SPORTS, known for the success of songs like “You Are The Right One,” released earlier this year their new album, “SPORTS,” the first self-titled record of their career and also the most pop to date. The album pushes their sound toward more electronic terrain, as evidenced by the use of Auto-Tune in “Magic Trick” or the bold synthesizers of “Jelly.”
Christian and Cale talk with Jenesaispop about the recording process of the album, for which they decided to produce it themselves and set up their own studio in Tulsa, in addition to discussing TikTok or new forms of musical promotion. SPORTS will present the album in Spain on November 12 at Sala Changó in Madrid and on November 13 at Razzmatazz 2 in Barcelona.
At what moment did you realize you didn’t need any producer to get the sound you wanted?
C: I think Christian and I have worked with this producer for years, even though we were capable of producing. Christian, above all, has the chops for production and recording. At that moment we felt we needed a new process and new challenges. It was after the pandemic, there were changes in the band, in our team… It felt necessary to at least try. It was now or never.
You’ve built your own studio. You equipped it, but I’m not sure if you also built the space.
C: The building wasn’t self-produced (laughs).
Ch: The press stuck to that idea…
C: It was a friend’s space. We equipped it with all the gear we had and set it up to make an album.
What was harder, learning to produce or setting up the studio?
C: Setting up the studio was very difficult because in summer it was swelteringly hot. But I don’t consider that part of making the record. For us it was an office job.
Ch: We were also making it hard on ourselves. If we were thinking about a part of the song or a lyric, we thought it had to be perfect, amazing, all the time…
C: Having such high expectations makes the music stop being fun. When we started to find a groove while making the record, the songs became easier to create. And the easier they were, the better they were. Music is one of those things where working harder does not necessarily yield better results. Usually the opposite happens: the more you let things flow, the more the music rewards you.
Ch: Having our own space could even be a drawback, because we never left. But we did leave and come back, and the song would reveal itself on its own.
As a pop band, how does the translation from what you have in mind to what you end up creating work for you?
C: Sometimes we have an idea in our heads, but it always ends up differently and you have to accept that. It’s very hard to reproduce exactly what you have in mind. Most of the time we don’t even know what we’re going to do.
Tulsa is fairly distant from the main hubs of the music industry. Do you think being away from Los Angeles or New York has given you more freedom to make music?
Ch: It’s definitely cheaper.
C: I don’t know if we could afford renting space in New York or Los Angeles, but that also limits who you work with.
Have you met in Tulsa musicians with whom you found particularly interesting to work?
Ch: We have friends like Broncho.
After so many years, why make a self-titled album now? Is it some kind of identity statement?
Ch: Cale thought that if we were ever going to make a self-titled record, this was the moment. It’s like reintroducing ourselves. And it’s a bit funny that our fifth album is self-titled.
C: Like The Beatles! (laughs) Although perhaps they did it on the ninth or tenth album, I’m not sure (Note: they refer to the “White Album,” the ninth).
Was there a song that changed radically during production, to the point where you almost scrapped it?
Ch: “I Can’t Cry” is the one that changed the most. While we were working on the record, we realized it was missing something, a specific feeling. When we were mixing it, we started steering it toward something more danceable, with that four-on-the-floor rhythm. That has made it very fun to perform live and it’s the song that has surprised me most in terms of audience reaction. At Sports shows people can be a bit cool, but when we play that song they go crazy.
Is there a song you especially hope Spanish audiences will like? Perhaps because there are differences between audiences; I don’t know if that’s the case.
C: From what I’ve heard about the Spanish audience, they’re very passionate and love to have a good time. So I imagine “I Can’t Cry” would be one they’d really enjoy.
“We wanted to move away from that bedroom-pop sound and think: what happens if we try to make a pop record and someday attempt to play stadiums? Could we do it?”
I don’t know if this is happening in the United States now, but with more people attending concerts than before, there’s also more talking during shows, especially when opening acts perform. Have you noticed this, as if concert etiquette has relaxed a bit?
Ch: Yes. While touring the United States, we played on both the East and West Coasts, and it was interesting. In some cities people talked, in others they were very attentive and quiet, though they also participated and had a good time. I can’t recall exactly—did people in New York and Los Angeles talk?
C: I remember New York. Los Angeles has quite a reputation for people talking. I think it’s a bit the nature of that city. It’s closely tied to the music industry, and there are many people there. To get people to jump, raise their hands, sing, and all those things, you need to give them a show and not just think, “I’m watching this band.” They do it all the time, in some way.
Ch: Yes, exactly.
Ch: Maybe it’s because in the cities we play, where bands don’t come through often, people are a little more attentive. But in the cities where they can see a band every night it’s more like: “Another night.”
Ch: I’d say Orlando. Orlando, Florida, was particularly quiet.
Really?
Ch: While we were playing, and between songs. But in a good way. They cheered after songs, they jumped and had a good time, but during the show it was very quiet. No one talked between themselves, everyone kept their eyes on us. It was very respectful. That’s one that stood out to me.
Speaking of the album’s sound, would you say it goes beyond that dream-pop label you’ve been known for? Did you feel the need to go beyond that label and show that Sports could be something more?
Ch: It’s something we had discussed, but it wasn’t something we were trying to do every day in the studio as “we have to do this.” We did want to move a little away from bedroom-pop and think: what happens if we try making a pop album and someday try playing stadiums? Could we do it? Is it possible?
How do you think the album shows it’s a pop record, in your view? For example, the synth hooks are very strong on tracks like “Jelly.” What would you say?
C: “Jelly” is a good example of attempting to make real pop, a true pop attempt. We experimented with Auto-Tune, using a pronounced Auto-Tune effect on my voice, something we had never done on a Sports album. And the drums are more electronic. For me, the word I had in mind was pop, but perhaps it was more about digging deeper into how we actually work as two people making music. We’re not a band jamming in a room. We’re two people doing what we expect to be pop songs, in the sense of being fun to listen to and more danceable.
Also, after a decade of making music, which part of the music industry do you find most difficult to understand today compared to when you started?
C: I suppose it’s the connection between TikTok and music. It’s really hard to understand, but everyone acts as if there’s a strategy. I think: there isn’t any real strategy. Some things go viral because… I don’t know. There are surely examples, but I don’t know if bands like us can force a song to go viral with their own TikTok idea. Usually it’s ordinary TikTok creators who are good at it. They tend to be the ones who actually have influence.
Ch: There’s a line I always quote, that I heard from Harry Styles. He was being interviewed by Zane Lowe, I think for his last album, not the most recent. And I think he was quoting someone, but basically it said: “Don’t confuse views with success.” A thing can have many views, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there are fans behind it. So one of the things we’re trying to build is a strong fan base, people who come to concerts, buy merchandise, and aren’t just passive playlist listeners. Another interesting thing about the current industry is how much of it is driven by playlists. People listen to music as they please, and you can’t force someone to listen in a certain way. But, personally, when I really like an artist, I go deep. I want to see videos about them, I want to get to know them. And some are more mysterious than others. Now artists have to be a bit more personal and let people into their world. And I like that, but at the same time I think there’s something cool about the mystery of an artist, of trying to discover all you can about them. Even if there isn’t a lot out there.
C: Yes, I think mystery isn’t valued today. In artists, the impact it can have on the music… I think it’s real.
Sí, ¿lo más probable es que tengan que compartirlo todo sobre sus vidas para conectar con la gente?
C: Yes, indeed. Basically, spam.
Ch: Yes.
“I’d say that 99% of the time, there’s a lot of money behind TikTok virals.”
About TikTok, I don’t know if you’ve heard Temper City’s song “Self-Aware.” It’s a hugely successful track on Spotify, the band’s debut single. And basically it was almost designed to be a hit, because the song was written first and then a marketing strategy was linked to help it succeed. So it’s not that some songs start from zero. They’re more that they receive help and then continue to grow. Of course, people have to like the song. If they don’t, it won’t succeed, because there are many other examples of songs that tried and failed. But viral songs aren’t necessarily miracles. Most of the time they’re also designed to go viral, right?
C: Totally. I’d say 99% of the time there’s a lot of money behind. That’s what many people don’t understand. There are people paid to post about your song. It’s not as organic as it seems.
I suppose what’s a bit annoying is that they try to make it look natural. You see many videos like that on Instagram and TikTok, with a content creator posting about a song, seemingly for no reason. And actually, they’re promoting it, but they don’t tell you.
C: Yes, I’m a bit divided on that. On one hand I think: yes, it doesn’t look very honest. But on the other hand I think it’s like the new Pitchfork. Or payola, which has been part of music since Elvis. They always find a new way to do it. But really it’s basically the same thing. All of it is payola. Like: “We need to get these influential blogs to talk about our band,” as happened in the 2000s or whenever, and we pay them to do it. And now it’s: “We need to pay these influential TikTokers to talk about our music.” It’s not new to be a façade. There has always been some façade. That’s marketing. It’s part of the business side of music. But if the music is good, it’s good. People like it. And if the music is bad, people don’t listen.
Yes, because the difference is that now it’s ordinary people, your friend, who are doing the promotion instead of the label. It’s as if promotion has come down to our level.
C: Exactly. So yes, that is new in that sense.
You’ve been making music together for many years, the two of you on your own. What does one of you know about the other that no outside producer, engineer, or musician could ever discover?
C: You’d probably uncover this about Christian if you spent time with him in a car. He has an unbelievable knack for identifying any car without seeing the brand or model. He can be far away and it doesn’t need to be fancy cars. Any car manufactured since…
Ch: Since 1992.
C: From 1992 up to now.
Ch: I was born in 1992. For some reason, any car I’ve seen since then, even today, once I see it I remember it. The tricky part is if we travel to Europe. There I won’t know what’s going on.
C: You could show him just the headrest and he’d say: “It’s this specific car from 2006.”
And what about Cale?
Ch: He’s actually a pretty good basketball player. We both played sports in high school. And yes, we filmed that clip of “Drama King” playing basketball and he was there shooting and all. Watching me lay it up is funny. I don’t get it. I feel I’m athletic, but I simply don’t have that skill. But I suppose you played basketball in high school and your dad was a basketball coach. You just have those fundamentals.
I must say I’m very impressed with Christian’s ability to identify cars.
C: It’s far more impressive than my basketball skills. I can play, but I couldn’t crash a pickup game in the park. I’d get crushed. I’m not that good.
Well, no basketball player could make a Sports album. That’s the truth.
C: I had to compensate.
