Bat Lanyard break into the open with 10 great rock tracks on the album Bat Lanyard

“We’ve been doing this a long time,” said Nick. “We played together quite a bit in college, and then we both maintained working on music separately. In the last 10 years, we started to collaborate, and then we just went full tilt the last year and really got every track exactly the way we wanted it.”

Nick lives in Kansas City. Matt is in Dallas. Their main studio is his. Part of the labor of love is that their music all begins on instruments and “in performances as well,” said Matt.

“You can’t replace a good performance with anything,” said Matt. “The liberty that Nick and I have when we get together is that we target three or four songs. He comes in for four or five days, and we play the parts until they’re where we’re happy with them. That’s the whole process. That’s how that all works.”

The album’s tracks have plenty of music for lovers of about any kind of rock, and playful lyrics that tell stories in abstract, quirky ways that flow with the music. They are serious about their music, but it is evident that they have fun with it, too.

“To Matt’s point,” said Nick, “we don’t get to spend hours every day on this. So, when we do get to spend time on it, it takes effort to be able to do this in a way that ultimately produces what we feel like are eminently listenable tracks, and that’s what the goal is. That’s what makes it a labor of love. The process makes it a labor of love. ”

Matt expanded on the labor part, building and equipping the studio in his house, the instruments, the setup of the amps and keyboards, the digital equipment and tools to record and mix the sound.

“The labor of love aspect comes into putting the actual physical labor, time and money into building a room that was good enough to get the sounds in our heads represented as best we could in the mix,” said Matt. “We’ve poured in time and money and everything. It’s literally important enough for us to get the songs out there. And try to have them sound like we want them to in our head. That’s been the whole goal.”

Nick, the primary lyricist, said they also wanted the album to tell a story. Or stories. “Burned Out Lovers,” for instance, is about two different things, modern day complacency and also the self-absorption of the modern world, one thing inspired by early Elton John lyrics and the other by the books of Bret Easton Ellis.

The chorus, he said, “Burned out lovers, turning into others / Flying undercover, everybody loves it now” melds melodically to make the song about two things.

Actually, maybe, more than two. The chorus, other lines, and the melodies all combine to invite listener to put their own contexts, their own stories into the songs:
“No way out of decisions in place.”
“Spotlight on. Don’t worry they’re everywhere.”
“Oh where does it end? When do we bend?”
“Don’t think too loud. Just stick around.”
“Reached the end somehow.”

Another part of the labor of love is the current push to actually promote their music.

“Nick and I talked about it, and we thought why not? Why not give this a try to get some more ears on our stuff and maybe, you know, build a little momentum,” said Matt.

They plan to begin playing live again, as Bat Lanyard. They played together in college in cover and alt rock bands, even produced an EP back then. After college, Matt moved to Dallas and played in bands there, cut a couple of albums and achieved a measure of regional success. But they continued a collaboration that has now gelled into Bat Lanyard.

A vinyl Bat Lanyard is scheduled to be available on July 7 and is available for preorder on their website, Www.Batlanyard.Com. 

“We want to give people eminently listenable songs that have a lot of feel to them, with melody that takes you to a place,” said Nick. “We want our album to be one that you can listen to, from start to finish and not want to skip. But I would like people to enjoy our music even as background music, if they’re at a party or if they’re hanging out at their house.”

Several more songs and another album are in the works, as are live performances. 

“We’re looking to start playing in the fall, even though we’re in different cities,” said Matt. “The idea is to get a band together and start playing some shows, here in Dallas, maybe in Oklahoma City, where we have some contacts, and then going up to Kansas City. We want to grow something.”

Watch and listen as Bat Lanyard grows. Connect on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

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