Editor’s Note: The Still Tide is a band that certainly blows the mind of Madness To Creation! Here they are releasing an EP entitled “Between Skies” with the lead single “Change of Address”. When we listened to The Still Tide, they definitely have an AM soft rock vibe combined with the style of FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE and FIONA APPLE. They have shared the stage with Kaki King, Tallest Man On Earth, Devil Makes Three, and Nathaniel Rateliff + The Night Sweats. In this interview, Anna Morsett of The Still Tide discusses mindfulness, the “Change of Address” single, and mental health awareness with Madness To Creation. Fans can find The Still Tide at the following locations:
Madness To Creation: Take us into the Denver music scene.
Anna: I do really love it out here – I think my favorite thing about Denver’s music scene is how supportive and inclusive it is. For us as band especially, the community we’ve found among musicians has been life changing. I see a lot of bands collaborating, helping each other out, sharing resources and supporting each other by just going to each other’s shows. I think that alone has made for a really vibrant scene and has encouraged people to experiment, get weird together and grow their projects up without feeling stifled.
Madness To Creation: Favorite thing about performing live?
Anna: Definitely connecting with the crowd and if we’re playing as a full band, connecting musically and laughing with my bandmates at the same time. There’s something so unique and untouchable about feeling connected in those ways – I feel like those shows, no matter the size of the crowd or room, are the ones that fuel me through all the darker nights of doubt and worry. They remind me why music is so important, so necessary.
Madness To Creation: What can fans expect from a performance from The Still Tide?
Anna: If it’s a solo performance, fans can expect a lot of heartfelt songs, spacey but intricate guitar work and hopefully some clever banter, ha. For full band, I hope all of that is still true but just with the added power of a rhythm section and more layers of guitar work and harmonies. I think the full band experience gives us and the crowd something to sway against and dance to while the solo performance is more tender and focused on the songs themselves.
Madness To Creation: Take us into the single “Change of Address”, what is the song talking about?
Anna: That song is about leaving the past behind and freeing yourself from who you might’ve been, or rather, who you think you might’ve been. About re-framing the way you view yourself both in the world and internally. It could mean leaving a physical space and moving elsewhere or just re-adjusting how you see yourself. At the heart of it, it’s a reminder that we can change, that we don’t have to carry on as we have before and that often that change begins with altering how we perceive ourselves.
Madness To Creation: What was the most challenging and rewarding aspect of creating the EP Between Skies?
Anna: The most challenging and rewarding aspect was definitely how much work I was able to do with it on my own. I’d started writing the songs over the last year but I’d been aching to explore where they could go and what they could become in a studio setting. With the help of Joe Richmond, the other producer and engineer on the record, we set up a studio in my apartment and I got to spend hours upon hours recording, playing, writing, tweaking knobs and getting frustrated with technical difficulties. It was definitely one of the harder experiences I’d had making a record but I feel so proud of where the songs landed and how intimate that recording experience was for me. I’d always wanted to stretch in that way but didn’t really have adequate resources until this year and was grateful for the challenge – even as difficult as some of parts of it were.
Madness To Creation: Madness To Creation is about mental health awareness. What advice do you have for our readers that might be struggling?
Anna: Mental health is so important and in the depths of this last winter working on the record I definitely felt the edges of struggle in ways I hadn’t before. The biggest lesson I did learn from that time and what my advice to others is now – is to ask for help when you need it. A song from the new record speaks to this as well, but I realized then just how many people I have in my life to lean on and look to for help than I allowed myself to use or see. I became really isolated in my little pool of stress and didn’t reach out to all the many others I could have, which, unsurprisingly made everything much harder. As much as I hoped to go it alone, I don’t think it was worth the cost. I do reach out to others now, take more self-care breaks and am trying to treat myself as kindly as I would anyone else. Turns out, for me, better work comes when I’m in a better place, not when I’m breaking myself to be better.
Madness To Creation: What do you do to practice wellness and mindfulness?
Anna: I’m very much still working on my own practice but I do write everyday and try to make time to just breathe, go on walks, play for playing sake and clear my mind of all the endless to-do’s. I think writing first thing in the morning is the healthiest thing I do for my mental heath, that and just playing music. Both can be so meditative and transportive, I find they really do shape how I move through my day, my world, my relationships – everything. I am always at my best when those two practices are in full swing. It’s definitely a challenge to keep up with on tour but a always worth the extra energy it takes to make happen.
Madness To Creation: Plans for The Still Tide for the rest of the year?
Anna: So many things! I’m just now finishing up an amazing tour with Charlie Cunningham and his incredible band and will begin gearing up to release a few more singles and music videos before the record itself comes out this winter. We’ve already begun work towards the next recording project (!) and hopefully we’ll have the start of something new to chip away at over the winter again. Perhaps this time around I’ll lean on my friends and fellow musicians and just enjoy the challenges of it all without being too overwhelmed? Fingers crossed.
Madness To Creation: Thank you very much for your time to interview with me for Madness To Creation.
Anna: Thank you for the interview! Love what you guys do, honored to be a part!
And there you have it! Check out the tour dates featuring Charlie Cunningham with The Still Tide below:
Tue. 10/1- DC9 Nightclub in Washington D.C.
Wed. 10/2- Rough Trade in New York, New York
For tickets and further information, click here.
