SPILL FEATURE: WE’VE STRETCHED MUSICALLY AND ARTISTICALLY – A CONVERSATION WITH ADAM CZEISLER AND COLE PETERSON OF SWEET WATER

WE’VE STRETCHED MUSICALLY AND ARTISTICALLY

A CONVERSATION WITH ADAM CZEISLER AND COLE PETERSON OF SWEET WATER

The Seattle grunge scene gave us some of the most iconic bands of the ’90s, including Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. Although they may not have been as popular as those bands, Sweet Water was another great grunge band from Seattle. Consisting of Adam Czeisler (frontman), Cole Peterson (bassist), Rich Credo (guitarist), and Chris Friel (drummer), their upcoming record, titled Shine On, is their first full-length album in over a decade.

“I wanted to make one that’s sonically richer, taking a little bit more risks, stretching songs further, and making sure the lyrics of every line actually mattered or were saying to the best of all our ability what we meant to say,” says Czeisler. “I’m just so proud of the songs. We’ve stretched musically and artistically, and for me personally, all the production stuff that I did, I learned so much there.”

“I realized that because we had been doing this so long, we could all jump in and out of these tracks and create music on the fly, improvise, and get feedback and iterate on that until everybody in the room is happy, versus ‘I hear what you want. Give me six hours, I’ll come back tomorrow and play you what I came up with,’” states Peterson.

Sonically, Shine On! marks a step forward for Sweet Water as they experiment with new things. The title track is one example. “We have a friend, John Hage, who did a fantastic job of a bunch of piano arrangements for us, and it sounded good, but we got into the second verse, and it felt like it needed a lift,” explains Czeisler. “I was thinking, Motown records always bring in the strings in the second verse. I was like, ‘What if we do that? Let’s do a little Motown thing.’” Initially, Hage arranged it using synth strings before asking Sweet Water if they would want actual string players. Sweet Water agreed that using a violinist and a celloist would sound better. “It was that thing of always saying yes instead of being like, ‘This is good enough, let’s do it on the synth,’” adds Czeisler. “We tried to do things we hadn’t done before and tried to be open to that.”

One of the risks Sweet Water took with Shine On! is that it is their most conceptual record to date. “I had this vision for the record, not every song, but there’s an arch of a storyline of this whole desert cult concept,” reflects Czeisler. One example is “Bring Your Friends”. “It’s kind of like bringing your identity, but you can change your identity by being in this cult,” he continues. “The protagonist meets some people who say, ‘You seem cool. You like this whole group thing. We know of a place that you can go if you want to come with us. You can really find what you’re looking for. Come with us. Bring your friends.’”

Most of Shine On! was recorded at Czeisler’s home studio. “Adam has become this amazing producer, invested in all this studio gear and technology that allows you to record at your house now and gave us the ability to take a super long time to record the album,” comments Peterson.

One thing that Czeisler wanted to learn more about was recording acoustic instruments, particularly capturing the harmonics and reverberations of the acoustic guitar. He reached out to some friends and researched online to get it right. “In ‘Lush Trees,’ you can hear the guitar picking, and it has this stereo feeling to it,” shares Czeisler. “Rich came in and laid that finger picking down. We hadn’t planned to do finger picking. It sounded so freaking cool.”

Peterson points to hearing “God’s Eyes” on the speakers at Czeisler’s home studio as to what really boosted their confidence in the music that they were making. “It just sounded so huge,” he grins. “You get that goosebump feeling… I think we all thought that song was gonna be the big song on the record, and that gave us confidence to do all these other things.”

SHINE ON TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 18, 2025

Since Sweet Water live quite close together, it allowed them to capture sparks of inspiration more easily at Czeisler’s home studio, like when Credo came up with the guitar part for “State Of Grace”. “One weekend, Rich came over and was like, ‘I’ve got this riff that I did,’ and he played it for me, and it was ‘State Of Grace,’” recalls Czeisler. “It was really cool and sounded like The Faces. I was like, ‘Let’s record it right now.’ So, he’s at my studio. I put the mic up, recorded the guitar, and that was actually what was used on the record. If we didn’t have that close proximity, we would have had to schedule a time, and the moment is basically lost. He was able to literally like walk over, and that inspired me. I ended up writing most of the song that day.”

“Kids” sounds like a blast from the past and will instantly remind listeners of The Cars, especially the synth part. “The vocal that I did was not so much Cars, it was more like a Generation X sound, or maybe even a Kim Wilde ‘Kids In America’ feel,” comments Czeisler. “There’s a moment when the band kicks in, and it starts rocking, but we didn’t have that keyboard part in there… The buildup is so great with all the drums, and whatnot, and then it just didn’t pay off. Everyone didn’t say anything about it, we’re like, ‘It’s great.’ Cole came in one day and walked in the door here and was like, ‘Guys, I’ve been rocking ‘Kids’ in the car, and it’s so good. It’s building up so good, and when it pays off, it just doesn’t pay off.”

“We were writing this song, and we had as much time as we want and we’re moving the pieces all around, over and over and over again, and Adam is really good at not giving up,” adds Peterson. “He’s like, ‘What do you think should go there?’ I suggested, ‘We need a Cars thing.’”

“I literally, to the best of my ability, got the ‘Just What I Needed’ sound,” states Czeisler. “I came up with a little melody that worked. Once we did that, everything clicked.”

“Kick In The Head” is a rocking good time. “It was a bit out there because it was a little angsty and a little bit like Queen’s ‘Sheer Heart Attack’, but everyone was loving the track,” reflects Czeisler. “I put it off because I was like, ‘I got to do that one justice.’ If you listen to it without lyrics, it just cooks. It’s perfect. I was like, ‘I need to not fuck it up. I need to elevate it, but don’t take anything away from it that makes it so good.’”

Peterson came up with the lyrics for the song one day and texted them to Czeisler. “I listen to a lot of early Black Flag, pre-Henry Rollins,” states Peterson. “Those songs are all about angst and having a mental breakdown or nervous breakdown. I was just mimicking Keith Morris of Circle Jerks and early Black Flag.”

“Once Cole gave those lyrics to me, I was like ‘That’s perfect for that song,’ comments Czeisler. “When I was singing it, I was like ‘I need to make sure not to do a melody’ because the riff is beating you over the head. I just wanted the chorus to be that, just almost like a Metallica vibe.”

On the other hand, “Out Of Control” was a therapeutic experience for Credo. “Rich was going through a divorce, and I remember he came over, and I was just playing the riff to ‘Out Of Control just over and over, and he just started singing to it,” says Czeisler. “It was a cathartic thing.

“It was a tool for Rich to work through whatever he had to work through,’” adds Peterson. “It really helped him. It’s what music should be for.”

Overall, Sweet Water hopes that Shine On! will serve as a reminder for listeners and fans. “Everyone has this light within them, and that’s the shine on concept,” smiles Czeisler. “I call it this divine thing. You have this little thing inside of you. Remember that and access that. If things are tough and if things are feeling dark and these external forces are pushing on you, just realize you don’t have to seek happiness from the outside, you can have it from the inside.”

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Photo Credit: Lance Mercer