On June 4th Instrumental "Post-Classical" band Set and Setting will release their debut full-length album Equanimity (reviewed here). Their sound can best be described as post-rock influenced by heavier music, drone and ambient. Our writer Phil Johnston caught up with guitarist Shane Handal and talked to him about the new album, touring, the woods among other things.
(((o))): Hi, thanks for having this interview with Ech(((o)))es and Dust. Can you introduce yourself and who else is in Set and Setting?
Shane: Thanks for having me! My name is Shane Handal, and I play guitar, Mark Etherington plays drums, Stephen Handal plays drums and synth (yes, 2 drummers), and John Kreft plays bass. We have some stuff in the works though where this is changing up a bit live.
(((o))): For those unfamiliar with the group, can you tell us how you got together and how your sound was shaped?
Shane: We started playing as "Set and Setting" a good while ago, 2008 I think. It started as just a name for a recording project for myself and a previous member, but after Mark started playing drums with us we kept the name and it has slowly evolved into what we are today. The early days were mainly of experimenting with sounds, song structures, and a direction for the band, so things have changed a lot over the years. We played probably for at least a year before we realized we wanted to be an instrumental band. Within that, we had multiple times where one of us would go out of town for a month, or a few months, so the band was more of just a garage project for fun. So until about mid 2009 we didn’t really play outside of our practice space. Also around this time, we became more sure and comfortable of what we were trying to do musically. We have been continuously writing music ever since, and Equanimity is a result of the continuous project with an actual direction. We have self-released stuff in the past, and have had multiple albums worth of material, but this was the first group of songs that we felt confident enough about to put it out there as an “official” full length album and serve as our debut release.
(((o))): Okay so the debut album Equanimity is about to be released. Has it been an easy process or more relief it's finished and about to be heard?
Shane: Relief is fitting, but it’s mostly excitement. It has been a very slow moving process since these songs were written. It’s almost to the point where when I look back at where we were at a year ago, I get overwhelmed at the amount of work that went into it. The songs are around a year old now, give or take a few months depending on the song, and it’s finally getting heard other than at a live show. I don’t think most people understand how much time goes into these things sometimes, and I don’t think I ever really did either until this album. The crazy part to me, is that this process can even take longer for some bands. So I guess although it seems like it’s been forever, we had a pretty good pace. There is a lot of thought that went into this album from the music down to the artwork.
(((o))): The album is available on digital as common these days but also a vinyl release. Are there any plans for a CD release, and how important is it to have a physical product out there?
Shane: Digital is obviously a necessity and more of a given these days, but yeah I do feel that it’s very important to have a physical product. The digital world is so quickly accessible that I feel people forget that some albums have a real existence. You can download it and forget you have it within a few hours, but when you can hold something in your hand, and potentially spent your money on it, it becomes more of a real thing to you. As I said earlier, a lot of work goes into these things, so I feel like it should be respected by being documented on a physical medium. Also, it’s exciting to get music in physical forms these day, at least it is to me. I do really like Spotify though, even if the artist’s don’t get much money from it. I think it’s a great alternative to illegally downloading music. For Equanimity, CDs have been on the backburner mainly because our focus has been the release of the vinyl. However, we are self-releasing limited amounts of CDs. The packaging will be legit and all that, but we can only afford to print small runs at a time though. We have 100 on the way (mainly for our tour), and I have been considering putting up a web store lately, so if I do the CDs will definitely be on there in limited amounts. Otherwise you’ll have to get one at a show
(((o))): The album is a powerful mixture of classic post-rock and heavier influences. What sort of stuff is the band influenced by, and do you all share the same tastes?
Shane: I have always been a big fan of classic bands that get thrown into the “post-rock” genre such as Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mono, This Will Destroy You, etc. and these can show as obvious influences sometimes. But, I have also been a big fan of heavier music. Not only in the “post-metal” genre but in the doom, experimental, black, and sludge metal subgenres. I have always tried to push the genre-binding limits but also, not go out of our realm in a forced way. I like to try and incorporate all of these influences when writing music, but we always do it in a natural way. So it may be a little bit less “visible” that the classic post-rock thing, but it’s there. We have never forced anything in this band, and I think that has a lot to do with the cohesiveness of our sound. This explanation is also why I am not really a fan of the term post-rock, and will never say to someone we are a “post-rock” band, haha. Post-rock puts a image (or sound I guess) in someone’s head, and I feel like that short-changes our intentions. As for our tastes, we all have a wide range of what we like and listen to, some are the same, some aren’t. It depends on the person, and I think this can help our music in certain ways too. I feel that things would get repetitive if we all had the same musical taste.
(((o))): The term "set and setting" was coined by LSD guru Timothy Leary to describe the mindset and environment when using hallucinogenics. I think this relates to music as well, what do you think is the perfect set and setting for listening to Equanimity?
Shane: Totally. When we originally started the band we were definitely more of a psych-oriented band but I always felt that the term could be related to all facets of life. I mean, your mindset and environment affects everything in your life. Perspective, mood, experiences, reality, everything is all sort-of “created” around the fact of what setting you’re in, and the mindset that you have while being there. I think your set and setting with music and live shows are the most important part in the experience. This is why we prefer venues that are more intimate, and we use flood lamps and not venue lighting. The setting is much more appropriate for our music that way then being on a huge stage with a ton of stupid flashing lights and stuff. As for our music, the thing that I have always liked most about instrumental bands is that depending on your set and setting, the music could be totally devastating to someone, and then very uplifting to the person next to them. It all depends where you stand in the moment, physically and mentally. The perfect set and setting for Equanimity would be anywhere that you can listen to it and actually focus on what you are experiencing and let your mind do the exploring.
(((o))): I was impressed with the amount of shows you guys have played recently. Have there been any particular highlights so far?
Shane: Tour for us is always the biggest highlight. We have had some amazing shows, and some really bad ones too. This last tour we did in January was awesome pretty much every night though. One of my favorite shows on tour that I can think of right now was when we played with Morne in Philly last year. Awesome band, awesome dudes, awesome show. We are fortunate to be able to play and hang out with amazing bands locally when they come through too. Recently we have played with bands like Rosetta and Junius but also probably my favorite shows ever have been with Mono, Floor, and Wolves in the Throne Room. Super excited for some of the shows we are playing this summer around the U.S. and Canada.
(((o))): Also the record release show is coming up with Inter Arma who I rate highly. What are the details of that show and how did it come about?
Shane: Inter Arma are some of our favorite dudes on the planet. We’ve been great friends for a few years now and we have always hooked each other up when touring through each other’s city. It just happened to work out to where they were booking a tour and needed a show early June in St. Pete. Which happened to be right around the same time we were planning our record release, so we worked out the details to combine the two. Very excited that they will be playing that show. Their new record Sky Burial is incredible, and they are finally getting the credit they deserve and worked really hard for. Our album release show with Inter Arma, Recreant, Order of the Owl, and Bog Prophet on Friday, June 7th at Octave in St. Petersburg, Florida.
(((o))): Have you more plans for promoting the record, tours or even playing outside the US, in Europe for instance?
Shane: We’re doing a 40 day tour in the U.S. and Canada this summer, starting July 1st. We will be playing in most of the country except for the east coast that we just did in January. You can find the dates and venues on all of our web pages. Most of the cities we haven’t been to yet, so we’re excited to play the songs in front of people who have never seen us live before. We’re hoping to tour as much as we can financially afford within the rest of the year. We’d love to tour in Europe. Although there are no direct plans for this, I don’t see it being too far away.
(((o))): I've noticed you’re keen on trips out to the woods. Is this a recreational past time, or is it draw inspiration or write?
Shane: Haha, I wish it was more often too be honest. Unfortunately I get caught up in the pattern of life too often and forget how important it is to step away and isolate yourself from it. That process is inspiration in itself and yeah that will permeate through to the music we write. I don’t write music in the woods or anything like that, but the concept behind our album Equanimity is based off of a trip to the woods in South Carolina I took a few years ago.
(((o))): Thanks for taking time out to speak to us, good luck with the album and is there anything you'd like to add?
Shane: Keep up with us on your favorite social media site, we are pretty active on most. If you are in the U.S. or Vancouver B.C. this summer, come out to a show and hang out with us! All of the venue and show information you need is on most of our sites. Equanimity will be out June 4th but for now - you can pre-order the vinyl at Science of Silence Records and digitally via our Bandcamp site. Thank you Phil for having me and thank you all for the continued support!
