Since 2020, Tony Bucci, the mastermind behind LA’s Broken Field Runner, has been working on an autobiographical project of musical self-discovery. The result is a trilogy of EPs. The first two, Broken and Field, are available now. On March 4th, Runner brings the trilogy to a brilliant close. Each EP showcases a different aspect of Bucci’s music. With Runner, you’ll hear a return to form of sorts. The songs feature here are more on the indie punk spectrum. Think Jimmy Eat World meets Dashboard Confessional meets Midwest emo.
Luckily, we don’t have to wait until March to hear the final single from the Runner EP. Broken Field Runner has graciously allowed Bearded Gentlemen Music to premiere “In the Sunshine.”
Before taking a listen, here’s what Tony had to say about the song.
The HBO original documentary I’ll be Gone in the Dark is as much about discovering the identity of the Golden State Killer as it is about that investigation’s toll on true crime podcaster turned investigative journalist Michelle McNamara. Spoiler alert: in many ways, it leads to her untimely death.
“In the Sunshine” was written directly in response to a scene from the documentary where her husband Patton Oswald is reacting in real time to her death. He asked how he will ever be able to break the news to his daughter and the response from her school psychologist was something like, “you can’t tell her at night before she goes to bed. You’ve got to tell her in the sunshine.”
The song is about self-investigation. It’s about loss and sleep walking through depressive episodes, but I️ think it’s also about approaching a situation you think you can predict the outcome of and getting a different response. It’s about persevering when it seems the pain will never end.
As an added bonus, Bucci also sat down to answer some questions for us. He covers his music, the EP, and navigating the COVID landscape as a musician. After reading his interview, make sure to hop over to Jetsam-Flotsam’s webstore and pick up a copy of all three EPs!
Runner is the finale of a planned trilogy of music release. What inspired you to create this concept?
I was honestly inspired by how daunting the idea of coming up with another “album” seemed after Lay My Head Down was released in 2019. We had several of the songs recorded for the Broken EP we released in 2020, but because they sounded like nothing we had recorded up to that point, and we felt they didn’t work with the LMHD songs conceptually, we weren’t sure what to do with them.
When the songs I began writing after them also sounded like a thematic departure I started thinking about releasing a series of EPs that explored different genres as a way of embracing the idea that a band name is simply that and you can write whatever songs you like under whatever band name you so choose. What followed was the creation of the Self-Titled EPs.
Each EP showcases a different side of your music. Field is a little more somber and moody, while Runner has more of a ’90s – ’00s emo pop punk feel. Was it challenging to show off distinctive parts of your musical journey on these EPs?
I’m not the type of person who picks up a guitar and says “I’m going to write a pop punk song today.” Typically, my songwriting is accomplished in fits and starts and leads wherever I’m at on that particular day. For that reason you can point to slowcore, indie rock, pop punk, stripped down acoustic, driving power pop, and even spoken word tracks on each of our releases up to this point.
Once I had a bunch of songs across the spectrum of my influences, I sort of emulated Guided By Voices and placed them under album titles that suited them with the help of people like Jayden Seeley, who produced Field and Runner, and NXNES who did the heavy production lifting on Broken. In a batch of 20 songs, I could throw this one into the Field category and this one into the Broken category and so on until we have separate releases that flow conceptually or sonically. I guess you could say deciding which songs would be on which release posed the greatest challenge. Writing them was as difficult as making a record ever is.
Most of these albums were written and recorded in pandemic times. How did the goings on in the world affect your songwriting and the way you approach music?
I’d say that the songs on Field were most effected by “these uncertain times.” I completed all the demos for Field while quarantining in my parents’ basement in Upstate New York. I began to record them with Jayden Seeley because my roommate at the time contracted original-recipe COVID-19 and I could not return to my apartment in Los Angeles after returning home from the East Coast. He invited my wife and I to quarantine in his studio for several days while my roommate recovered, and we laid the groundwork for recording these songs during that time.
Many of the songs were written as a direct result of seeing how much my family had aged in the time since I had last been home, and the others were certainly influenced by the introspection and darkness that comes from months alone with your own thoughts.
It seems weird to say that things are opening up when we’re seeing record case counts, but here we are. How do you feel getting back out there after so long?
We’ve only dipped our toe in so far. I’ve played a few solo shows since the health crisis began and have only just announced our first full band performance at Los Globos in Los Angeles on Friday, March 18, 2022 (almost exactly two years after our last full band performance at Twin Shrieks Fest in Oakland, CA in 2020). It’s honestly been hard to ensure our safety and the safety of our families given the transmissibility of the most recent COVID-19 variants, but I’m hoping that you’re right and things do open up in a safe way so that we can perform live with clear consciences more often in the coming months.
For folks who have never gotten to experience a Broken Field Runner show, what can they expect?
Earnest, emotional performances with as much energy as a couple of thirty-somethings can offer.
The final single off the new EP is “In the Sunshine.” What was the motivation and inspiration behind that song?
Last year HBO released a documentary called I’ll Be Gone In The Dark about the true crime podcaster turned investigative journalist Michelle McNamara’s search for the Golden State Killer that ultimately leads to her death. “In the Sunshine” was written as a direct response to a scene from the documentary where her husband, Patton Oswalt, asks his daughter’s school counselor how he can break the news of her mother’s death to her. Hearing the response, that Oswalt should tell his daughter the bad news “in the sunshine” resulted in the completion of this song within a week of the episode’s release. Sonically, I had also been experimenting with an open C tuning that can be found on this song and “Hair In My Mouth,” which will also be released on Runner on March 4th.
For the uninitiated, if I like “X”, then I’ll like Broken Field Runner. Solve for X.
X equals lyrically dense meditations on how a loving god could cause such agony. X equals the triumph of nostalgia and sentiment over letting the good times roll. X equals introspection, self-pity, and grief layered over open chords and voicemails from dead relatives.
What bands are inspiring and exciting you these days?
I’m constantly inspired by the music scene I’ve been exposed to in Southern California, especially D.C.R. Pollock, Foxx Bodies, Christian Lee Hutson, Mini Trees, Hand Habits (by way of Upstate NY), Field Medic, Derek Ted, Juliet Sunflower, Mount Rainier, Upper Downer, Drug Church (by way of Upstate NY), and Death By Fireworks (by way of the Bay). The records I’ve most listened to recently were written by The Beths, Squirrel Flower, Pedro The Lion, Militarie Gun, and Snow Ellet, but I’m still a sucker for Adrianne Lenker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Sufjan Stevens.
What have you learned about yourself as a person, and as a musician, after recording these three EPs?
I’ve learned that it is ok to doubt, but that I should always trust in art that is honest, no matter what it sounds like.
Any last words?
Purchase the Self-Titled EPs, consisting of 19 tracks across three EPs on Cassette via Jetsam-Flotsam Records and listen everywhere on March 4, 2022.