Brooklyn-based duo Free Whenever features a dynamic partnership between the two instrumentalists Neil Gularia and Trevor LaVecchia, resulting in a paracosm of mind-bending psychedelic music.
Their musicianship is shown through their expansive depth of cultural influences and an astute ability to immerse the listener in a story.
This quality is notably more challenging to achieve as instrumentalists. One of the more impressive aspects of Free Whenever’s music is how they can create a sense of narrative through their songs.
Each song has a distinct feel and atmosphere, often drawing from different cultures and musical traditions. At the heart of Free Whenever’s music are the instrumentals themselves.
Instrumental music, at times, can mistakenly be misconstrued as not invoking a narrative experience due to the absence of lyrics, but the opposite is true. It is precisely because it makes Free Whenever’s music so enjoyable. When the mind is not preoccupied with the words, all that is left are the sounds and the imagination for world-building.
The duo’s ability to tell a story without the use of lyrics is a testament to their musicianship as instrumentalists and their understanding of the power of music to communicate on a deeper level. In this way, Neil and Trevor belong to a class of artists that deal in the mystification of storytelling, challenging the listener in true psychedelic fashion to listen meditatively.
The duo draws inspiration from cultural influences steeped in their musical traditions. In their latest release, “Camino” (the Spanish word for “path”), the beautiful instrumentation feels reminiscent of an introspective journey across the vast dry lands of the Americas. "Camino" is a journey through the peaceful deserts of Mexico, and it’s a journey that is complex as they fuse eastern strings and elements of Latin and African rhythm in percussion, a fusion I love to hear.
As the song starts in the introduction, you quickly are enthralled by Free Whenever’s world-building, one that transcends cultural boundaries and fuses them like an alchemist—starting up with a catchy rhythm in the drums and bongos. The opening guitar riff begins and quickly transitions into the song’s first chorus, which metamorphosizes into a groovy trance.
Percussion instruments such as congas and bongos help add to the global feel of their music. This creates a unique, familiar, and foreign sound, drawing the listener in and keeping them engaged throughout each song and ultimately leading into a breakdown where a new part of the song is revealed and leads into the second part of the journey.
Free Whenever’s “Camino” can evoke a sense of introspection and contemplation. Creating nostalgia for a time before and losing yourself in a trance of modern experimentation. Intricate melodies and nuanced rhythms create a sense of depth and complexity that invites the listener to sit with their emotions, reflect on their experiences, and move onto their own unbeaten "Camino."
A warm welcome to BuzzMusic Free Whenever. We're captivated by your latest release, "Camino." The instrumentation feels reminiscent of a psychedelic journey across the vast and peaceful lands of the Americas. There is a distinct evocation of the desert that you execute stunningly well. Creatively, is that what you’re imagining in a narrative sense?
Trevor: Having grown up on the East Coast, I think big natural spaces (i.e., canyons, space, the ocean) are a romantic thing in my mind. They are emblematic of ultimate freedom, and I think we make music to transport us to that space. Many people have commented that our music makes them think about wide-open spaces — a bit ironic because we live and work in tight Brooklyn apartments.
Neil: I feel like our music evokes the feeling of being in a vast natural environment. In many ways, I think that is intentional insofar as we crave that feeling, especially living in NYC. Still, I feel like neither of us actively visualizes what the looks like when we make the music — more so the feeling.
Can you share with us the creative process of writing and arranging such an emotive experience as the one in your latest single, “Camino?"
Trevor: “Camino” actually came about pretty quickly. I had just returned from a backpacking part of the Camino de Santiago in France and Spain, and we wanted to make something more upbeat. We spent a few weeks just writing and recording a new song every day, eventually building up the momentum where ideas started flowing.
Neil: Yeah, we have periods where we play, write, and record new ideas. After you get in the swing of it, accessing emotionally rich moments and stickier ideas becomes a lot easier. We wrote it to a random hip-hop beat, played out the entire bass and guitar structure live together with that beat loop playing for two hours straight, and then I overdubbed the drums.
We'd love to hear about how you came up with the song's title and your upcoming EP, The Movement... Where did the seed of this art grow from, and how does it relate to Free Whenever's overall output?
Trevor: The title comes from my trip to the Camino de Santiago. But the word itself means path or road, which seemed the perfect way to describe it. After making music together over the past few years, we feel the project has been on this journey, and we are just experiencing it as it unfolds. The four songs on “The Movement” are some of the best we’ve done to date, and we wanted to ensure listeners know that this is a new milestone in our journey.
Neil: As we go through our songwriting process, we usually marinate some philosophical idea, and eventually, it converges with the music. But initially, when we are writing, it’s all about the music. There aren’t any lyrics usually, so all about notes and chords and structures. But as we reach the close of a particular era in our songwriting, we draw a line in the sand and start to think about wrapping our music together in some philosophical theme.
We’re interested to know; who are some artists the band grew up listening to? And who are some of the artists relevant to your music today?
Trevor: We both grew up with pretty heavy foundations in classic rock — particularly Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Pink Floyd, and the Chili Peppers. In high school, I started getting into the Grateful Dead, which turned me on to bluegrass, jazz, blues, and everything.
Neil: Yeah, mostly classic rock and 90’s as my foundation growing up. Started to learn more about hip-hop and electronica as I got older and started gravitating to pretty much anything with a trippy, stony quality. Since meeting Trevor, I’ve become much more open in my music listening and more knowledgeable and appreciative of more diverse genres. Nowadays, we’re spending a lot of time learning musical practices from all over the world — everything from Turkish psychedelia to folkloric Afro-Cuban drum music.
Trevor: We also adore dub music! It relaxes the soul. When I started playing bass more seriously, I would wake up every morning, smoke a joint, and then play along to hour-long roots reggae playlists on YouTube.
Lastly, what would you like your listeners to know about what draws you to create this unique type of music for your listeners? At a fundamental level, what inspires you to do what you do?
Neil: We love what we get to do every day. Trevor and I are such dedicated musicians as individuals and as a team. It’s rare to have a strong musical connection that continues to grow and bear fruit as time goes on, and we’re fortunate to be in that position — it’s what allows us to make the music we make.
Trevor: And with so much music out there already, we want to make music that we want to listen to. We want to be the best at what we’re doing.