“Airplane Mode” by Ethan Luce blends surf rock with indie pop, sending you into a delicious, summery haze where funk is on cruise control. Upbeat and playful, the splendid track substitutes the head noise of incessant news media with something more delightful. “Airplane Mode” opens with just soft, naked guitar plucks shadowed by a subdued, saucy bass – the best kind, where you don’t quite know why the melody tastes as good as it does. The song then pivots into a laid-back groove – one you can dance to, of course – Luce wants listeners to get up and shake off the negativity in their life. Like its title “Airplane Mode” suggests, Luce informs the listener that he won’t be available for a while – it’s a sentiment I can relate to, as an individual who is constantly on airplane mode myself to safeguard my own mental health.
If you see me singing in the rain you know I’m doing fine
And if it goes to voicemail when you call, just know I signed off for the night.
The concept of being constantly available to the whims of friends, work and the incessant dings of apps seems highly unnatural, even stressful to the soul. Luce is rejecting this perpetual state of access and constructing his own blissful oasis, one of butter-melting guitar riffs and Luce’s whisper-like vocals reverberating in its atmosphere. In this special place, listeners can dance freely and without the heaviness of the world shaking them into sobriety.
What is the story behind “Airplane Mode”? It’s addictively catchy, by the way.
The original idea for “Airplane Mode” was sparked during a late-night flight to visit one of my friends in Whistler, British Columbia. I was on this huge plane but there were only a few other people aboard. I always get nostalgic when I’m flying at night, but the plane being empty made it that much more peaceful. As we took off, I was looking down at the Toronto city lights and enjoying how small everything looked. Even the biggest buildings were just slivers in my scope of view. I felt so far removed from all the noise, problems, and politics of the world. It also made me reflect on how small my own problems were in the grand scheme of things. It was the first time I had felt truly at peace in months.
The other inspiring part about that flight was feeling completely off the grid. My phone was in airplane mode, so nobody could reach me. I couldn’t go on social media or anything. In the previous months, whenever I went on Instagram it felt like I was being bombarded with bad news and negativity. The most frustrating part was (and still is) deciphering the truth behind political conflicts and social issues. There’s so much false information on social media. And even with mainstream news broadcasters, it’s hard to know how much the information is manipulated for their own corporate agendas.
Flying through the sky at an altitude of 40,000 feet, that noise couldn’t reach me. I now put my phone in airplane mode every time I’m writing or producing a song just so I can feel that disconnect and really focus.
The chorus is kind of a triple entendre. It can either be interpreted in the way that I described above or in these two ways: drugs as a source of escapism, or privilege. The chorus mocks my own privilege to serve as a reminder that just because I don’t experience certain hardships or injustices does not mean they don’t exist or that I should dismiss them. And as a white male who grew up in a middle-class family, there are a lot of hardships that other people face that I never have and never will. It can be easy to get caught up in my own petty problems and forget about the things that are important. So this is like my slap in the face to stop being a baby and think about the shit that really matters.
You’ve mentioned that you picked up music during the pandemic, how do you think this informed your practice?
I started playing guitar and writing songs 6 years ago but having so much alone time during the pandemic gave me the chance to dive into the craft and take it seriously. I dropped out of my Chemical Engineering program shortly after that to work on music full time. It’s been quite a learning experience switching from a structured university routine to self-educating through online resources, podcasts, YouTube, and trial and error. But I’ve got myself into a routine now that kind of breaks my day into “classes,” I suppose. I wake up, work out and listen to Tape Notes or Dissect, which are two great podcasts about songwriting and music production. Then I have online guitar class for one and a half hours, then another one and a half hours of practicing my loop pedal/set list, then I’m working on production in Ableton until dinner ideally.
The genre is hard to pinpoint in your track, do you take a playful or rigid approach to musical form?
I’d say I take a playful approach to making music. I like to have fun with it and experiment. I’ve always been a perfectionist, but music has taught me how to let go of that in the best way. On some of my first tracks, I would spend absurd amounts of time recording vocals or instrumental parts to get it “perfect.” For one of the songs on my upcoming EP I tracked vocals for fifteen hours over the course of a few days or something stupid and comped the heck out of it. It probably would have sounded great if I used the first three hours worth of recordings.. I’ve learned to let go of that mentality because I like music that sounds more natural and making it ‘perfect’ kind of strips that away.
I really don’t have much music out at this point, which is nice because it’s like having a blank slate. People don’t really have expectations for a particular “sound” from me yet, which I like. This track has a heavier sound than most the songs I make.
The video for “Airplane Mode” is lots of fun – whereabouts did you film it, and what was your process?
One of my best friends (Kyle Shoesmith) and I filmed most of this video while we were living in Miami in May 2021. It was a very strange time in our lives. For us, this video is like a time capsule. It captures so many memories of us goofing around at the Museum of Illusions, Wynwood graffiti district, and South Beach. When we weren’t filming this video, we were either skateboarding around the city, trying to get absolutely shredded at the outdoor workout stations (we were both the skinniest and palest people on the beach), swimming or making music in our room. I’m still trying to figure out if I dreamt it all or if it was actually real life.
Who are your musical inspirations?
I’m inspired by so many artists but ones that come to mind immediately are Ed Sheeran for his diversity, Adele and Frank Ocean for their melodies and song writing, and Glass Animals for their production creativity using nature sounds.
