The age old tale of musicians using their creativity as a way to battle inner demons is nothing new. However for Ethan White, it seems his band, O.C.D, is a vehicle for channelling not only his thoughts, but also to maintain his health. “O.C.D began as my solo recording project, essentially acting as a journal to organize my thoughts, feelings, and experiences; helping me gain control of my obsessive compulsive disorder,” he says, explaining how the band came to be. “Once the first demo was finished I realized quickly the direction I wanted to move with O.C.D. I looked to my friends to help bring this recording project to the stage. Once we found footing in the Oakland music community the band formed very rapidly and organically, leading to the first EP.”
The aforementioned EP, which you can hear for the first time below, is one of the most accomplished releases of the year. It is in a league of its own and sounds like no other. From the hypnotic post-punk repetition of ‘All the Things I Know’, through the mesmerising haze of ‘I Don’t Despise You’, ‘Growth is an incredibly eye-opening debut. The high standard musicianship of O.C.D matches the forward-thinking nature of the EP’s central narrative. “’Growth’ is an EP about change,” says White of the recurring theme that runs through the EP. “It’s about letting go of toxic relationships, overcoming fears, battling anxiety and becoming the person you’re truly meant to be.”
The most striking thing about hearing O.C.D, is that they are far from your average D.I.Y punk band. While there are moments across their excellent debut EP, ‘Growth’, where you can hear the influence of a wide array of bands from Animal Collective, The Wipers, and Dinosaur Jr, to The Swirlies, Swervedriver, and Cocteau Twins, the Californian band look a little deeper to find inspiration. “I grew up in Long Beach, California, which is a particularly crucial influence for our sound,” continues White. “We listen to a wide variety of music from Tropicalia, Soul, R&B, Hip hop, Jazz, Shoegaze, Punk, Noise, and Experimental. I tend to write music while I’m walking around, and completely take in my environment. The weather and the trees, the grit of the street and the sounds of the city.”
Owing to the very personal emotion that White has poured into every track on ‘Growth’, he plays his cards close to his chest with regards to what he feels a listener may take from the songs. Ultimately, you get the feeling he hopes they relate in some way. “Whether it’s a connection, or a new perspective I’d like for the listener to take whatever it may be that they find in the music,” he admits.
While the core of O.C.D lies in the mind of White, the final product is very much down to the layers added by the whole band. “I write the lyrics and create the musical foundation for a song, before allowing the rest of the band to build and add depth until a song is fully realized,” he explains, reflecting on the writing and recording process of ‘Growth’. “The recording for “Growth” happened extremely rapidly. We had 19 hours to record essentially a live session at Santo Studios in Oakland Ca. We wanted to have something for people to listen to before our first tour which happened only days after recording last February.”
Given that O.C.D has only been brought to life within the last year, there is still a lot ahead for this young band. Even before the release of ‘Growth’, the band have received a great deal of praise and respect. “As a band, we are absolutely ecstatic about the amount of support and positive reaction we have received from our community in the past 6 months,” White states, before looking to what the future is looking like for O.C.D. “We are looking forward to our first full west coast tour, and we are very happy to be working with The Native Sound. At the moment we are half way done writing our first full length, which is to be recorded at Different Fur studios in San Francisco, CA. As a band we are excited to share our full length album which we feel showcases a more refined and mature sound. I see O.C.D rollin’ till the wheels fall off!”
‘Growth’ is released on July 22nd via The Native Sound, and is available to pre-order now.