There Is Art In Everything is the child project of William Wallace and Matthew Alexander, two long-time members of the Southeast US local music scene. In 2017, they, along with a bunch of friends spanning from all sorts of other bands in the scene (such as Charlotte’s Never I) and even our own Trenton Worsham, came together in 48 hours to produce a completely unrehearsed, unwritten, experimental album.
It was titled There Is Art In Everything, Vol. 1, and is available on all platforms.
We weren’t really trying to make anything serious or good, it was more of just a lot of friends hanging out, having a few drinks, and writing some stuff outside of our comfort zone and exploring new sounds and styles we hadn’t previously considered before. Half of that album is straight-up goofy, but we have a few gold nuggets we’re really proud of.
Matthew Alexander
After being reached out to by Good With Anything, a Fayetteville NC Eclectic Emo band, they decided to return to the studio after two years of silence to write out two new tracks for a split, “Anything / Everything”, which released March 22nd, 2019.
We sat down with Matthew and William to discuss the project and how it’s different from other bands we’ve seen in the industry before.
What made you want to start the project?
We started the project after I left Vices and I tried to start a pop-punk band with a guy who ended up flaking, so I just wanted to do something before I moved out of Charlotte. I had been listening to a ton of Hotel Books and September Stories, so I guess I just wanted to put something together like that because it was what was on my mind. We didn’t know what to call it, and I think at some point one of us said “There Is Art In Everything” in our group chat, and it kind of just stuck. We totally winged the first album, and it ended up falling short of what I would have liked to release, but it was just for fun, so I didn’t really care. Now I kind of wish we had taken it more seriously, because I didn’t think a track on that album would ever break 1,000 plays, let alone spawn more tracks and give way to a merch line and all of that.
Matthew Alexander
What’s your writing process like?
Honestly, it’s… pretty lazy. But it’s raw, and it’s expressive – and that’s what we built the project on. It was kind of a way to get something off your chest and express a feeling in a way that wasn’t overproduced or made into a big to-do. It keeps it simple and to the point, and basically our rule is as long as we don’t release something embarrassing, it’s fine to ship.
Matthew Alexander
My writing process usually starts with the instruments. I try to figure out what kind of feeling or message I want to convey — and once that is established within the music itself — I can figure out where the words will take me. Sometimes a line or a set of lyrics will come to my head first, and I’ll try to write around it. That being said, that tends to be more uncommon for me.
William Wallace
What made you want to go the DIY, experimental route?
While planning is always practical, the DIY experimental route allows for rules to be broken. I don’t feel like I have to follow guidelines or some sort of formula. I can write something that is spoken word, rap, indie, ambient, or a mixture of anything else. It allows everything we do to be authentic and honest, and that’s what TIAIE is all about.
William Wallace
Is there a plan for a Vol 2?
Actually, yeah, we made a huge plan for Volume #2 and it’s taking a lot longer than we expected – I’m writing a full novel. Like, 500 pages. We got a prompt from our friend Colby, and I’ve just been writing to it since 2017. I touch it every few weeks and we’re in the middle of chapter 3 right now. When the book is done, we’re going to write the album to that, and we’re gonna have a ton of guest features on it and everything. It’s going to be really cool, I think.
Matthew Alexander
Have you played live? Do you plan to?
We’ve toyed around with the idea of it, but if we do it’s going to be unlike any other kind of show we’ve ever been to. After going to so many different shows, there’s no way we’d compete with a normal band on just a performance basis – we’re more of a spoken-word/artsy project about self acceptance and finding the beauty in pain and life and all that, so I think the live show would reflect that. It’d probably be only 4-5 songs and then a lot of TED Talk stuff. Maybe some crowd participation. Set the stage up in a way where that makes sense. We haven’t ironed out the kinks yet.
Matthew Alexander
What’s your favorite track, out of the ones you’ve released thus far?
My favorite track that we’ve released thus far is August. A relationship I was in had ended very abruptly and harshly, and to be able to finally find the words to talk about it had felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It’s the most honest I have ever been in any song I’ve written. Being publicly vulnerable like that is intimidating, but that’s what makes me so proud of it.
William Wallace
Through Every Broken Heart has been one of my favorite pieces of work to ever create, but I think Growing Up, I Learned is my absolute favorite because Will just did such a fantastic job of making the timbre of his voice just absolutely perfect to convey every single emotion with such a perfect accuracy.
Matthew Alexander
You can find There Is Art In Everything on every major music platform.
