That’s right. My band Dr.Sanders (Yes, I know, I go by Dr.Sanders and my band is called Dr.Sanders. Think of it like how David Bowie had lots of different band members) has just released a new full-length album. It’s not stereotypical goth sounding music, but it does incorporate some of my favorite elements of the genre while blending it with a ton of other stuff. I would say it’s closest to alternative rock, but I’m not necessarily trying to make it align with any particular sound, just what feels right to me. Here’s a little blurb I wrote about the creation of the album.
Patch Overlap is the first Dr.Sanders album in 6 years. We started working on many of the songs in 2015, but I (Donny) began suffering from a very serious illness related to infected tissue. Robert Gaar, Chase Hawkins and myself recorded the rhythm tracks together and began fleshing out the songs until I became too ill to play. It was a horrible experience and I became incredibly depressed as my physical state made it almost impossible to hold a guitar for extended periods of time. I spent so much time in hospitals until I underwent a surgery in 2017 and finally began to feel like myself again in 2018.
After essentially learning to play guitar again, I jammed with some musicians in late 2019 and after some difficulties I decided to revisit some of the older material we had started and complete my vision for Patch Overlap. I wanted to push myself really hard as a songwriter and spent a large amount of time working on melodies. I’ve worked with Robert and Chase many times over the last decade and they always make every song that much better. When the three of us play together it just seems to click and we always make material that I feel very passionate about.
The album really evolved from the three of us just jamming together. I usually brought an idea or a guitar riff and we would just play until we found the right groove for the rhythm. If we needed an additional part for a bridge or chorus then Robert would almost immediately pull the perfect piece out of thin air which is exactly what he did when we recorded Blush Response. The best thing about recording these songs was that I think we really captured the feeling of our jam sessions. We chose the takes that felt right rather than if they were technically perfect, but felt stiff. Chase really seemed to just capture the mood I wanted in just a few takes and songs like “Blue Anatomy” and “Flamingo” captured exactly what I wanted out of each track. We really bond over the heavier side of music so we started adding faster songs like “Invader” and “The Hunger” along with heavier parts to “Grey Matter Trial” and “Feldspar”.
I saw the previous album Blush Response as a test to see if I could write delicate material and something a little more experimental. Lyrically it dealt with my insecurities and my health that I was beginning to struggle with (to me it almost feels like a diary of that time period). Patch Overlap really came out of the frustration dealing with illness and with the three of us working together pushed it into a very aggressive place. The lyrics deal with a lot of the feelings I experienced while I was sick and many of the regrets I have from that time in my life. There are definitely some sections dedicated to a few less-than-pleasant people I interacted with in the last few years. I tend to interpret my experiences in a somewhat surreal way, but every lyric is always relaying my own life in some way.
If you’re interested in purchasing some band merchandise which includes an audio cassette release then you can find them here:
GothCast 