Long Island’s Ornaments have been hard at work since the release of their EP, Stories To Weather And Storms To Tell last year, with tour dates across the country and even a performance at South By Southwest. This year, the band is keeping that momentum going, having recently finished up tour dates with Sparrows in April and plans to begin recording again soon!
Interview by Dom Vigil
Can you tell us a little bit about Ornaments for any readers who may not be familiar?
Ornaments is post hardcore/post rock band from Long Island. We started a little over a year ago, we have recorded an EP, 2 additional live recording for a future release. We love Sheetz.
How do you feel the Long Island, or even just the east coast music scene has shaped Ornaments or your music?
Long Island has given the world a lot of amazing bands, and the scene has always been thriving in someway or another. It’s always a destination for touring bands to come visit, which is great, because we have been able to see, and play with a lot of great acts that may not hit other markets as often, if at all. Its because of promoters like Tom Brown who runs Table 3 Media, John Stengle who runs Amityville Music Hall and Live Source Long Island and John Scanlon who books for East Coast Collective. Without these people, we wouldn’t have the volume of touring bands coming to Long Island that we do. They really care about the scene, and book shows that make kids want to get off of social media for a few hours and be apart of something meaningful.
The east coast has really given us a lot of amazing bands such as Caspian, Gates, Arrowhead, Actor Observer, At The Heart of It, Pianos Become The Teeth, Boy Sets Fire, The Saddest Landscape, Hopesfall, SkyCameFalling, Frameworks, Owel and countlessother bands. Being from LI, really has shown us what a community is, and we are very fortunate to be apart of a scene that is less worried about the genre, and more about the passion that goes into the art any one band creates.
Last year, you released your EP, Stories To Weather And Storms To Tell – now that it has been out for nearly a year, how do you feel the reception of it has been so far?
The reception for the EP has been overwhelming. It has afforded us the rare opportunity to let the band see other parts of the country and play to so many people in those areas. We have also been able to achieve goals, like playing SXSW, Fest and reach a larger demographic than we could have ever imagined. Its really such a wonderful feeling, to hear people yell lyrics back to us when we are 1000 miles away from home. The whole point of creating music, is to make a unique connection to an individual or group of people, no matter how small or large, and its very rewarding to see that we are able to make that connection with songs that mean so much to us.
Did you have any major goals or plans when working on the EP?
Honestly, we weren’t sure what would happen, we knew we wanted to play to anyone willing to listen, and that was and still is the priority.
What would you like listeners to take away from Stories To Weather And Storms To Tell?
We hope the listener can make some sort of connection, and feel something when they hear the EP, where it is that they love it, or hate it. Just to make the listener feel something. Thats what its all about, just to have someone feel something, to invoke a feeling of some sort. The lyrics are super personal, and so is the music, as it should be.
Are you currently working on any new music that listeners can look out for?
We have something in the works with giving the EP a facelift so to speak, as well as some additional content to go along with the EP, we will also be recording a new record in the coming months. We will be playing a lot of new material on our upcoming tours.
You just wrapped up a few tour dates with Sparrows in April – what was the highlight of the tour?
For us, the highlight was the warm welcome back to LI we got. It was great to play a show at home, and have the room filled, and people singing a long. It’s such a great feeling. Also, playing Wiffleball in walmart parking lots across the country. That was also a highlight.
Do you have any plans to hit the road again this year?
We have some shows coming up around the north east over the summer, as well as a tour we are planning for our way down to Fest 15 in Gainesville.
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us! Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you so much for having us! The only thing I would want to add, to whomever might read this, go to local shows, start a band, be a part of something. It’s the most rewarding thing you can do.
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