Sproutfit, a “five-person, succulent-growing, indie-pop group” composed of Brandeisians, will release their first album on Oct. 8. Titled “Homegrown Sprouts,” this album chronicles the struggle of living through, and growing up in, a global pandemic. Two band members, April Ginns ’21 and Maya Kattler-Gold ’21, spoke to The Brandeis Hoot about their debut album, revealing that this passion project has been in the works for about two years now.
The entire album started as a group project between Ginns and fellow Sproutfit member Gavin McIsaac ’20 in the spring 2020 semester. From there, the project only grew, turning into the full album, featuring songs written by all members of the band. Ginns and Kattler-Gold wrote most of the lyrics, but said that each member of the band writes the music for their own instrument. Ginns does vocals, keys, synths and ukulele on the album; Kattler-Gold does vocals and cello; McIsaac does guitar, keys and synth; Chami Lamelas ’22 plays guitar; and Sam Stern ’20 plays drums.
The five came together to create a nine-track album. “When we got sent home and we couldn’t play and jam together, we had nothing else to do except record,” said Kattler-Gold. “What else are we gonna do to keep being a band?” Because of the timing, the pandemic plays a heavy hand in the inspiration for the album, but it’s not exclusively about the pandemic. “[McIsaac] and I each have a song that was from early high school for each of us that we finished now,” said Ginns. These songs, similar to the album as a whole, are “about processing various difficult things, but in a cute-sounding way,” said Ginns.
Despite these darker themes, Ginns assured that “every [song] is a banger in some way.” She and Kattler-Gold struggled to pick a favorite track, each having good things to say about many different songs. Two in particular that they seemed excited about are “Open Window” and “I’m In and I Can’t Get Out.” “‘I’m In and I Can’t Get Out’ I think is our strongest production-wise,” said Ginns. “I think it sounds the most professional … That song sounds the best in my headphones.” “Open Window” is more upbeat, according to Kattler-Gold. “I think that song is kinda fun and danceable which is something that I’m always excited about.” She also says that this track was inspired by Paul Simon, whose “Graceland” features the lyric “Losing love is like a window in your heart / Everybody sees you’re blown apart.” Other inspirations for the band include Phoebe Bridgers and Vampire Weekend.
Both Ginns and Kattler-Gold were very supportive of the lyrics the other wrote, and the instrumental moments from the rest of the group. Both emphasized the partnership and joy that comes in working together as a team. For example, Kattler-Gold says that Lamelas’s guitar riff in the bridge of “I’m In and I Can’t Get Out” is really what “pulls the song together,” despite Kattler-Gold being the one to have written the lyrics.
The album will be available on Oct. 8 on all streaming platforms except Amazon Music. “We’re very excited, we’ve been working on it for so long,” said Ginns. “We’ve been working on other stuff, but we wanted to put this one out before finishing that.” She also teased that they are hoping to create Sproutfit merchandise soon. To stay updated on merchandise, and all other things about Sproutfit, follow them on Instagram and Twitter (@sproutfitband), or find their Sproutfit Facebook page.
