Cincinnati trio PUBLIC reach a new apex of their craft. “Splash” makes a, well, cannonball-sized splash in pop music. Its neon-filtered bass line clips along at a sticky pace, and lead singer/guitarist John Vaughn rides perfectly at the crest. “I just wanna take you dancing / Charm your best friend and meet your parents,” he sings with a sultry coo.
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“Splash,” produced by Lindgren (Dua Lipa, Cheat Codes), glistens in the funk-pop sun, an apt pairing with the song’s ferocious adrenaline rush. Leaning far more into a pop approach, production-wise, “than our previous releases,” it’s the kind of irresistible hook that you’ll be singing for days. “We love the idea of continuing with this level of production and combining it with some of our rock or [alternative] roots. We always imagine having a true variety of genres represented in our new music,” offers bandmate Ben Lapps (percussion).
“‘Splash’ might be our favorite track we’ve released in a hot minute, and we couldn’t be more excited about the doors it has the potential to open for us,” Matthew Alvarado (bass, synth, vocals) reflects to American Songwriter over email. “If any positive has come out of quarantine, it’s that our schedule has been completely filled with songwriting sessions, giving us access to both songwriters and producers that we may not have had the opportunity to work with otherwise. There’s a lot brewing…”
The new cut recently vaulted over 500,000 Spotify streams, a surefire sign their fan base continues to grow and obsess over their work. The indie-pop trio are most known for their 2019 viral hit “Make You Mine,” the original version of which has garnered 240 million streams alone. That says nothing about an acoustic iteration that has nearly 19 million, and a radio edit with a cool five million.
Such success doesn’t necessarily shift their songwriting approach, but for Vaughn, it makes him reflect on its core intention. “I have two main thoughts that have evolved given what’s happened with that song. 1.) being that it is so important to trust yourself,” he says, noting its double-platinum status in many countries across the globe.
“When I wrote that chorus, I was just trying to make something that made me feel good. And I was inspired by falling in love for the first time. I will probably never write something that pure because I really wasn’t a songwriter just yet,” he continues. “2.) being that the best songs come from an honest place. It can get harder and harder to resist the commercial aspect of songwriting, but I never want to be an artist that is releasing things that don’t sound honest.”
In the song’s evolution, Vaughn suggests “that melody was one of the first things I sang. That’s really how I wrote it. Matt and Ben were looping the progression, and I was pacing and singing to myself,” he explains. “Also, when I wrote the chorus, I didn’t have Matt’s bass line in mind. It’s a lot more melodic or animated than what I would have done, so I think playing off what he was doing really influenced how conversational the verses sound. It’s funny because the chorus is like a Disney sing-along. So simple and repeatable; it’s almost like a nursery rhyme.”
“Then the verses are really quite complex. I’ve seen a lot of younger bands cover the song at talent shows and even restaurants and they never really get the verses right,” he adds with a laugh.
Vaughn, Lapps, and Alvarado first met in their high school jazz orchestra. While studying “jazz theory early on may give us a better perspective on what chord progressions are achievable with different sonic spaces,” remarks Alvarado, “it often feels a little bit like overkill trying to fit really specific extensions in. Sometimes it pays off to get really creative, but most times ─ after hours of trying different, more complicated stuff ─ it seems like simplicity is the best thing for the track.”
Vaughn agrees. “I would say that my chord vocabulary is much more extensive because of my exposure to jaz, and even film scores and composing. But to be honest, it’s more about not using all the chords you know. You can put a million extensions on your chords and go all over the place, but at the end of the day, simplicity is your best friend in our genre. I’d rather be aware of my options for chords, but these days, I’m always trying to find that simple melody over just the right progression. You can create amazing music that way.”
The band dropped their first body of work in 2012 with a Red EP, firmly setting themselves up as one of the must-see acts on the Cincinnati music scene. They soon began supporting artists like Walk the Moon and Twenty One Pilots out on the road, and it soon became evident they were not going anywhere. Their second EP, Let’s Remake It, arrived in 2015.
Even then, it was evident their influences ran far and wide, bopping between disco, funk, and biting rock music. “That blend is definitely just an honest outpour of what we like hearing. Each of us has a really distinct taste in music, and when we work together on something, we can’t help but get a combination of those sounds,” says Lapps. “Personally, I am a massive disco/funk fan, and I love getting to add that flavor whenever we’re working on a new song. All three of us have unique ideas and perspectives, so I feel like that blend always comes naturally when we’re writing.”
Hot off such early successes, and witnessing an escalation of high-profile co-writing sessions, the trio have “really learned to examine the music that we like a lot more closely and understand why we like what we like,” he continues. “We have each spent a lot of time studying the music that is truly special to us, and that has helped us think a lot more critically about each lyric and instrumental part of the songs we are writing now.”
Like many, the songwriting landscape drastically shifted this year, as many songwriters took to Zoom writing sessions to keep their creativity flowing. More than anything, Alvarado took time to significantly reassess the ego side of the craft. “One really tough lesson I’ve personally learned recently is letting go of my pride and ego during our songwriting sessions. Everyone is coming to these writes trying to put their best foot forward. I know I’ve come to the table with ideas that I think are great, only to have the group head in a different direction,” he reflects. “But carrying any sort of negative energy into the (virtual) room, whether it’s because you’re upset that your ideas didn’t resonate or something as simple as being tired and not up for the mental stress, will only hinder the work that the group is trying to accomplish.”
“Everyone is in that room because they love music; it’s literally our whole lives. Once you’ve put your own personal agenda aside, and really focus on being uplifting and collaborative, you’ll find that both you and the product are way better off at the end of the day.”
PUBLIC last released a project in 2017, with a Sweet Lemonade EP. Now, as they chug along to the next chapter, Vaughn pauses for a moment. “I think, objectively, we did need time [between releases] because things have been changing so much for us,” he says, “but we haven’t stopped writing. Releasing something with a label is a much different beast. I feel like I’m ready for us to have another body of work out there in the world ─ a chance to show people how we’ve grown and what we’re into now.”
