Corey light is our interview for this month. Corey is a musician from Sanford, Maine.
Let’s find out about Corey and his music. Thank you for giving us this interview.
How are you doing today?
Good! I’ve been spending plenty of time with family and friends for the holidays. It’s always nice to get out and connect with people this time of year.
Where were you born?
I was born in Nashua, New Hampshire in 1996 and spent many years in the neighboring town of Litchfield.
Growing up in that rural setting I was usually found riding my bike, maybe playing some baseball, or getting lost in the forest with my friends.
What instruments do you play?
I play a little bit of everything on any instrument I can get my hands on. Primarily guitar, keyboard, and drums.
What are some of your favorite musicians and or bands?
Oh gosh. That’s always a tough one to answer haha!
Mostly 1960s psychedelic/garage rock, soul, folk, stuff like that. The really obscure private press titles really catch my interest.
I had a Walkman growing up and mostly played cuts from The Beatles, Elvis, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Temptations, The Beach Boys, Boston, Three Dog Night, plus some great ’60s pop and British invasion compilations.
Early on I started getting interested in records too. My first 45 was The Moody Blues – Ride My Seesaw and I’ve been collecting ever since.
I always had my tapes or CDs on the bus or hanging around on my bike. Eventually I got my hands on some off brand MP3 player and I loaded that thing up.
My mom saw those Bosstown sound bands like Beacon Street Union and Ultimate Spinach back in the day. She had some of those records and they definitely tipped me off to some more obscure music down the line.
We had no shortage of classic ’60s radios stations in the early 2000s so I picked up a lot from that. Mostly Cool 96.5 FM (later known as 96.5 The Mill, now both long gone). My dad made some great playlists too, I thank him for my love of 1960s bubblegum rock.
I’ve had so many favorites over the years.
A SHORT list: Margo Guryan, The Stark Reality, Flat Earth Society, Lazy Smoke, Summer Sounds, The Fallen Angels, The Left Banke, July, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Faine Jade, Afterglow, The Churchills, The David, W.C.P.A.E.B., New Colony Six, Brute Force, The Moody Blues.
I’m leaving off about 1,000 people!
Tell us about your home studio and producing your own music?
Nothing too fancy! I’m on a pretty low budget so I do everything myself. For the last few albums I’ve recorded everything on my iPhone in GarageBand where I do all the recording, mixing, production, and mastering.
I layer the tracks and shape it to really bring out the vision. I am not classically trained so this stuff isn’t really laid out and planned in advance. I sometimes write lyrics but mostly the music is recorded as I play it for the first time.
It really captures a certain innocence I’ve come to appreciate.
Gradually I’ve been fine tuning myself so I can really nail down that music in my head. I’m slightly held back by a lack of equipment so that is something I hope to upgrade for any subsequent release but it certainly hasn’t stopped me thus far!
I had a friend at Labyrinth Audio in Peabody, Massachusetts do the master for Faces in Dust so that was an exciting first to be in a real studio.
Wes Garland of Nashville Record Productions cut the lacquer for Faces. He has cut releases for some big names like The Beach Boys, Margo Guryan, The Soft Machine, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, and Jack White.
How can our readers find your music?
I always encourage people to purchase physical media from their favorite artists. Whenever I sell records or tapes it’s usually on my website tapestack.com, on Bandcamp, or at local record stores.
To people looking for my full discography I’ve uploaded all my albums to Bandcamp or pressed them on vinyl. I’ve also made the bulk of my work available on all streaming platforms for everyone to listen.
For new listeners I usually point them to Dreaming in Pink by The Astronomical Miracle. That was the last album from the T.A.M. project. My latest work is the album Faces in Dust by Corey Light.
Faces is the debut under my name however both of these are solo projects. Everything you hear is my own layered lasagna of musical madness!
https://theastronomicalmiracle.bandcamp.com/album/dreaming-in-pink
When did you start composing music?
From a young age I had the bug. After begging for a guitar for months my parents surprised me with one around Christmas 2007. I put that thing to work and popped the included amp within a week. They returned the kit back to Radio Shack and I never saw it again. Fast-forward however long later and I managed to coerce my parents into buying me another guitar, this time from Toys R Us! Eventually I upgraded to a red Fender Squier strat from the local music store, Daddy’s Junky Music, now long out of business. My first drum set came from the same place in Manchester, NH too. Thankfully it’s all still with me.
For a spell I did take piano lessons when I was real young. Unfortunately it didn’t last long although I did manage to play a handful of songs.
I was in chorus for a few years in school too. I think that helped make me a little more comfortable with performing.
I’m not yet classically trained so I would love to learn how to read and write sheet music. So far my attempts didn’t stick but that doesn’t stop me from playing!
Around 2020 I started to get serious about releasing music and at this point I have 7 full releases under my belt. Most of that early work is demo level material but I had fun with every bit of it.
Now I’m sending records to people all over the world, stores all over the East Coast, and getting radio play in places like Cambridge, Massachusetts (WMBR 88.1 FM at MIT), Syracuse, New York (The Wax Museum with Ronnie Dark), and Victoria, Australia (“Under a Paisley Sky” 98.3 RPPFM).
Are you composing any songs now?
As for now I’m letting my recordings build up. I’m always thinking music every single day and waiting for something real exciting to share.
We see that you create acid folk, what other genres are you into?
Just about everything. I tend to listen to favorites from the ’60s and ’70s but I have playlists from many eras.
I’ll try just about anything old or new from any genre. I get influence from all over!
As for playing I just fall into the vein I’m aiming for the best I can.
Sometimes I’m off the mark and other times I surprise myself in a completely different direction.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
Remember to support your local artists! Streaming services pay out as little as $0.0001 per song play. Buying physical media is a great way to help plus you get to hold something from your favorite artists!
Even just commenting, liking, and sharing posts goes a long way.
Music brings so much love! Something I’m overly glad to share in a world that desperately needs more of it.
Best wishes always
Corey Light
– Interview by David Anthony
Dave Bixby 