"When you shout out your side of the story, what echoes back?" (An Interview with Jonah Scott of The Altogether)
Enveloped in every song is a single note of clarity—of windblown fields, sun-tinted fire escapes, and ocean-tossed cliffs. The Altogether unfolds these crystalized moments into worlds of stark lyricism and layered melody. Today on the Half Mystic blog, we sit down with Jonah Scott of the Altogether for a conversation about bicycles, liminal space, and the reach for something larger.
HM: The Altogether was founded in 2012, and you released 22 songs before your first EP in 2018. What did you learn as musicians during those six years?
JS: I think I learned that I don’t belong anywhere in front of a camera! Before 2018 we were mostly releasing YouTube covers from various halls and dorm rooms at our school. We were learning how to strip back a song to its bare elements, how to make it work with just a guitar and one or two vocalists. Those years helped refine my idea of the “acoustic guitar test,” which is still the first way I measure good songwriting. If a song can survive being played with just an acoustic guitar and a singer, I know it can be something great. I was also in school for recording engineering at the time, so a big part of the pre-EP era was working towards making our music sound real.
Your 2018 debut Look Up featured Sierra Scott as a backing vocalist, and later that year, When We Were Kids featured Sierra as a lead vocalist. How has your sound changed since Sierra became a full member of the band?
I’ve known Sierra for a long time, so I’ve always had an idea of the shape of the puzzle we had to construct in order for her piece to fit right in. As a singer, she brings a particular purity in tone. Same with Brian [Gilbert, the Altogether’s third member]—they both balance out my rough edges vocally. Put her in front of a microphone and the sonic result is pure silver.
You wrote, performed, produced, recorded, and mixed the Altogether’s most recent release—December 2020’s A Christmas Couplet. How was the artistic experience of working almost entirely alone?
In my creative work, it’s always been important to me to remove all excuses not to consistently release new stuff. First and foremost, I’m a writer and musician. But I realized early on that, if I never learned the technical side of music, there would always be a reason not to put songs in the world—“I don’t know any producers,” or “no one wants to work on my music,” or “engineers are too expensive.” I spent the last several years learning how to inhabit all those roles at once, which culminated in “A Christmas Couplet.” It’s very satisfying! And a lot of sitting. I should work out more.
The band, which began in Baltimore, relocated recently to New York. How does the landscape of each city change your music?
It’s difficult to say! We haven’t played many live shows so far, and I think it would be exciting to feel the energies of different crowds in New York, in Baltimore, or elsewhere. For the moment, we are absolutely a studio band. I will say that our Baltimore-based music feels very different from our New York-based music, but that could be as much about time as place. In any case, both of those cities have my heart. Also, I am constantly looking for a path out of them—maybe our next release will be the result of me disappearing into a forest.
Aside from the band, what personal projects are each of you involved in?
Personally, I’m involved in trying to become the fastest cyclist in Brooklyn. Brian has been writing and producing some amazing video projects. He recently asked me to score his Youtube short “Earn $20K EVERY MONTH by being your own boss”—it’s a hell of a ride. He is also biking fast, but in a stationary way. Sierra will have her own solo album out soon, which I’m producing! She doesn’t generally ride a bike, so at least there’s one person I am definitely faster than.
Look Up features “Sophie,” one of your most well-known tracks. What do you think draws listeners to this song in particular?
It’s interesting, isn’t it? Maybe all the listeners are named Sophie. We’ve clearly cornered the Sophie market.
In all seriousness—I’m not sure! I wrote that song before anybody was truly listening. So, whatever it is about “Sophie” that makes people press “replay,” I do believe it came from a very raw, genuine place. There wasn’t any pressure for the song to be something it didn’t want to be. And, at the end of the day, I think Brian’s voice does a lot to elevate the emotion that runs through the track.
Describe your music as three books you’ve read in the past year.
This year I’ve been on a major kick of only reading the biographies and autobiographies of my heroes—many of them musicians. So, I don’t think I can answer without being pretentious! That said, if someone else feels like describing the Altogether as the biographies of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elton John, and Bruce Lee, then please, be my guest.
“Slowly,” featuring Karen Han, forms a bridge between melancholy and hope—a common thematic thread in your lyrics. What draws you to emotional liminality?
Brian and I are interested in telling as complete a narrative as we can in the space of three or five minutes. When you shout out your side of the story, what echoes back? For every person who had a miserable 2020, who stumbled upon some small triumph? Especially in a song like “Slowly,” which was rush-released as a single at a crisis point in our country, we wanted to reflect and look forward at once. I suppose we’re drawn to emotional liminality because, at times, anything less feels like a lie.
Over the course of the pandemic, the band has been active on social media—including hosting an array of Instagram Lives. In the midst of the isolation of COVID, what have these meetings meant to you?
I always hesitate to highlight the positive things brought about by this pandemic before talking about the devastating loss of life and the hugely irresponsible reaction from our government. What I will say is that I have never minded being alone. Even without a pandemic, I’m happiest in a composition studio, locked away from the noise.
But after the release of our album Silo last July, I started hosting Instagram hangouts to live-teach the new songs to our listeners. I love it as a soft, low-commitment way to dip my toes into the realm of live performance. As I’ve said before, I don’t come alive in front of a camera; you can find me pretty much always behind the scenes. But if I can engage with a crowd, however small, and talk music and practice some guitar for an hour every couple of weeks—maybe someday, when this pandemic leaves us behind, I can play a show. The hangouts keep me trained towards the future.
It’s June, almost a year after Silo’s release. What are you reflecting on? What are you pursuing?
2020 was deeply bizarre, and the more I think about it, the more layers I unravel. I just remembered that, at the start of last year, I wanted to get into SCUBA diving! But whatever did or didn’t happen, I’m forever thankful for my health, my friends, my family. From a musical standpoint, we built up so much momentum with Silo, and I’m pursuing that momentum into future releases. Like I said, no excuses not to release new stuff! And if we can reach towards something larger along the way by donating to organizations like the COVID-19 NYC Family Fund or the BRC [Bowery Residents’ Committee], all the better.
Oh, and SCUBA diving—definitely on the summer schedule. I’d like to see some fish. If I’m lucky, an octopus.
The Altogether are a Brooklyn, NY-based group formed in 2012 by multi-instrumentalist Jonah Scott and singer Brian Gilbert. Having since added Sierra Scott to the lineup as a singer, they have independently released several singles and EPs. Their debut LP, Silo, was one of Bandcamp’s top sellers in August 2020. Explore more: Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter | Instagram