A Mix of Clouds and Sun: The Umbrellas Return With Fairweather Friend
An cheeky chat with the San Francisco indie pop auteurs
I discovered The Umbrellas by accident, about three years ago now.
The quartet (three men and one woman) is one of several lo-fi indie-pop bands that hail from the San Francisco area and record for Slumberland Records. Their self-titled debut was an understated pop gem that got a lot of play in my apartment that summer. The single “She Buys Herself Flowers” was a fine calling card, but The Umbrellas contained several other tunes that were just as strong.
The Umbrellas consist of Matt Ferrara on vocals, guitars and keyboards; Morgan Alice Stanley on vocals and guitars; Nick Oka on bass; and Keith Frerichs on drums and percussion. They wear their influences proudly on their sleeves: one can hear traces of everyone from fellow Bay Area bands like The Aislers Set to ‘60s legends The Association to Scottish groups like Orange Juice and The Pastels. The result is a mix of male-female vocals, subtly melancholy lyrics and jangle-pop joy.
The band’s sophomore set, Fairweather Friend, arrived last Friday (once again on Slumberland). It’s billed as a tougher album than their debut, but that’s a relative statement; no one is going to mistake The Umbrellas for Metallica! Rather, they take their sound for a few detours while remaining true to the indie-pop sound they introduced on their first effort. I’m partial to the songs that Morgan sings lead on, like the lovely centerpiece “Echoes.” But there are other highlights as well. “Three Cheers!” kicks things off in fine fashion. And the final three tracks — “When You Find Out,” “Blue” and “P.M.” — are among the album’s best.
I recently caught up with The Umbrellas from their San Francisco digs. They made it clear that they answered my questions collectively…;)
VIDEO: The Umbrellas “Three Cheers!”
Fairweather Friend is The Umbrellas’ second full-length album. How was recording this album different from recording your debut? How was it similar?
This time around, we felt more comfortable in our musicianship and what we liked [and] didn’t like about the other record. We were more familiar with our gear [and able] to decide between certain tones, depending on what we wanted. Touring gave us a lot of experience too, which prompted us to want to capture our live sound more accurately. We’re not always just an earnest sugary-pop-laden band; we also like to play fast and loud.
How do you decide which songs will go to Matt and which ones go to Morgan?
Most songs are decided pretty much off the bat, based off the key and who can sing it better. Sometimes we write the lyrics for each other too. [And] sometimes one of us is just more excited about an idea than the other.
“Blue” is sung by Keith, which no one has commented on yet. In fact, a few people have mistakenly written that Matt sings it. Wrong, people! Keith is a man of many talents, and he has lovely vocals that we wanted to showcase on this record.
[Tell me about] some of your influences. I’m wondering if you all came from similar music backgrounds or not.
Similar and different, [for] sure. Our influences span from the obvious, being all that is C86 and Scottish-jangle, all the way to violin inspiration from Arvo Pärt, and then to drum stylings from Jerry’s Kids’ Mike Dean and The Smiths’ Mike Joyce. We all come from punk backgrounds — either playing in punk bands or going to DIY shows growing up. So it’s all over but there’s also a lot of connection to it, in feeling and sentiment.
“Echoes” is a really pretty tune. Tell me about the inspiration behind that one.
We try not to reflect too hard on the pandemic in every interview but, in all honesty, “Echoes” was written pretty deep in that time of uncertainty. So the lyrics are very reflective of that, grappling with all of the unknowns. For the vocals, Morgan looked to [Black Tambourine singer] Pam Berry for melodic inspiration.
Was “P.M.,” the final track, intended as a bookend to “A.M.” from the debut?
You got it! And you’re actually the only one to get it, so far! Originally, the song was titled “FM” because it was our Field Mice inspired song. “A.M.” was named after our good friends’ band April Magazine. But then we realized, hey, we already have a song called “A.M.,” so why not call this one “P.M.” to create some cohesive link between the two records.
Did we think more people would get it? Probably…. But, hey, you got it, so cheers.
I’ve heard that there’s a burgeoning San Francisco pop scene these days with bands like you, Chime School and The Reds Pinks and Purples. For those of us [who live] elsewhere, could you explain a bit about this scene?
We feel really fortunate to be surrounded by such talented individuals and inspirations — especially in a city that can be seen as a hard place to make art in, given its reputation as a tech wasteland and whatnot. San Francisco has always had a history of indie rock and music in general, especially in the last 20 years or so. This city tends to be neglected, hiding under the L.A. limelight, and it’s no wonder bands have been fighting to reclaim the incredible history that’s always been here. But we lose a lot of musicians to L.A. too. So one thing that’s been really special about this particular music scene is that everyone is realistic about their aspirations; they’re making art for the sake of art.
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