Review Fix Exclusive: Squid Cult Talks ‘Baby Blue’ And More

Review Fix chats with Daniel Talton (guitar, vocals) and Karter Mycroft (bass, keys) of Squid Cult to find out all about their creative process, goals and single, “Baby Blue.”

About Squid Cult:

Los Angeles band, Squid Cult, harness the power of rebirth on their debut single, “Baby Blue.” The band, which includes Daniel Talton (guitar, vocals), Karter Mycroft (bass, keys), Csongor Erdélyi (lead guitar), and Max Pretzer (drums, vocals), found an unexpected synergy, and history, between each other when they first met. When a friend brought the group together to record a couple of Talton’s songs, they discovered they’d all spent time wandering the basements of Bloomington, Indiana. Their chance meeting in LA, in addition to their mutual influences like Modest Mouse, Springsteen, and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, culminated in the creation of Squid Cult. As they grew as a band and developed their multi-faceted sound, the next step was venturing into the studio, where “Baby Blue” was born.

Review Fix: How did the band get together?

KM:  We actually all went to college at the same school, but didn’t get together until we’d all moved to LA for one reason or another. A mutual friend brought us all together here in LA to record some of Dan’s songs. We practiced a few times, and then after a long campaign of manipulation and psychological warfare he finally convinced us to start a real band.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

DT:  For me, it was listening to Simon and Garfunkel and the Eagles on long family road trips as a child. I remember hearing ‘The Boxer,’ playing at midnight in the Arizona desert while I was half asleep. It was all downhill from there, I guess.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

DT:  We tend to just throw a million ideas on the wall to see what sticks. Which is easy, because we all have a million ideas. Usually, a project needs a sort of hyper-focus: a narrow, shared middle ground between everyone. But with Squid Cult, we’ve found a place to try simmering all our unrelated ideas in a pot together, to see what it smells like. Sometimes it smells pretty good.

Review Fix: What inspires you?

DT:  Lately, I’ve been inspired by Croenberg films. Something about the way he portrays the body, the characters own body, as something simultaneously sublime and terrifying really hits me in the gut.

Review Fix: What makes this band work together so well?

DT: Getting started in LA was a weird and kinda scary experience—hunkering down on the floor playing cards together in an apartment empty of everything except guitars, drums, and a pirate flag on the wall. Us against the city.

Review Fix: What makes “Baby Blue'” a special track?

DT: I love the lyrics. They came from a time where I didn’t know which way was forward, or which way was backward. But I had to keep going. I think everybody’s been there. Musically, I like to think of it as a wink wink, nudge nudge kinda thing. You’ll hear when the record comes out–sometimes our tunes might be a little obtuse, but underneath each one, you’ll probably find ‘Baby Blue’ peeking out somewhere.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

KM: Slimy

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

DT: Our studio work is hyper-focused and refined. We want to record a performance and distillation of the tune. Then we stretch it, warp it, pervert it, and abstract it. Live is much less abstraction and more pathos. Csongor likes to say playing with Squid Cult is sort of like riding a train that’s gone out of control. You don’t know whether you’re gonna make it to the end. You only know there’s no getting off the ride now.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2018?

DT: Release our album! We got the Squid Cult debut, All Boys Leave Home Someday, coming out this summer. Karter’s going to finish his squid love story concept record, plus we’ll finish up our sex dungeon record. And then there’s the double album… and the Bog Frogs… and that other record…

Review Fix: What’s next?

DT: Next is our album release show. 6/22, Rec Center, LA, CA, baby. All ages. Playing with the best bands in town Sprain, Dream Clinic, and who knows what else?