THE RICOS Chat About Their New EP Dream Machine
By Sean Maldjian, Contributor
Meet THE RICOS
People of the blogosphere we have here once again the always wonderful and kind fellas of THE RICOS. They are here talking to us about their brand spanking new EP DREAM MACHINE. I don't want to spoil too much but let's just say...listening to these reverberating rocking tunes WILL make all of your dreams a reality.
Would you rather…
fight a Snowman or the Nutcracker on their home turf? What is your strategy?
Connor Wynne: What the fuck is the Nutcracker's home turf? Gimme the Snowman.
Joseph B. Purcell: Snowman. Fire.
Some questions with THE RICOS
What would the title of your memoir/biography be?
Joseph B. Purcell: (long pause) Moments From Implosion. This band stuff is hard; sometimes it sort of feels like this entire thing is on the brink of total collapse for a multitude of reasons. It's operating in these conditions that has gotten us where we are today though, I guess.
Connor Wynne: (longer pause) Sittin' Pretty.
As you continue to put out music under THE RICOS what have you noticed changing or staying the same through your creative process?
Connor Wynne: We continue to get better.
Joseph B. Purcell: Sort of... A lot of this has been a prolonged learning process. In other words, it's been a matter of cutting out a few bad habits along the way while keeping the original 'formula' in place; I'll come to the fellas with some finished songs and we work together on fleshing them out. Like we said in our last interview together, when the time comes to start working on our album (which is pretty soon), it'll be much more of a democratic process where we're writing songs together from start-to-finish.
If you could rename New York City what would you call it?
Joseph B. Purcell: I've played an embarrassing amount of Grand Theft Auto IV throughout the years. I can't unsee it as anything other than Liberty City.
Connor Wynne: Meatball Land.
Tell us a little about Dream Machine.
Joseph B. Purcell: Dream Machine is a collection of songs I've been working on since I was basically still in high school. I didn't know many other people to play with back then so, instead of simply abandoning that body of work, I've kept working on these tracks for months (if not years) until I felt the time was right and we had the resources in place to properly release them. Luckily Dan, Connor and I all eventually crossed paths and the band began to develop into what it's known as today.
We recorded the EP at Hidden Fortress in the Brewerytown neighborhood of Philadelphia. It's an awesome space run by Tom Kelly (founding member of celebrated underground Philly rock act Snoozer/touring drummer for Alex G) and Kieran Ferris (bassist for fellow Philly locals Joy Again). If it wasn't for their engineering expertise, this EP may have never seen the light of day. Total legends.
Connor Wynne: It's a beautiful EP full of emotional and devotional rock songs
What was it like recording the music video for "Local Tourist?" How do you feel about how it came out?
Connor Wynne: Hats off to Joe for the video... I love how it turned out; he edited and also directed the whole thing.
Joseph B. Purcell: Yeah, it was a lot of fucking work but I think it turned out okay. We really have to thank our cinematographer friend Jake Kasperek though... He really did most of the heavy lifting. The shoots were divided among various locations around Philly plus one over in New Jersey... BIG thanks to Monster Mini Golf in Cherry Hill too...
We sort of wanted to do something completely different compared to our last video for "What Comes Next?" - I had the idea to do this sort of standalone narrative thing for a while now... I just wanted to make a video that we didn't even have to be in. (laughs)
What was the timeline on recording?
Connor Wynne: It took three years.
Joseph B. Purcell: Yeah... We started this thing way back in the summer of 2019, right around the time we finished recording our first release, Spirit State. The first session went generally well... We just felt there was some more work to do on it. After living in London for the following three months to work on myself and some more writing, I came home in January of 2022 with the intention of finishing Dream Machine... then COVID happened.
A few months later when things began to slowly approach some semblance of normalcy, we decided to release something a little more accessible. It was around this time we put out What Comes Next? - a digital single (with a 'b-side' and bonus track) we also recorded at Hidden Fortress with Tom and Kieran. Part of us didn't really want to put the whole EP out until we were more readily available to play shows to support it... Not to say we're exactly there yet, things seem to be slowly improving though...
Earlier this year, we returned to Hidden Fortress to finally finish this thing. After weeks of additional recording, Dream Machine was finally ready. It was really cool going back there to work with Tom and Kieran again after all this time. Along with the personal improvements we've been working on ourselves, the space itself has undergone several major upgrades; we loved making this thing in a new-and-improved control room... Not to mention borrowing some of Joy Again's impressive synthesizer collection!
I noticed a lovely illustration of a station wagon on the cover of the release. Is there a real 'Dream Machine' that inspired the release?
Connor Wynne: There is a real 'Dream Machine' and it lives in Joe's head.
Joseph B. Purcell: (laughs) Again, sort of... The idea has always remained relatively abstract. I guess Traci Lords' artwork might suggest that the 'Dream Machine' itself is a car. On the other hand, the video hints at it being a physical device that can provide answers to one's subconscious fantasies... All I know for sure is that Dream Machine EP is available now on limited edition cassette via Utica Records for the reasonable price of just $9.99!!!
If you could give one animal species (besides people) the ability to fly, which would it be? Why?
Connor Wynne: Penguins - clearly unfinished business for them.
Joseph B. Purcell: Actually, that makes sense...
What is your favorite restaurant in New York City? What do you get there?
Joseph B. Purcell: I don't really think I've been up there often enough to name one... I usually just try to scope out the dollar slice spots. My old boss took us to Peter Luger Steak House once though... That was wild.
Connor Wynne: I don't have a favorite restaurant in NYC either since I don't live there nor spend enough time there. There's a lot of great places for bagels though so anywhere I can get a good bagel is one of my favorites.
Now that the EP is finished are you looking to record more or get out and play some shows?
Connor Wynne: We've lined up some shows currently but we're looking forward to getting back to recording... At least I am.
Joseph B. Purcell: Yeah, we'll play some shows here and there for the next few months but next year we should really be getting started finally preparing our album. Hopefully that'll be out by later next year or so...
Now that the EP is finished are you looking to record more or get out and play some shows?
Joseph B. Purcell: If you can, please try and make it out to our shows this weekend! We'll be playing at Ortlieb's in Philadelphia this Saturday July 30th with Manchester, England's Jim E. Brown, Lily McKown and Henderson Century plus Wonderville in Brooklyn this Sunday July 31st with MX Lonely and Wince.
Connor Wynne: Let's go Mets, baby.