Pink Floyd is one of those bands that everyone will come into contact with at least once in their life, and with good reason too, it’s just one of those musical projects that manage to resonate with people across generations by the sheer talent of its members and the way their sound can encapsulate eras, not just in the music industry but in culture as a whole.
But we’re not really talking about Pink Floyd today, instead we’re taking a look at what I can testify is an excellent top-of-the-shelf cover of one of their songs, and it was brought to us by none other than Cory Wythe, AKA: Marvel Years.
Marvel Years started over a decade ago with seemingly one goal in mind: Marrying Cory’s guitar and love of old-school analog music to the undeniable flexibility and entrancing powers of EDM. He’s performed at Red Rocks and other legendary venues numerous times in support of huge artists including Pretty Lights, STS9 and ZHU while also landing slots at major festivals like Camp Bisco, Hulaween, and Electric Forest.
When I first heard this cover of Pink Floyd’s “Have A Cigar” i was immediately sold and I knew that the mastermind behind it was something else, so I went back and checked out a nice juicy sample of his catalog and I was blown away by the crystal-sheen polish of his talent, and I surprised time and time again at how fresh everything sounded and how pleasant it was to feel those roots deep into other genres when the guitar came in, or in the way some of the rhythms were structured and so on. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to throw some questions at him right away.
Why Pink Floyd? Why this song in particular? Does it hold some personal significance to you or do you feel it simply makes sense given your sound and strengths?
I started playing guitar when I was around 10 years old, and I was fortunate enough to have some lessons with a great teacher early on. He taught me about musical theory, how to note read, etc. and would give me “homework” in-between our sessions. But I would always find myself distracted from the homework and instead listening and learning how to play my favorite classic rock songs. Pink Floyd was at the top of my list and has been one of my favorite bands for as long as I can remember. This particular track I chose to remix is one of my favorite Pink Floyd tunes off of one of my favorite albums of theirs, and it was an honor to get a chance to add my own flavor to it.
How do you define your sound outside of this particular EP?
My sound has always been a mixture of the old and the new, analog and digital. I’d best describe it as an electronic/beat/blues hybrid. With this release in particular, I really tried to capture the psychedelic space-rock and blues vibe that made Pink Floyd so unparalleled and unique while adding in my elements of electronic production.
I’ve read that, beyond electronic production, you’re very passionate about the guitar. This makes me wonder, why not cover “Comfortably Numb”? It is widely considered to have one of the best guitar solos of all time, with this cover we have no doubt that you can pull it off.
I thought about it initially. Every song I have remixed and released I chose because when I listened to them, I immediately heard how I could flip it into my own version. With “Comfortably Numb” I didn’t hear that. Instead, I heard the track that inspired me as a kid to learn the guitar. A seven-minute psychedelic genre-defining masterpiece. Some songs I just can’t mess with, and that is one of them.
The remix is of your cover, so there’s two degrees of separation from the original material, so to speak. What’s the process like of bringing in new elements to a song to transform it while maintaining part of the appeal of the original? Where do you find the balance?
To be honest I was never quite sure I had found the balance. I thought about that a bit when starting the remix, and I quickly learned that the more I thought about it, the more intimidated I became with the project. I had to let go and trust my gut feeling that the elements of the song that I loved were the same that made everyone else fall in love, and I just tried to build on it while maintaining the core of the song. Having this team of amazing musicians to contribute to the project helped a lot during the process.
In the remix I found that the prog-rock elements really mixed together well with the digital and futuristic vibes from the Electronica. Is this something that you can see yourself exploring more of in the future?
Most definitely. Most of my music up until this point has relied on the balance of blending the old with the new. With my future music I am going to try and dive deeper into that concept and hopefully come out the other side with some genre-defining music. That’s the goal at least haha.
Marvel Years is usually a solo effort but this time you brought along Adam Deitch, Jennifer Hartswick, and Todd Stoops to make something truly special. Any plans to summon them again in the future?
It was an honor to recruit and collaborate with these three artists as they are each legends in their own right. It was so much fun and hopefully we can keep it going and work on more projects in the future!
How do you feel people have received you during live performances when you bust out your guitar? It’s a rare sight to see someone playing a guitar and a turntable/sampler roughly at the same time!
It has been great to incorporate the guitar into my sets more because I think it really catches the people who might not be familiar with me off guard. The crowd reaction is always great and I love hearing people come up to me after the shows commenting how they didn’t expect it at all and how they loved it.
In that regard: How do you approach song composition? Is the guitar the instrument you default to or do you tend to work your way up from a beat or sample?
Over time my songwriting approach has changed dramatically. When I first started producing I used to start with the samples and build the song from there. Nowadays, it can really be anything that starts a track off, a baseline or a guitar riff or even an audio sample of me humming an idea I just thought of.
What’s on the Horizon for Marvel years? Any tours, live dates, albums or anything else exciting coming?
I have some tour dates I’m excited to announce as well as an eight track EP coming later this year. This will be followed by a full length album that will really dive into this new fusion of blues guitar and bass music that I have been developing and I can’t wait to share it!
If you’re ready to get your mind blown by the Wizard that is Marvel Years with his turntable and Guitar combo, then maybe you can catch him live in the following dates:
6/17/22: Knitting Factory Brooklyn – Brooklyn, NY
8/18/22: 8/20/22 – Secret Dreams – Thornville, OH
Story: Samuel Aponte Photos: Courtesy of the artist
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