Interview: Cellophane Kiss Chats About Their New Single Night Prowler

Interview with Cellophane Kiss's Mackenzie Caron, singer and guitarist.

What inspired the creation of this single?

Night Prowler is about police brutality and small-town violence. I was spending a lot of time commuting to and from college when I wrote it. During the autumn, when the sun would set before I drove home, I remember passing all these police cars lurking among the trees. I couldn't shake the feeling that they were like vampires or predators waiting for a moment to pounce.

What story or message does the song convey?

It's a song about cascading violence. Cops are cast almost as a weapon, the hand of the State used to inflict whatever harm and violence it chooses, which in turn leads to more desperation and suffering. While the song is intended more to capture an atmosphere of fear and rage than to advocate specific policies in the way a Dead Kennedys song might, I do believe racial violence is inherent to the institution of policing, and that police abolition is a goal communities should work toward.

Can you tell us about the creative process?

Night Prowler is actually one of the first songs written for our upcoming debut album, The Litter Trail. I remember writing the lyrics in my grandfather's living room, although I don't recall exactly what sparked that rage. I do remember finishing it and feeling like it might be part of something new. Those lyrics sat around for about a year before I finally put them to music.

Originally, it was just a two-minute punk song with no bridge, but I told the band's original lineup that I thought it needed a solo. Seth, our former drummer, came up with the swing section, and it's easily my favorite part of the song. It transformed what could have been a run-of-the-mill punk track into something unique.

How does this song differ from your previous releases?

This is definitely our loudest and angriest release. I was actually planning to make His Shadow, a kind of nocturnal ballad, the next single. However, a friend of the band, Dan Dellechiaie, strongly pushed for this one, and our friends in Fallow Days agreed with him, so I relented. In hindsight, I think it was the right choice. You need that burst of energy to announce an album like this.

What challenges did you face while writing or recording?

Night Prowler was very easy to write. Recording it wasn't any more difficult than the rest of the album. Almost all of the tracks on the record were stitched together with a session rhythm section before I had a full lineup in place. This is actually the only song on the album that features a contribution from our original bassist, Jake Johannsen.

Did you experiment with any new instruments, techniques, or styles?

In the early days of Cellophane Kiss, when The Litter Trail was still being written, the guiding philosophy was that every song should belong to a different genre. I think that was my Bowie influence showing through. This was our punk song. I really wanted it to sound like The Stooges, and honestly, I'm pretty happy with the results.

Is there a personal connection or story tied to the lyrics?

Night Prowler isn't written directly from my perspective, but it is informed by my experiences. It reflects my feelings of helplessness in the face of police violence and my sense of isolation while living in small-town Connecticut and Rhode Island.

I wrote it in 2018 when I was 21 years old. I had just moved back to my hometown and felt an overwhelming sense that I was going to die there. I think the outro of Night Prowler marks a shift in perspective, where some of my own desperation emerges and a self-destructive impulse comes through.

Have you performed it live yet, and what was the audience's reaction?

Night Prowler has been a Cellophane Kiss staple from the beginning. It always gets a reaction. I actually have a video of people starting a circle pit during our very first performance of the song at our first-ever show. The groovy bass line in the swing section also does a great job of getting the crowd clapping along.

Is this single part of a larger project, such as an album or EP?

Yes. It is the latest single supporting our debut album, The Litter Trail, which will be released on October 23. The Litter Trail is a New England folktale where decaying mills and fading hopes collide with the old ghosts and gods that linger in the dark woods.

Anything else you'd like your fans to know?

It would mean the world to us if people would preorder The Litter Trail on Bandcamp and iTunes, follow us on Instagram, and give the singles a listen.

If you're in the New York area, please come out to a Cellophane Kiss show. We'd love to see you there, and we'll give you a sticker. We also just printed our first line of T-shirts, so it's a great time to come out and support the band.

We'll be playing some shows outside of New York this fall with our friends in Believe In Ghost!

Thank you so much for your time. Don't ever fear the autumn breeze.

Night Prowler - Single by Cellophane Kiss | Spotify