Harry Cubberly and Rachel Stewart of Sedona on Treatment’s Debut Album “Pond Life”
Interview by Harry Cubberly and Rachel Stewart
Photo by Dani Aphrodite
Rachel and I originally met over Tinder in 2015. We exchanged numbers and tried to make plans but things never really lined up. I would always try to ask her to go to shows with me and finally one day we just had a little date on her apartment fire escape over some Budweisers. Four years and a whole lotta love and music later, we now live together in that same apartment where this very interview was held. We met around the time I had put out my last album and began this one, so a lot of "Pond Life" is about her, our relationship, and my relationships with the city and myself.
Read Harry and Rachel of Sedona’s conversation below while streaming “Pond Life” out today.
Rachel (Sedona): It’s great to be here with with you, Harry Cubberly from Treatment. I’d like to ask you some questions about your upcoming album “Pond Life” that comes out Friday, November 22nd, on Rumore Bianco.
Harry (Treatment): Thanks for having me.
Rachel: For my first question, what fueled both the production and songwriting for “Pond Life?”
Harry: Well, the production is always fueled by what I have to work with, which is my native instruments Maschine, my guitar, some midi keyboards, and computer softwares. Everything besides guitar, sax, some fretless bass, and a few key solos were arranged in midi, including all the drums.
Rachel: But is there an era or certain type of music that has fueled your production for this album?
Harry: I guess it’s from several eras. Some songs I was trying for a classic, soft-rock orientation like Steely Dan and Todd Rundgren, and for others I was really trying to get close to the midi perfection of David Gamson and Thomas Dolby. I’m also a huge fan of Jam and Lewis’ production like the songs they did with Alexander O. Neal and New Edition.
Rachel: Awesomeness. Do you feel the tracks on this album connect in any way thematically or stylistically?
Harry: Some songs are intensely personal and from my point of view, while other songs are a romantic exploration of biblical or historical narratives. Obviously I would like a listener to interpret the songs on their own, but besides the more personal references, there are universal themes of love, strife, and inquisition throughout the album.
Rachel: And where exactly did the title “Pond Life” come from?
Harry: Just living on Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood, Queens for several years. The album has a lot to do with New York, but even more specifically with that road and apartment where I wrote nearly all the lyrics. “Pond Life” is also a lyric in one of the songs on the album.
Rachel: What does “Pond Life” mean to you now, other than being a place that you once called home?
Harry: Well, there is a lyrical phrase in the track “Pond Life” where I describe how life can send you swimming for the shore. You don’t really think you can drown in a pond, which seems leisurely and safe, there is a calmness to it, but sometimes you end up doing just that. In a way it’s a metaphor for staying afloat in the unforgiving city of New York.
Rachel: Right on! So how does your songwriting process work exactly?
Harry: Everything comes instrumentally first.
Rachel: Is the beat first?
Harry: It depends… sometimes it’s a beat. Sometimes, a chord progression. I really feel I need an arranged piece to inspire the lyrics and melody. Also the rhythm really dictates the lyrical diction. I’ll try to write words that are phonetically potent while still keeping the subject intact.
Rachel: Love it. I know you’re a big movie guy so I wanted to ask... if your album was a movie, who would direct and star in it?
Photo by Merilyn Chang
Harry: Haha, I’m not sure. Wouldn’t mind having Brian De Palma direct and Ennio Morricone score it though. “The Pope of Greenwich Village” kinda vibes.
Rachel: Let’s make it happen! So when did you begin writing the songs on “Pond Life” and who was involved in the undertaking?
Harry: I began writing some of these songs way back in maybe 2015/2016. It takes a while to press a record yourself. I wrote and produced everything, but you sang all the backing vocals and harmonies. Micheal Raffetto aka Marshal Stacks did some insane guitar solos. Jack Callahan mixed it and did some keyboard solos. Carl Mitchell did sax on a couple tracks, and my friend Eric Brody did all the vocal engineering.
Rachel: Dream team! So for a final question. What five bands or artists, dead or alive, touring or not touring, would you wish to go on tour with?
Harry: I tour very little although I’d like to change that. Would probably have to say my co-label owner of Rumore Bianco, Joseph Black. Would love to tour with Nitefire as well, even though they ruined my life. Would love to tour with or even play in Ronnie Stone’s band as one of the “lonely riders.” Would be a total dream to tour with Prefab Sprout although I’m positive Paddy doesn’t tour anymore. I heard Bobby Caldwell is doing residencies in Vegas so, “Hey Bobby! Whats up?” Have to add an extra sixth artist and that’s Alexander O. Neal even though he exclusively tours the U.K.
Rachel: All great choices. And finally, I have to ask, what’s next for Treatment?
Harry: Hopefully touring. I also have some songs I’m producing for other artists coming out next year (Sedona and Nitefire). A cover song I’m recording. Another Treatment album and perhaps a Christmas 7 inch I’m trying to get going for next year.
Rachel: Can’t wait for it all, baby! Well, thanks again.
Harry: Thank you Sedona. It was a pleasure.