Eternal Sunshine of Summer
We all have that favorite summer record that we turn to when the days start to get longer and the temps start to rise. It may be one that gets you through summer love, summer heartbreak or even just the epic moments that summertime brings. Today let me introduce you to a band that has given us just that. They call themselves Mighty Tortuga and it seems they have a delivered us quite a mighty EP for all of our summer needs. Mighty Tortuga is a band based in Southern Connecticut and is compiled with friends who all left their previous bands, to then come together to form Teenage Mutant Ninja, wait, wrong group. They formed Mighty Tortuga and started releasing music back in 2019. They gave us the most emo of classics when they covered Just Like Heaven by The Cure. They definitely made it their own and it’s such a fun version. In 2020 we get some singles and also a very groovy EP called The Gloom.
2021 hits and we hear a few more singles, one being, Virtue. A super catchy track with a feature from AJ Perdomo (The Dangerous Summer). The song is then featured on the EP Letting Go, which is actually a re-release of the bands first record.
Fast forward to the present tense and back in April they gave us a taste of what was to come this summer with the track Forgive & Forget. July hits and they decide to light a fire for us with their new EP Eternal Sunshine. The whole EP is light, uplifting and very Transit like. Its lyrics are very relatable and are sure to tug at your heart strings. To tell us more about band history, their influences and recording the EP, I asked band member Tj Redding to answer a few questions!
For starters, can you give us a little Mighty Tortuga history lesson? Where are you guys from? How did the band come to be? Story behind the name Mighty Tortuga ?
History class is in session! Mighty Tortuga was formed in Southern CT! The band became what it is today after a few of us left our old bands to try and start something new. The band name comes from a local witch who was casting spells on a few people we knew. Ultimately calling one of our friends the “Mighty Tortuga." This is 100% true, and after hearing that, we instantly knew this was going to be the band name.
Who would you say are some of your biggest musical influences right now?
Biggest influences on the “Eternal Sunshine“ EP consist mainly of bands we grew up listening to such as The Maine, Mayday Parade, Taking Back Sunday, and The Academy Is. Our main root of inspiration for this record sonically was making something fresh and exciting, that was more palatable to a wider audience of pop punk and alternative rock.
Where did you guys record the new EP? And was there a certain song in particular that you guys enjoyed writing/recording most?
The new EP "Eternal Sunshine" has been about two years in the making. We re-worked the songs a bunch of times to make sure we were really hitting them the way we wanted to. Since the entirety of the process making the record was during the COVID-19 pandemic, we took a hybrid-based recording style. Drums were mostly done out of a home studio overlooking a Tobacco field in Glastonbury, CT. We then brought the rest to our home studio to finish up there. We did some finishing touches with Dom Nastasi from All Get Out, who recorded and produced our previous record “The Gloom.”
The most rewarding part of this record, song writing wise, was on the new single "Fall In Lust.” It was originally a very different song at the beginning stages. During a pre-production session while waiting for the producer to come back into the studio, Jacob was messing around with the guitar, which ultimately led to the riff you hear in the opening of the song as it appears on the record. We scrapped the original and rewrote the song around that riff. That song is all-together the band's favorite song on the record, so that one in particular feels super special
Eternal Sunshine hits all streaming platforms on Friday, July 15th. Don't sleep on this mighty EP and be sure to give the lads a follow, share their tunes and keep this EP spinning all summer long.
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