Today I’m thrilled to introduce everyone to TELECOM, the solo project of Brooklyn-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sean McVerry. On his electric new single called “Ramon,” TELECOM wears his Brit-pop influences proudly on his sleeve in a song ready for your next playlist. I was also able to catch up with McVerry for a brief interview about this new single below.
What are the primary influences and inspirations that shaped what TELECOM ultimately became?
During the initial lockdown I found myself back at my parents house in my childhood bedroom sort of re-discovering records I had inherited from my mom. She was the first person I heard play piano and it was always in the house and was a huge influence on not only me deciding to play piano, but also in the style I developed as a player. I started digging back into these Zombies, Carole King, and Beach Boy’s records I loved growing up – just albums without flashy production that were rooted in songs that felt good to play. After that, I started nurturing a little pile of songs that eventually took shape as the TELECOM project.
Can you describe the story behind “Ramon,” and what made you choose it as your first single release under this project?
So my girlfriend and I moved into a new apartment in November of 2020, and it was one of the first times I’d ever lived on the ground floor of a building. Pretty much immediately, I tracked down a free piano on Craigslist and got a friend of mine to help me move into our house (nearly killing ourselves in the process). The piano hadn’t been tuned since probably the early 90’s so it stayed in tune only for very brief moments of time. “Ramon” was written in probably the first week I had the piano in here. I had mined some drum loops from a record I got at Captured Tracks in Brooklyn, and started playing and singing the main melody over a loop. It was still pretty bleak pandemic-wise in New York, and I found myself spending large chunks of time just observing our super’s cat in the courtyard, stalking prey. The way our apartment is set up, you can look out into the courtyard and basically see into everyone’s kitchen window. All the lights are slightly different colors, the decorations are varied, and everyone’s place emits a different energy. We all sort of had retreated into this micro-worlds in our apartments for the time being and I started writing “Ramon” around that idea, and the anxiety that came with confinement and isolation.
What can listeners look forward to regarding the forthcoming TELECOM debut LP, and how does “Ramon” set the stage?
TELECOM is going to be a pretty large collaborative project. The LP is nearly complete, and every song will have a music video to accompany it. I think “Ramon” and the second single to follow will give folks the general look and feel of where the whole thing is going. It’s all a bit cheeky, all a bit rough-and-ready, and there’s much much more that is in store for the project. Hoping everyone follows us through the development.