Treatment
Ever since we got smitten by Treatment with our debut of “Provacation (Places We Go)”, the neo-80s revisionist re-imagined worlds of emotive neon from Harry Cubberly have become the object of our obsession & fascination. The New Brunswick, New Jersey by Brooklyn artist turns the pages in what feels & sounds like could be fantasy plays or fan-fic fabricated around your favorite artists & icons from the latter day decades of the twentieth century. The basement project that has only become more & more distinct, sophisticated & rich in tone over time re-writes the old yellowing pages of classic Sounds, Melody Maker, NME & other periodicals of interest that indicated the rise of all your influential iconoclastic deities & pop culture architects.
Presenting the grand visual for the title track “Part of the Cast”, Harry takes you on a trip to the west coast where the Treatment soft-pop tale is set up in a concept tale of tall aspirations. Directed, produced & edited by Rachel Stewart—the allure of the Pacific’s starry eyed coast line is conveyed in a ultra-romantic tale of an actor trying to hack it out in Hollywood absorbing all environmental surroundings. From palm trees, scenes ripped straight from the Sunset Strip to idle oceanic gazes; Cubberly is seen entertaining his own inner & earned A-lister type persona where he rolls in a mode that is part rock star & the all important actor out in the world. The tinsel town tone connects in perfect fashion to all the super smooth feelings that are found all throughout the understated “Part of the Cast”. Filmed through the keen lens from a Hi8 camcorder, this Treatment edition travels about the sites of Los Angeles through the Malibu Hills, legendary Hollywood locales & more that makes for a home grown type of Almost Famous odyssey.
The term Treatment itself is a very loaded word, how did you come about to deciding upon this as your chosen moniker?
I think the name Treatment had something to do with my love for film, like a film treatment. I feel the linearity of both music and film go well together. You have a small section of time to create movements and tell a story, which is what I aim to do through my music.
Tell us about the growth & steps that exist between your 2012 self-titled and the brilliant breakthroughs hit on Part of the Cast.
I wrote and recorded my first EP at a friend’s basement in South Jersey back in 2012. I was living in New Brunswick, NJ at the time at a show house where we played regularly along with other tri-state venues. Over the next year I began writing songs for Part of the Cast.
What was the entire song cycle process like, writing & recording the full-length?
Every song besides “Out of Reach” was written in NJ while all the vocals and overdubs were done in multiple studios throughout NJ and NY.
With fractured studio visits, missing wav. files, and making the move to NY in 2013, the recording took till about mid 2015 to finish. The album attempts to romanticize everyday things like transit and the seasons and shows how they mirror love and time. The city and subways are their own characters in the music.
We got to know everything about your whole California dreaming excursion in making the visual piece for the title track, “Part of the Cast”.
The song “Part of the Cast” tells the story of a struggling actor trying to make it in Hollywood. “Part of the Cast” displays the act that is directors waving their wands to create magic. The music video is shot through the lens of a Hi8 camcorder from a trip I took to Los Angeles with my girlfriend. We thought it’d be appropriate to visit iconic spots like the Malibu Hills and the Hollywood strip in attempt to capture the lore of La la land.
What do you really like about NYC right now that is really speaking to you and your art?
Places like Trans-Pecos and Sunnyvale have become homes for our shows in the Brooklyn area. However, my favorite venue is Far Rockaway’s Red Light District. This show house is like a pilgrimage for true music freaks. Although it’s 45 min away from Brooklyn, the trek is totally worth it if you want to see some uninhibited performances.
Other artists, imprints, people & more that you would like to recognize?
I’ve met so many great people at Red Light and got the chance to perform a Madonna cover set there this past Halloween. Hopefully we will get the chance to debut new material there in the future.
2017 focuses for Treatment?
As for 2017, we’ve got a new album on the way! We are also planning an East Coast tour for early spring—give us a shout if you have a place for us to play. We will be performing “Part of the Cast” as well as some new songs.
Also treat yourself to the super-DIY video for “Provocation (Places We Go)” that is everything you imagined, hoped for & more.
Experience the utter beauty of Treatment’s Part of the Cast EP for yourself in full.
