Interview: Catching Up With Mars Motel + Stream “Living In The Moment”

Appropriately, the dreamy, nostalgic vibes at the heart of the Brooklyn-based Mars Motel‘s sound and vision sprung from Sarik Kumar’s (lead vox, guitar) re-connection with some demos he cut in his teenage years. The band funnels Kumar’s long-time affinity for Brit-pop and Creation Records-released dream-pop through a modern prism for an enveloping aesthetic to lose oneself in.

Mars Motel most recently released a new single, “Living In The Moment,” and to celebrate, we sent Kumar some interview questions to get to know the band better. Check it all out while streaming the latest from Mars Motel below.

Hi, Mars Motel! Congrats on your new single. Can you tell us a little more on who you are and how you first got into making music?

Thank you!! We truly appreciate the love and support. My name is Sarik Kumar and I am the lead singer and guitarist of Mars Motel.

Well before the official name and creation of Mars Motel, this specific music began as a series of psychedelic, Brit-Pop inspired bedroom demos written during my last year of high school. For almost 10 years the demos were left on an old computer and almost forgotten until the Summer of 2016 when I rediscovered them while visiting my childhood home on Long Island. At the time I was writing and performing with Brooklyn indie-pop outfit, Twin Wave, and after numerous shows and releases throughout 2013 to 2016, I decided it was time to embark on a new venture – thus Mars Motel was born.

I knew there was something special about these early demos, so I took the tracks to Mission Sound in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and worked with my friend and producer, Tommy Eichmann on the first 5 singles. In January 2017, a live band was recruited and formed, with the current line up consisting of myself, Sarik Kumar (Vox & Guitar), Wesley Wynne (Guitar), Craig Stauber (Drums) & Justin Lieberthal (Bass).

What’s your songwriting process like? Who are some of your biggest influences?

I’d like to think that the lyrical content blooms from the music. I usually start with a chord progression that I find beautiful, work to develop a vocal melody, and then write lyrics based on the musical inspiration.

During the time these first 5 songs were written, I was heavily inspired by 90’s Brit Pop – Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Verve, Ocean Colour Scene, etc. But lately I have been listening to a lot of David Bowie, Radiohead, early Kings of Leon, The Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age and Caveman.

What is “Living in the Moment” about? How did it come to be?

“Living In The Moment” is a song about youth and independence and was written to capture that moment of leaving home and venturing out into the wider world. But, as the lyrics imply, returning home can be troubling when the place you remembered feels changed and unfamiliar. “Is this all there is in this town? // Not quite sure I’ll be down // But its the place where the best are born // And I can call it home”.

What attracted you to the dreamier textures that are becoming a hallmark of your music?

I have always felt strongly connected to that powerful, yet melodic guitar-driven sound. There is a sublime, wall of sound style of guitar to that era of 90’s Brit Rock that I have always loved. The instrumentation can be deep, thick, ethereal, and dreamy, yet you can always hear a true song within. A goal of mine has always been to make sure one can still hear, feel, and connect to a deeper meaning through the music and lyrics. If you strip everything away to just guitar and vocals, Is there a real song underneath it all? If so, something is working in my opinion!

Is “Living in the Moment” indicative of where your sound is headed moving forward?

“Living In The Moment” is the 5th and final track from Mars Motel’s initial series of singles. Later this summer we will be releasing, “Mars Motel – The Eclipse Sessions”, a 5 song live EP which was filmed and recorded on August 21, 2017 at Mission Sound during the first solar eclipse the contiguous United States saw in 38 years. It was certainly an auspicious day to record an album, and we certainly felt the celestial vibes throughout the music that day. The EP features 3 tracks (“The Enemy,” “Green,” & “It’s Here Tonight”) from Mars Motel’s first wave of singles and 2 unreleased B sides.

After our live EP release, we will be heading back to the studio for a new record. All I will say on that, for now, is the music is heading in a different direction. Still dreamy and melodic, but with a more complexity and a unique focus on rhythm. Think David Bowie’s Berlin Era mixed with Radiohead’s “In Rainbows”.

Any new artists/venues/purveyors of the arts in Brooklyn you could turn our readers onto

Since I have lived here, Brooklyn has been such an amazing place to live and play music. In Mars Motel we have done a lot of New York City gigs, but Brooklyn is our home. You can walk into any venue in BK and find something unique going on. I feel like, for the past few years, a lot of people have been saying “rock is dead” or whatever, but I don’t think that’s true at all. Go to any cool spot in NYC or BK and you will find awesome girls and guys pouring their hearts out on stage with guitars in hand! If anyone tells you “rock is dead”, it just means they aren’t looking in the right places…come to Elsewhere, Alphaville, Gold Sounds, Berlin, Union Pool, Baby’s All Right, or any number of venues on Thursday or Friday night and find out for yourself!

Where can we follow you and where can our readers catch you live next?

Follow us on Spotify, SoundCloud, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook & Twitter. We have all the social platforms covered!

Our next show is at Gold Sounds in Brooklyn on Friday, May 4th.

Any parting thoughts? Open platform!

Thank you for the questions and support. Its been a pleasure chatting with you!