that's a cool, cool factor of this band.

Speaker 1: 5:26

Absolutely. I love what you just said too, that it feels like that. It feels like this record has been a build, like a slow build that you've come to. We'll talk about that new record in a minute. But you had mentioned something that I'm always fascinated to ask artists. But you had mentioned something that I'm always fascinated to ask artists what was it that draw? That was the draw to go and stand in front of people and deliver. You know, oftentimes our first songs are very journalistic, very diary oriented. You know, we we put our heart on the on our sleeve. Where did you get the courage as a teenager to get up on stage and deliver these kinds of things? Like, what processes did you have to go through? Or, you know, encounter, as you were kind of saying, ok, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this.

Speaker 2: 6:17

Yeah, I think a lot of that like initiative to do that kind of stuff I can attribute to just like really amazing mentorship, um, of a couple of people at the school, namely, uh, an Ian Ramsey, who was like the director of the music program there, and then my English teacher, ross Markonish, who, um, in my senior year I found a news clipping that his band was a self-proclaimed stoner doom metal band and I was like I gotcha Ross, uh, but you know he he was. He was just such an integral part of me being like, all right, like, or. Both of those people were just like, you know, here, try to write, try to write this song, and then here there's this opportunity to play it. Um, not, I mean, mean, of course there was always room for for you know, like, if you don't feel comfortable, don't do this, but it was, it was really positive reinforcement of being like you can do this, um, and on the more like a certain amount of of belief in yourself as well.

Speaker 1: 7:20

To I, that support is crucial. But, yeah, there must be this inner drive inside you as well to be that front person on stage with you and your guitar and your, your music. I mean, that's a such a fragile position to be in. Um, how do you, how do you navigate that? How do you like, get, get, get there.

Speaker 2: 7:45

Yeah, it's something I still think about um all the time. But I I first got there, I think, by way of like really intense like identity struggles, um, I moved around a lot with my mom as a kid and I switched schools um a couple of times and couple times and you know, just like having that first day at the new school complex thing where you're just like standing on the playground and like kind of looking around, being like all right, where do I, where do I fit in a lot of that kind of stuff I think was like building up in me and, like you know, it was even when I would be like immersed in like a new school or a new community or something, I was still kind of like playing music and getting to perform as something that was like very uniquely mine and something that like I was in full control of um learning how to express or, or you know, really shaping it to, to speak for me.

Speaker 2: 8:59

Um and that was like a super important thing that I needed at that time. Um, otherwise, I think I would have probably gone like way down the rabbit hole of identity crisis. I'm probably like lost myself along the way, you know yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:16

And were your lyrics able to kind of like get it out of you so that you had were able to look at it in a different way? Or like, how did that relationship with your words and your, the lyrics that you were putting forth, how did that kind of help in that process?

Speaker 2: 9:34

yeah, um, I appreciate you framing it that way, because it was really like at first it started as like kind of a way to talk to myself um writing and playing songs and like learning how to process in that way. Um, it was all very like conversational with myself. Um, of course, it was all like very tacky, cliched poetry about, like you know, feeling heartbreak at that young age or something like that, or a bitter song about whatever angst I was experiencing. But, um, at the same time, it was like it was really crucial for me to get that shit out and like just be talking to myself in that way, being like all right, these are emotions that I'm feeling. Here's how they sound and look on paper.

Speaker 1: 10:22

Um, like what do I do with? That information you know um yeah it's pretty impressive though. I mean it's and I love asking this question too is do you remember the first song that you wrote where it felt like I might be onto something here like where you put it down on tape or whatever it might've been, and you kind of were like hey, I kind of like how this is going.

Speaker 1: 10:49

I'll like like was that right from the get go? When you were writing or did, was there a moment in time where you put something down? Or it's just like the doors started opening up for you.

Speaker 2: 11:01

It took a really, really long time to get or to have like that moment. I think, um, it didn't really happen in high school, um, or when I was in like you know a teenager I was, I was still kind of grappling with, you know, the new tools etc. And I just like horribly insecure about it all. I still like am. But I would say, when I was in college, you know, I remember feeling like super for lack of a better phrase like liberated by, just like being, getting to be like a new version of myself and kind of getting like starting to write music in that like newfound context of being in a new context, in that like newfound context of um being in a new context. Um, I remember feeling like pretty, pretty good about writing at that time.

Speaker 2: 12:05

Um, a lot of the subject matter subject matter was like kind of the same, like angsty, heartbreak-y, autobiographical stuff, um, but I was like starting to learn how to like bury it a little more and make it a little more palatable to people who, like could potentially relate to it. And there was a song I wrote along, you know, in that era. It was a song called skin and I remember I put that out just like in, like kind of a no pressure, like oh, here's a song I wrote I don't know if I think I posted it on like facebook when that was the thing to do. Um, and I went to like a party later that night and, um, I walked in the door and like a couple different people just came right up to me and were like hey, that song was like sounds really good, and I was like oh.

Speaker 2: 13:04

I didn't know that you, I don't like I didn't know that that was impossible and I just, I just felt like so warm and so like jazzed and so thankful in that moment and yeah, like jazzed and so thankful um in that moment and um, yeah, I think that to me was like a moment where I was like okay, like maybe I can do something, right, you know absolutely.

Speaker 1: 13:30

I mean, I think that it's those um comments from people when you've put something out that's very personal and they find a connection to it, which is, I think, that that's why musicians keep doing what they do, particularly indie artists where you know, music is not the main job in life, yeah, but to connect to other people through something that you're passionate about, um really makes it worthwhile yeah, I, I.

Speaker 2: 13:59

That's my whole ethos in it.

Speaker 1: 14:01

So right, yeah so you, how did these songs come together for the new record? Like, what were these? A collection that had happened like over a long period of time, or did you like just bang them all out in a short like, how did this, how did these songs come together?

Speaker 2: 14:22

um. So I kind of I I was I had like this long-running solo project called uh twitches that I was doing um for for years and years and years, um, and I kinda I put it to bed um in like 2022. Um, and at the same time I did that, I was like I had just moved to New York. Um, I was like navigating just a really difficult time and like personal growth shit and um, I, I, you know, I I just found myself needing a new outlet. But I also was like so frustrated and tired with the outlet that I was used to, which was like that old project, um, and just like the standards that I set for myself, like pretty much what felt like kind of just like one of those manic creative outbursts, just like sat down one day and wrote like three of the songs and I just like I got this feeling like I can't stop.

Speaker 2: 15:37

And I did it somewhat intentionally, trying to be like okay, I want to write like simple, cathartic songs for me right now, things that I can immediately like resonate with, get out quickly and not overthink, cause that was like what I was used to doing. And those three songs were valley and river, which are the first two songs on the album and then, uh, this third song, which we haven't worked in to, uh, you know, a band format, um, and that kind of like started this whole like, really what was like a journalistic approach for me, um, of just setting up my tape machine with one mic and just like banging out a demo of a song that I had written, exporting it to my computer and putting it on a band camp and just this like, really like streamlined, straightforward way, really no real intention behind it, um, just like a trying to keep it as like organic and natural as I could. Um, and I wasn't even like sharing out this band camp link. Really, you know, it was just like this is just for me to have, kind of um, I gave it to, uh, or I, you know Sander, my bandmate, um, I would like send some of the songs and stuff to him and other friends, um, but that's kind of how it all started.

Speaker 1: 17:02

Mm.

Speaker 2: 17:02

Hmm.

Speaker 1: 17:03

Yeah, uh, like Sander, you met, you met and then you guys got together and went off on tour, is that?

Speaker 2: 17:11

accurate. So he was, uh Sander was in planes, which was that band that, um, I was in in college, was in planes, which was that band that, um, I was in in college. Um, I was in that band with uh sander, who plays guitar in the band, and clear in the swimmers, and then tim graff, who plays drums in the swimmers, and our other friend, casey. That was our band. Um, so I had known sander for for multiple years. We, we met in like a freshman psychology class, um, but yeah, we, we we stayed super close. He's, he's one of my, you know my Alzheimer's Right, right, yeah.

Speaker 1: 17:47

And like what was? Where did that um spark come with? The two of you all of a sudden decide let's go do a mini tour with. Was it the songs that you guys had just picked? The songs you had just penned for what was to become the Clearwater Swimmers?

Speaker 2: 18:06

Yeah, sander, it was Sander's idea. He, he was the one that called me and was like you know, like, let's, let's jam on these. You know, let's jam on these songs. Again, I just moved to New York. It was just kind of like a I miss you, man, let's hang out and jam, yeah, um, and I was like, oh yeah, that sounds super fun, I would. It's been a while since I've gone on a run, like let's do it.

Speaker 2: 18:28

Um, and then I I kind of just like hand selected some of the demos that I had put up on that band camp page which was just like under my name, and that first one run we did was just like I think we had like an eight song set list and we played like all the areas in the Northeast where I, I pre frequented and like other touring eras, you know, um, and at that time the band was called S bright and the clear water swimmers. Um, there was like a distinction there. Still, um, maybe I was just kind of like acclimating to what a new project felt like or something Um, but yeah, it was like. It was like it was awesome. We, uh, we, we got together, uh, like a couple weeks before we went out on the run and just like learned some songs and it just like felt so good, um to me.

Speaker 1: 19:30

Can't speak for the others, but I think that they like get to you know yeah, was it a full band that you had assembled, or was it just the two of you?

Speaker 2: 19:38

Yeah, it was Sander, tim and then Connor who plays bass. Connor and I were never in a band together before, but we met in like that college music era and ever since then we were always like sharing demos and working on stuff you know remotely together.

Speaker 1: 19:58

Right, right. So I mean I, you, after this mini tour, the only um decision was let's record, let's, yeah, let's take this stuff that we've been playing exactly cool, and I see that you have credits for the produce production on here as well, so you write all the songs and you produce the record as well with you. Had you had a helper, right, um uh, bradford Krieger.

Speaker 2: 20:24

Yeah, he was the uh the engineer at Big Nice.

Speaker 1: 20:27

He did the record with us cool, and what was that hat like wearing? Had you, had you done something like that before, where you were in charge of the knob turnings and volume switches and, like no reading, crafting the sound?

Speaker 2: 20:43

yeah I'm. So all the other like all the stuff that I had recorded in the past, that was all like self done and I knew that I didn't want to do it um for this record, just because I'm not I'm not like all that talented at mixing things myself, um, and uh, yeah, so I like we booked some studio time at the studio big nice in Providence, rhode Island. Um, never met Bradford the engineer before, so we were kind of all going into it a little blind and like pretty nervous, um, but yeah, we like it's maybe like one of the only times that I've ever like been in like a quote unquote flow state like that in music. I just felt like I blinked in like the three days that we had were gone, um, and Bradford was like super engaged with us right from the get go. Um, we did it live, we did the album live. So you know, we played our first song, which is Valley, um and I.

Speaker 2: 21:46

It felt like to me that like as soon as we had played our band's music for Bradford, um, you know, that was like. That was like the relationship bridge that needed to be built to have like a good producer, quote-unquote artist relationship, um, and it was just like so. He was like so engaged and enthusiastic about the sound and I don't think we could have tracked and finished the album in those three days. Uh, if not for, if not for, just like that level of engagement, um, it was really, really special. It was like affirming to me. It was like horribly self-conscious the whole time but he, he, like he knew just where to pull me out, you know um yeah, it's pretty sweet, pretty sweet and what.

Speaker 1: 22:38

What did you have to describe what you wanted to get out what? What did you have to describe what you wanted to get out of this record? Like, did you have to describe the kind of sound you wanted to create, or was that pretty established because you guys had already toured with some of these songs? Or were you going into the studio saying we kind of, were doing this, I want to do this, like, yeah, what information did you give to the producer as to the sound you were trying to get?

Speaker 2: 23:01

yeah, I think the information I relayed to brad was really like the information that I got from the run that we did um the first like tour that we got, when, like people would come up to us and be like, oh, you sound like this or you sound like that um, and I was like, oh, that's cool. Like I'm, you know I I've heard a lot of times that we sound like crazy horse. You know, I'm like. I never really listened to crazy horse that much.

Speaker 2: 23:27

Um, I always like attributed my inspiration for the, for the swimmers, to being like more, more folks in like the you know songs Acetone, ballpark, great, great, I gave Bradford. Here are some of my favorite records. Here are the way that I like the drum sound on this song blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But yeah, the whole other side of it was that we had only played these songs as a band a handful of times together.

Speaker 2: 24:00

Um, like I think when we wanted to record we we had played like maybe 10 or 15, 10 to 12 shows, whatever, um, so everything felt like super new still um, and somewhat like amorphous um. But you know I to to rid myself of the nerves of having that be the case, I was just like all right, well, let's just go in there and let's do what we've done this entire time. Like I don't want to, you know, stick my head in the sand on this one and try and reinvent the wheel of this band, um, and so I just kind of like told him, you know, like here's what I like the sounds of and this is our band. Like what, what can be done?

Speaker 1: 24:47

yeah, that's right, wave your wand, um, and what's your like? You've had some time, I'm sure, to listen to the record a few times. It's. It's almost ready to come out again, guys. October 4th. This record is set to drop. What are your, what are your feelings about it now, after going, gone through the process, and now, here you have your artifact. How are you feeling about it? Like, how did you feel that that process went um, from you know writing the songs touring, going into the studio three days, boom, like, yeah, talk a bit about that I mean, yeah, I, I, I, I treat it like an artifact.

Speaker 2: 25:27

Um, I feel like super proud of our group, um, for being down to know record this album and like really put the time and effort into, like invest in it. Um, I like, from a sonic perspective, I'm sick of it.

Speaker 2: 25:49

I've listened to it a bunch of times, um, and I'm, I'm ready to do it again, but, um, I I'm just like really proud of it. It feels like this, um, so yeah, just like this artifact of work that um really does feel like both the bookend and the beginning of a new chapter for me. Um, just in how I regard myself as like a musician, um, like I finally can say that like I feel like a musician now, which is like an identity question thing that I always struggled with.

Speaker 1: 26:28

And I love yeah. I love.

Speaker 2: 26:32

I love my band members too, and I don't think yeah, yeah, it's awesome, amazing, amazing.

Speaker 1: 26:43

Well, I think you should be super proud um of this accomplishment. It's nothing small, um, and I'm sure the toil and trouble that you've gone through to get to this point, um, it's hard to describe in words. You got to live it to understand it really. Um, just to kind of bring things to a close here, sumner, so the record comes out october 4th. Yeah, what, what, what do you have planned for the release? And you know, in the months to come, what's what's going down?

Speaker 2: 27:11

yeah, uh, the gears are always turning on that um, we're gonna go out for like five shows and kind of like all the places that our band has um like hometown affiliations with. Um. We're gonna do like that short little album release run um probably take like the rest of the year to work on some new stuff. I uh, there's talk of like maybe recording a winter ep. That's just like a barn burner, you know like kind of get go even farther into the rock and roll world with it. And then in february we're gonna go out for like two weeks um, which I'm I'm working on throwing that together right now. So I'll probably message you about Montreal, for sure cool, cool.

Speaker 1: 28:02

So I mean you are you, you manage it. You're like the manager, the producer, the writer, like I mean you're, you're a typical indie artist where you do all the things. Yeah, yep, awesome, yep that's amazing.

Speaker 2: 28:18

Well, my band it's like 20 jobs in one right.

Speaker 1: 28:20

It's like 20 jobs all in. Yeah, it's really cool, really cool. Well, I really want to thank you for, you know, carving out a bit of time to talk with me today.

Speaker 2: 28:31

Yeah, I really liked your story.

Speaker 1: 28:33

It's been really fascinating to listen to and I really liked this record a lot. I was so happy when you accepted to come. The minute I threw it on I was like, okay, there's something going on here, Really good. Thank you so much. I think we'll. We'll play the Valley track at the end of the podcast. So stick around, people. Once we stopped talking, something was going to start singing.

Speaker 2: 28:57

Thanks so much.

Speaker 1: 29:02

All the best with the record. I'll be cheering for you on october 4th and definitely let's stay in touch and I'll get you come up here and play in. Uh, in montreal, we'd love to have you right on.

Speaker 2: 29:09

Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciated your questions. Cheers man.

Speaker 1: 29:17

Thank you, guitar solo. Somewhere far above the light there's a ghost down by the stream Beneath a big sky on a hill when the water used to be.

Speaker 2: 30:17

She asked the valley what's a life Without a triumph Revolution? Somewhere somehow in the night it answered Picking you Back home, back home. It's over, and a few days passed and the city was all. I was home. She held my hand and kissed it too and said oh, we didn't miss each other. So how could I tell her now that we are moving forward? It's like the water that flows down through the valley and leaves no stone. Thank you, thank you.