The Record Summer

Bio

The Record Summer’s Bret Rodysill has been to the brink and back.  Ten years after releasing a critically-acclaimed, six-song EP, he is releasing his first LP, Lay it Bare, in 2021. Over the past decade Rodysill’s developed plenty of material to write about. After surviving a rare, intense, nervous system disorder, mental illness, and hospitalization, Rodysill now looks back on that period and is just grateful to be alive. The songs on Lay it Bare reflect this gratitude and a look back at ten years of hell.

“You think you can count on your health, on being well so that you can do all of the other things you want to do, but sometimes, things don’t work out that way.  I was pretty much incapacitated for years,” said Rodysill.  

Rodysill created The Record Summer intending to make cutting indie pop. After releasing his debut EP, Race to the Bottom, in 2010, Rodysill followed with two singles on the London-based label Loose Narrative. He was then signed by LA-based label Bodan Kuma. In between the releases Rodysill played the Barcelona-based festival Primavera Sound, SXSW twice, and CMJ three times, before being grounded by illness.

Now, Rodysill is back with a new-found confidence. Lay it Bare illustrates that hard-won perspective, with songs about loss, grief, and near-tragedy.  

“The music on Lay it Bare deals with pain, both mental and physical pain.  I’m not sure which is worse,” said Rodysill.  ‘“The Bridge” is about a near-tragedy and my experience surviving the worst pain I’ve ever felt.  I just couldn’t stand it anymore.  “The Bridge” comes from this perspective.  “Sacred” is about alcoholism and the inevitable fallout that comes from it when you use it to medicate something else.  “White Dress” is about the institution of marriage and its trials and pleasures.  “White Dress” juxtaposes the purity and serenity of one's wedding day with all the little gestures and monotony of the everyday--the monotonous everyday put up next to seeing your bride standing with "sunlight in (her) hair".  “White Dress” deals with when one compares the novelty and pleasures of marriage to when these things wear down, and what's left.  Overall, the songs are about a very difficult time in my life, and one of the few things that made me feel better was writing them.  There was a lot of catharsis involved,” said Rodysill. 

Lay it Bare will be preceded by two new singles, “White Dress” and “Release” via Bodan Kuma, to lay the groundwork of what it is come in the new year.

Rodysill has begun speaking openly about his experience with both physical and mental illness and was scheduled to be a keynote speaker at SXSW 2020, before its cancellation due to COVID.  He has also worked with The Wishart Group, the mental health-based charity of Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit.

 With a new album and a new perspective, Rodysill hopes his work can inspire the type of recovery he has struggled so much for, provide support for those trying to cope with mental health issues, and convey a backdrop for those living in the 21st century.