I can still picture it vividly now, it wasn’t that long ago after all: driving down the Overseas Highway on a beautiful November morning in the Florida Keys, in a white Camaro convertible, a ring on my left hand after two long years of preparation and waiting. We were on our honeymoon, finally. The sun never felt so warm, the sea breeze never tasted so sweet.
Naturally, I had made a playlist for my wife (please feel free to read those last two words in the Borat voice, as I always do) and I to enjoy throughout our trip, full of songs that meant a lot to us, along with goofy party jams, and a few that I personally thought would work well driving with the top down along the ocean. I don’t know what made me put “Roll the Dice” by Jersey City’s Royal Blush on this playlist, but there it was, nestled nicely among “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey and “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” by the War on Drugs. I must’ve stumbled upon it while waiting for my flight to Miami, hungover and still buzzing from the wedding the night before, looking to pass the time on the plane before takeoff. I saw that the song was mixed by Drugs confidant Jeff Ziegler, so I knew it was going to be good.
As soon as the song hit on that November morning, I was hooked. There was something so entrancing about the atmosphere the band could create within a pop song, and the way the chorus crackles to life. I described “Roll the Dice” as if Fleetwood Mac were into Beach House and tried to write “New Years Day” by U2. I stand by this assessment.
Today, Royal Blush is back with a new single “Cherry Cola,” which picks up right where “Roll the Dice” left off. It is another beautifully textured bit of dreamy indie rock with an endorphin rush chorus. According to the band, “Cherry Cola” is an ode to “Bonnie and Clyde. Impulsiveness. Mojave. Ebb And Flow Of Fortune. A Tarantula Crawling Across The Highway. Immersion. Stuck On An Outside Timeline. Release.” All of which have one thing in common: the yearning to escape, as singer Allison Heckart says in the final send off “See you in the next life … kiss me goodbye.” It’s time to step into the unknown.
Back in February when I first gushed about Royal Blush on this page, Royal Blush guitarist Andrew Merclean reached out because he too was a runner. I love it when I get messages like that. It’s always good to hear from a fellow runner, especially when that runner creates great music to run to. Andrew and I then hopped on Zoom to talk about running and his favorite music to run to.
How when did you start running? How often do you run?
Andrew: I grew up playing soccer and I just definitely wasn’t coordinated and I didn’t have a lot of tricks but I could always run up and down the mid field. High school came and I joined the track team then cross country and it was a really fun group of kids. I was part of the slacker team [laughs]. It was a couple of us and we would just BS. There were dedicated kids who would go and run and our coach would pull up behind us in a pick up truck and make sure we were running. And then me and a couple of these kids we would kinda break off and go to my house and eat chips [laughs]. I was honestly kind of resistant to it just because I wasn’t super interested. It took me to going college. That’s when I started really getting into it. Now, I crave it, and if I don’t do it, I get anxious. Especially if I’m out late the night before and I’m feeling “hangxiety” or guilty, you know, like ‘oh what did I just do to my body’ it kind of re-centers me.
I know exactly how you feel. I feel the same way.
A: Yeah I don’t know if it works that way, but I feel like it’s a reverse of all the Miller Lites I had the night before [laughs].
I would like to think that’s true. Can you describe a typical, average running schedule each week?
A: I get bummed in the winter time because I can’t run in the cold. I don’t like it. As soon as it gets warmer, I start ramping it up. By the time summer comes, especially during COVID, I was running like maybe 4 out of the week, maybe even more sometimes. I usually do about 3 – 5 miles each time. I usually track it by seasons. By Spring time, I’m usually a little out of shape so a lot of the times I’ll walk half the run. Just getting out there and getting movement in. As the weather gets nicer, I’ll find that I’m able to stop less and run a little bit longer. I try to force it every now and then in the winter time and it’s ridiculous. I’ll be trying to run in a blizzard and I’ll have to turn around like what am I doing? [laughs]
It’s hard to get yourself geared up for a run in the winter, especially when it gets dark so early.
A: Yeah, I got a gnarly sprained ankle a few years ago from running in the dark. You gotta be careful, man.
So what music do you listen to when you’re running/riding?
A: Definitely, by a large margin, the most listened to running music for me is the War on Drugs. Those krautrock, repetitive driving beats are so good for running. Lost in the Dream specifically. Like “Under the Pressure,” when that beat drops it’s just like ‘okay, I got some more gas in the tank.’ Lately, it’s been The Stooges for me. Always the Sex Pistols. Paul Cook is a very runnable drummer.
It makes sense with the War on Drugs stuff, you guys worked with Jeff Ziegler on “Roll the Dice” right?
A: Yeah, he’s awesome. I had wanted to work with him for so long. My bands kept breaking up before I could get a chance. He’s real cool. He mixed my best friends record, CR & the Nones Living in Fear. He did a great job for it. He works with big name clients but he’s still down to help people coming up which I really appreciate.
So, in a message to me earlier, you mentioned you listen to your own demos while you run?
A: [laughs] Yeah, I’m THAT person.
I mean, if you have the time, might as well, right?
A: Yeah, normally I don’t do it so much but I listen to my demos as soon as we finish a band practice I’ll go home and listen to it. It’s like the concept of kaizen continuous improvement. You’re always looking for ways to improve, which can sometimes be a slippery slope. This new song we’ve been working on “Witness.” I put it on just for the heck of it and in the middle I was like ‘this is a very runnable song.’ The tempo is right where it’s supposed to be. I feel kind of like a dork saying I like to run to my own music but that song I’m stoked on.
Do you feel that running helps your creative process?
A: It’s a great outlet. I think there is a flow state. I remember I had a music teacher and he would say the best ideas will always come to you when you walk. I feel like that is also the case with running. Just putting your body in motion, I feel like you kind of breakout of the over-thinking cycle.
Do you guys write lyrics while you run or get ideas for your music then?
A: I don’t get lyrics but I get lots of weird ideas, like music video ideas. I remember I had the dumbest idea ever and I’m happy we didn’t do it. I had this idea of, you know how people go out on Friday, Saturday night and I thought about us busking outside of a bar and even though we don’t condone the habit of smoking, that’s what people want when they drink. So we thought about tying our Bandcamp address around cigarettes with dental floss and handing out free cigarettes, but that’s not like a positive thing to do [laughs]. Maybe free beer would be better, or something drunk people crave like hot dogs.
So what’s your proudest running accomplishment? Is there anything in particular that stands out to you?
A: I think I’m just really proud of how it’s become a habit that I crave. It’s become part of my life full circle. I remember when I started in high school, I was forced to do it. I wasn’t voluntarily running 7 miles. But now I love running. That’s what I’m proudest of.
So do you have any advice for people who are thinking about getting into running?
A: A couple of things. I would say if you’re intimidated or if you don’t feel like you’re where you wanna be, I would say walk as much as possible. Even if you’re walking three quarters of the way or the whole thing. Just getting out there and moving, you eventually get momentum and you find yourself running half of it, then three quarters of it, and all of a sudden before too long you’ll be sprinting up a hill you know? If you get bored by running, music is really good or podcasts. If you’re scared, like if you’re in an urban environment and scared to get hit by a car, I would recommend bone conduction headphones, that’s what I use. They don’t go in your ears, they just sit on your cheekbones so you can hear the street. I love them. You get a little bit less bass but honestly in the long run it’s better for your hearing. You don’t realize that you’re cranking the volume and its in my ear. God forbid a car is coming at you, you might not be able to hear. I feel like a really common behavior when learning new skills – and I noticed this with myself – I feel like sometimes you expect to be good at something new immediately and if it’s not natural to you, you give up. You just gotta accept the fact that you’re not going to be where you want to be in the beginning, it opens you up to learning.
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Royal Blush will be playing a few shows in NYC and Jersey City this summer, and are currently back in the studio recording the follow up to “Cherry Cola.” You can find them on Bandcamp and all streaming services.
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