FEATURE: Texas Shoegaze Outfit EEP Discuss Their New Album ‘Winter Skin’; Share Latest Single “A Message To You”

El Paso, Texas-based shoegaze/dream pop outfit EEP first came together courtesy of frontwoman Rosie Varela. Wanting to record a single, she gathered a batch of fellow musicians to record the project, and it slowly began to evolve and expand from there, resulting in an eight track album, Death of A Very Good Machine, in 2020. With that album under their collective belt, EEP—consisting of guitarist/vocalist Varela, guitarist/vocalist Ross Ingram (who also produces their sessions), bassist Sebastian Estrada, guitarist/vocalist Serge Carrasco, and drummer/vocalist Lawrence Brown III—maintained their momentum, even in the midst of the pandemic chaos. And what has come out of this fertile creative period is Winter Skin, a brilliant collection of nine new songs that expands and deepens the quintet’s engaging, exploratory sound.

A key to the band’s evolution is knowing that there are no set roles. Each member has their main instruments, but they are all open to swapping places and taking on songwriting responsibilities. “None of the roles are rigid,” says Ingram. “Which is part of what makes it exciting and fun and a part of why we ended up with a record that’s got a lot of depth and variety to it, while still having a cohesive sound.” Rosie continues, “Winter Skin began with all of us working on songs remotely, but once we were all back at the studio, we began to have a lot of fun exploring new sounds and “what ifs.”

The other important elements of EEP’s sound are a sense of playfulness and flexibility. These are five people that truly love creating music together and trust each other’s instincts and ears. “I’ve never felt any protectiveness on any part from anybody about their own songs,” Varela says. “There’s an openness like kids on a playground. It happens very spontaneously.”

Naturally, their latest single “A Message To You” captures the fluidity of their musicality and cohesive spirit, creating a shapeshifting mesh of sound, solidified by an ethereal sense of positivity. Inspired by a public break-up at a local show, “A Message To You” was intentionally written as a gift of good vibes for the broken half of the couple. “Her face, especially her eyes, told her story of hurt. So I sent her good thoughts across the crowd – “it’s ok to cry,” “you’re going to be ok,” and “you are loved”, adds Rosie.

Listen to the single below, and uncover more about the album and track in the latest Q&A article just past:

What was that first studio session like when you were all back together?

Rosie: The joy in the room was palpable. It’s like we got let out of our cages and we could play together again. By the time we got back into the studio, we had already remotely recorded five songs on the album. There’s nothing better than the interplay of ideas and experiments that happen in-person in the studio. The last four songs we recorded in the studio are definitely the most experimental on the album.

How has your sound evolved for Winter Skin?

Serge: Winter Skin is a blending of many moods, styles, and concepts we explored through the lens of shoegaze. It’s an experimental record where we approached songwriting from a very organic workflow. It felt like we were trying to explore the boundaries of what shoegaze and EEP are. We found ourselves on an unexpected, super creative journey and we hope our listeners can share in that experience with us.

It sounds like EEP has a very fluid songwriting style; is there anything that comes first when writing a new track?

Rosie: EEP has two kinds of songs in our songwriting process. The first is when one of us comes to the band with a fully fleshed-out demo. Basically, everyone then replaces parts in the demo with their own original ideas. It’s either done in-studio or band members do them at home.

The other way that we write is when we’re all able to be in the studio and it honestly is like kids playing in a toy store. We might start with one riff and we then record every idea that everyone has. In both cases, it is a very iterative process where the finished song may sound very different from the original demo or riff. We generally don’t leave out anyone’s parts. So far, everything we write together blends beautifully.

What was the origin story for ‘A Message To You’?

Rosie: It started with seeing a couple breaking up at a show. Heartache is devastating, but witnessing it in a very public place left a big impression on me. It felt like I was the only person in the club (out of about 80 people) who noticed the exchange. After the guy stormed off leaving his ex-girlfriend alone at the club, I honestly wanted to hug this girl, but instead I sent her good thoughts as she was trying to hold it together. “You’re going to be ok” and “It’s ok to cry.” I wanted to write this song for anyone who ever had to hide tears and had no choice but to be strong.

Since then, has the song taken on a more personal meaning for you?

Rosie: The feedback that we’ve received on this song has been really moving to me. People have told me that they felt comforted by the song and the video. One person even mentioned that there is a Buddhist practice called Mettā in which we send good thoughts for well-being to the people around us as an exercise in lovingkindness. It made me realize that I want to keep doing that whenever I’m around other people.

What were some influences for the new record? Musical or otherwise.

Rosie: When we got back into the studio, we really felt like the winter of lockdown was over and we were musically approaching some sort of springtime. We were really inspired by Ross’ contribution of the song “Slow Down” where in his lyrics, one verse says, “Shed your anxious shaking Winter Skin/And let yourself be something new again.” And it felt like unconsciously as we were writing, we were doing exactly that.