A Quick Chat with Super Free

Congratulations on the release of Tell Me More About the Dark. What does this debut single mean to Super Free?

Tosh: I personally feel like it's getting the ball rolling. We've been sitting on a lot of songs and a lot of creativity for a while now, and it feels like we're finally about to open the floodgates. We've had all this momentum building behind the scenes, and now we're finally able to share it with everyone.

Tyler: Yeah, I'd say much the same. This really feels like the beginning of everything we'll do. It means a lot.

Your music blends folk, rock, Americana and garage soul. If someone was hearing Super Free for the first time, how would you describe your sound?

Tyler: I think artists like The Arcs and Dan Auerbach are a big reference point for us, along with a lot of the music coming out on Easy Eye Sound. It's retro-inspired music, but with a modern perspective.

The project brings together three accomplished producer-songwriters. How has that shared production background influenced the way you write and record together?

Tosh: It's really changed the way I've been creative, and I've loved it. I get the biggest buzz out of writing a song and capturing that initial burst of creativity. Then I almost get to hand the responsibility over to the other guys.

Sometimes the arrangement isn't finished yet, and Tyler and Chas will say, "Actually, that chorus should be the bridge," or "We need another chorus here." Suddenly the whole structure changes, and that's something I've never really experienced before. I find that really exciting.

I've also had to adapt my own creative process because we all work differently. It's been about finding a way that works for all three of us.

The single was mixed by Chas Hunter and mastered by Brian Lucey, whose credits include The Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys. What did Brian bring to the finished track, and how did his mastering complement the mix?

Tosh: I'm still learning about mastering, but what I've been told is that Brian isn't a conventional mastering engineer. Rather than simply making the song louder or adding polish, he really puts his own creative stamp on it.

Tyler: He's also worked on so much of the Easy Eye Sound catalogue, which is a sound we're really inspired by. I'd always known him as one of the people responsible for making those The Black Keys records sound the way they do.

The title Tell Me More About the Dark immediately sparks curiosity. What's the story behind the song?

Tyler: I actually wrote the song around 2020 or 2021 for an ex of mine. We were writing songs together at the time and she needed more material.

Interestingly, I wrote it from her perspective, as though she was speaking to me. Years later, Tosh heard it and helped bring it back to life, and now it's become a Super Free song. I'm really stoked with how it's turned out.

With your debut single out now, what can listeners expect next from Super Free?

Tosh: Expect the unexpected.

We've got a whole bunch of songs that are all very different from one another. There's folk, acoustic songs, rock songs—we're really just following our creative instincts at the moment.

Tyler: Everything coming from this first body of work is pretty eclectic because of the way the band came together. We were simply throwing ideas around and following whatever excited us creatively.

We've also already got another album written, with Tosh doing a lot of the heavy lifting on that one, and it's much more cohesive as a body of work.

So there's plenty more music on the way, and hopefully plenty of shows too.