Bending Grid
... is an Independent Electronic Musician from Summerville, South Carolina, focusing on the Synthwave, Retrowave, and Popwave genres. He expresses a creative approach in the genre and explores it from new angles. His musical, lyrical, and visual storytelling is set to captivate audiences in unexpected ways.
Who is the "human" behind Bending Grid and what were your first steps in music?
The human behind Bending Grid is Tristan O’Shea. My very first steps into the musical world would be the recorder, cello, and baritone instruments at elementary school in the US, followed by classical piano throughout secondary school (high school) in the UK.
My first steps in music production occurred back when I was a teenager, where I was introduced to computer software called Dance eJay. I received a free demo version with PC Mag. This was back when demo cd’s for PC and PlayStation 1 games were all the rage and included with magazines.
Dance eJay was reminiscent of a DAW, but a much more dumbed down version, complete with cheesy late 90’s pc graphics. It was more of a music making kid game, but looking back it served its purpose in introducing me to music sequencing and arrangement in a DAW type environment. As a professional I use Ableton Live Suite and Avid ProTools.
"Retrowave Marionette" sounds amazing and creates that typical retro 80s feeling, what or who was your inspiration?
I have many inspirations from the 80’s but drew from a few musical techniques used by Mr. Mister, Hall & Oates, and Christopher Cross for this song. I also wrote the lyrics, which describe the control and provocation received from a narcissistic partner. The lyrics touch upon gaslighting and other unpleasant experiences from that relationship. The main chorus describes the persistent ridicule used by a narcissist to purposefully draw you into an argument, where they feel a sense of control over your negative emotions to feed their ego. Covert narcissists are very good at pulling you into an argument without you even realizing it and afterwards you’re kicking yourself that you got played into it. As for the vocals, Alexis Dimitriou and Nick Jones excelled in the delivery.
How would you describe your songwriting process?
I typically start with producing an instrumental first. The vibes I get from listening to the track a few times will inspire me for a story or theme to write the lyrics about. Afterwards I will adjust the arrangement of the music or tweak the words to make everything fit and flow well. Sometimes it’s the other way around where I write the lyrics before the music, but it’s rare. I love using metaphors, productive repetition, perspectives, and motion in language.
This song is saturated with metaphors. I’m quite proud of “Jack isn’t nimble, Jack isn’t quick, always falling over dimming candlesticks”. This metaphor references the source of where the term “gaslighting” came from (the dimming lights) and intermingles it with a opposing version of the 18th Century nursery rhyme “Jack be nimble”. It illustrates how a the victim of narcissistic abuse, Jack, gets tripped up by gaslighting.
Metaphors are great and I recently discovered an amazing metaphor in Laura Brannigan’s song “Self Control” from 1984. The metaphor was “city light painted girl”, which is so simple, but so cool at the same time. Life as an artist would be so boring without metaphors.
Being an indie band in Summerville is ....?
It’s great. The local record stores (Monster Music & Record Stop) are very open to consigning physical music for me. They’ve got CD’s and cassette tapes in stock for my debut EP. I’m not a touring artist for the moment, but this area would be great for local gigs considering the sheer number of breweries and small venues in the Summerville and Charleston area.
How important are social media channels for indie artists in your opinion?
Sure, social media is important for an indie artist, but not to get a huge amount of exposure of your music. Many artists appear to get trapped in that ideology. I don’t believe you can’t grow a significantly large fanbase based on social media alone. I market my music on socials of course, but the turnout is very low. People are generous with the like button, but you don’t get many comments or people following the link to your music release or music video. The only true and tried way to grow a large audience is to use paid ads across a diverse range of media to capture people who appreciate your musical vision. That and branding. You must have a cohesive brand. Heck, some artists sell on branding alone and not the music itself if enough money is thrown behind it. Do what the big labels do and pay for ads. Social media will only grow you big if you get lucky with a viral video or produce consistent, quality content.
The latter being very difficult and time consuming as an indie, especially if you’re a one person show who registers your copyrights, royalties, and is self-published worldwide. My view is that social media is most important for connecting with people who are true superfans of your music. To enjoy that aspect and those intimate conversations. It’s important for connecting with certain radio hosts, podcasters, and other artists. It can be a useful tool to discover other artists, watching their marketing, their music, their voice, and to decide with whom you’d like to collaborate with.
...and, what's next?
Up next will be the first full length album from Bending Grid. It will be a massive 16 track album, chock full of high-energy, bass slapping synthwave. I’m aiming to have a healthy dose of vocal songs featuring vocalists who are prominent in the synthwave scene and skilled vocal talent from outside the scene.
There will be a few instrumental only tracks, but not many. I described my songwriting process earlier and as of today I have 13 instrumental tracks completed already for the project. I’ll finish the 3 remaining tracks, write lyrics for the songs, and then contact vocalists to feature them in the album. Depending on who I’m working with I may allow for deeper collaboration or possibly some lyric writing on the featured artist’s part, but it will be very limited.
A few music videos will be made. The first music video for the album is almost finished. I’m also hoping to release this one on a double vinyl for physicals. A first for Bending Grid!
