\nThe Small Square is building on its 2015 self-titled album with second collection, Ours &
\nOthers, arriving on Farm to Label Records October 31 as a CD, digital download and via
\nstreaming services. The duo of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Paul Chastain and drummer,
\npercussionist, and vocalist John Louis Richardson recorded Ours & Others at Richardson\u2019s
\nDrum Farm Studio, returning to the same studio space in a modified 18 th century granary located
\non 80 acres in which they created their first offering. The Small Square re-released their debut
\nalbum digitally on Farm To Label Summer 2023.
\nChastain is the songwriter and co-founder of Rock group Velvet Crush and has worked both live
\nand in the studio with Matthew Sweet, Mitch Easter, Roger McGuinn, Susanna Hoffs, Tommy
\nKeene, and more. Velvet Crush\u2019s Teenage Symphonies album was re-issued Spring 2023, it\u2019s
\nfirst release on 12\u201d LP vinyl in the U.S., marking its\u00a030th anniversary. Richardson has recorded
\nand performed with the likes of Joey Molland (Badfinger), Gin Blossoms, Jay Bennett (Wilco),
\nTommy Keene, and many others.
\nChastain and Richardson have a long association and their collaboration pre-dates The Small
\nSquare Small, where recording at Richardson\u2019s Drum Farm Studio sees Chastain traveling from
\nhis home in Japan to work with contributing musicians for a week or more at a time, and then
\ncontinuing to hone and expand tracks from his home studio.
\nMusical differences between Chastain and Richardson are also a source of productivity as each
\nmight suggest new directions for material that either have generated. Chastain and Richardson
\nshare producing duties, with production playing a major role in the songwriting process and in
\nfinalizing songs.
\nKey collaborators on the album include Adam Ollendorff (lap steel, 12 string guitar) and R. Walt
\nVincent (bass, keyboard, engineering), while many more, like the band Shoes, also added their
\npersonal touch to the individual songs on Ours & Others.
\nChastain often works on possible lyrics for quite some time and is comfortable with this ongoing
\nprocess which leaves some unfinished. The key element for him continues to be a particular
\nphrase that captures a feeling, and he often assigns a phrase to a song fragment to act as a kind of
\nsignpost for future development.
\nThe song \u201cInsta\u201d from the new album was an example of close collaboration where Chastain\u2019s
\noriginal version was inspired by a Small Faces vibe, but Richardson suggested a new direction
\nin-person and they developed a new version in an immediate way whereas \u201cDays Inn\u201d had a very
\nintricate genesis as Richardson explored an idea based on a cigar-box guitar sound using open
\ntuning and was joined by Cory Wong to nail down the sound. Chastain then received the material
\nand set to work.
\nWhile Chastain prefers to leave his lyrics open to interpretation, \u201cN. Main Blues\u201d and its lyrics
\nwere inspired by his time in Providence, Rhode Island during the foundational period for Velvet
\nCrush, including small lyrical details in an \u201cotherwise straightforward Rock song\u201d that suggest
\ntruth can be stranger than fiction.<\/p>\n
A major through-line for the album Ours & Others was shaped by life-events due to the passing
\nof longtime mutual friend and bandmate Tommy Keene. As an inspirational figure who opened
\nfor The Matthew Sweet band, toured with Velvet Crush, and played in Richardson\u2019s band, the
\nimpact of his loss was significant. This led to the inclusion of Keene\u2019s song \u201cBaby Face\u201d on the
\nalbum, as well as aiding in the completion of the track \u201cCan\u2019t Let Go (Oh Tommy)\u201d.
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