Lead vocalist and songwriter Matt Smith of the group wrote the leading track while he was living in Memphis, and ultimately the group recorded it in Nashville last year with the assistance of Patrick Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense) on the 12-string guitar and as a producer. “I still have the video of the [“Deadly Stare”] demo, and I remember being really excited about the chord changes. I was new to Memphis and didn't have a lot of friends yet, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had lots of time to work on songs! It's a slower pace of life down there, and I like to think that influenced the song,” Smith says.
Eventually Smith brought the song to drummer and synth player Jake Bicknase, who added his own melody on the synth that really tied together the track. Smith says he and Bicknase got to that point by just jamming and letting everything fall together. “'It’s kind of my mentality not to talk about it too much or else the magic might disappear,” he adds. The final version of the song came about with the help of Pat Sansone and engineer Andy Freeman in the recording studio. “Originally this song existed just with just vocals, guitar and synth. We went into the studio with that instrumentation, but after showing the song to Pat and Freeman, we experimented with a few different things and decided that the song would have a totally different vibe and edge with this driving drumbeat pushing it along. It definitely became dreamier,” says Bicknase. “It was really cool to see in a matter of hours how the song changed from being stripped down to really full and complete, just by being open to each others ideas,” Smith adds.
To accompany the song, Thompson Springs worked with Chicago director Joe Martinez Jr., who has directed videos of other local acts like Ryley Walker. “I was really pleased to work with Joe after seeing some of his videos with local groups around town. He has that special vibe where you can feel he cares and has an eye that is artistic, not financial. He pulled out all the stops with a low budget,” says Smith. The video was shot in one day between the Pilsen and Logan Square neighborhoods with the help of friends and family.
Take a look at the finished piece below, and make sure you catch Thompson Springs at their next show at Sleeping Village on January 21st.
