Scotch Mist is making indie rock you can dance to
How the NYC trio evolved from trading pandemic demos to crafting disco-tinged escapism.
New York-based trio Scotch Mist has been carving out its own lane in the city’s indie scene, refusing to be boxed in by genre expectations. What started as a studio project between vocalist Ed Zighelboim and his brother has evolved into a 3-piece outfit that blurs the lines between indie rock, disco, soul, and electronica.
After moving to New York, Ed connected with guitarist and producer Fern Souza, working with him as a producer before adding bass player Gianluca Girard to the group after a live gig in 2019. “When it came to start performing live, we needed a bass player for a show, and Gianluca took the gig two days before and learned all the songs and smashed it,” Ed explained. Once the pandemic hit in 2020, their creative connection would shift. “Gianluca and I were trading demos, and those are the songs that became the basis for the crybaby album,” Ed added, referring to their 2021 debut.
With a sound built on a foundation of indie rock, it’s their diverse inspirations—from Brazilian pop to yacht rock—that add more texture with each release. Their latest single, “Patterns in the Sky”, a smooth, yacht-rock-tinged affair with shimmering guitars, speaks to their most recent fixations. “The three of us are obsessed with Steely Dan and Japanese city pop music right now,” Ed said. “So that definitely shows on that song.” In many of their recent releases, their sound can be hard to pin down, but that fluidity is the key to their distinct sound. “I think it’s a little bit of everything, like rock that also has a little bit of a jazz influence as well,” Fern explained. “Personally, I really love electronic music, dance music in general, music from the 70s and 80s, disco boogie music, all that.”
While crybaby saw the band firmly establishing their indie rock roots, their 2023 album Cabo Blanco heavily incorporated elements of Brazilian Tropicalia, a nod to both Fern and Brazilian-born Gianluca’s own inspirations. “Obviously, we love rock, we love these pop records, seminal R&B records, jazz, and Brazilian music, of course,” Gianluca explained, mentioning artists like Milton Nascimento, Lo Borges, and Gilberto Gil. “Some of this stuff is just embedded in our subconscious.”
But that sonic shift wasn’t just about exploration, it was about healing, too. “I think crybaby was really, really heavy, and we needed to get it out. We were writing a lot of sad songs, you know,” Gianluca added. On much of crybaby, Ed grappled with the loss of his girlfriend, Lydia Touchton, who passed away suddenly in 2019. The tracks are deeply personal, capturing the raw vulnerability of processing grief in real time. “They’re beautiful, but for Cabo Blanco we made a conscious effort to keep it light and just make it groovy.” Diving headfirst into escapism, Cabo Blanco brings dream-like production to life through its 11 tracks. On “Shadowbanned,” Ed’s breathy falsetto brings social media anxiety to the dancefloor over soulful synths, while “Sink Into (Your Love)” dialled up the disco influence, complete with funk guitars and lush string arrangements. The project tracked like an exploration into much-needed relief.
It’s also a journey that changed how the trio worked together, a process that’s still evolving. Where Ed would work with Gianluca to finish off mostly-finished demos, they’ve shifted to working more collaboratively. On Cabo Blanco, they worked together as writers and producers, and even worked on an initial run of tracks before starting over with a new direction. “I forgot that we had scrapped 20 [at first]. We’re still creating, but we have a vault.” It’s also a process that expands beyond the band. “We collaborate with a lot of New York City jazz musicians to play on our records,” Ed explained. “So if you look at the credits for our music, there’s usually a good solid amount of people on there that are playing keys or saxophone or strings, like Shaan Ramaprasad or Danae Greenfield.”
On “Patterns in the Sky”, they shared co-writing duties with New York-based Huxley Kuhlmann, marking the first time they’ve worked with a songwriter outside of the group. “It’s someone we know and admire, so it just felt like a natural way to try something new. I think he pushed us out of our comfort zone a little bit, lyrically speaking,” Ed explained. That willingness to experiment also shows up in the track’s layered production. “I feel like Gianluca’s bass shines, Fern’s guitar shines, and my vocals shine. Everyone has a moment, and I feel like the direction we went with that track is just the music we like to listen to.”
As they continue to release new singles, the group is thinking intently about how digital platforms like BandLab and ReverbNation can be part of their next move. “90% of it has to be how you share, we just want to think how we can get this music to people’s ears in the best way possible,” Ed explained. “As artists, we just have to be more flexible and more willing to kind of explore whatever avenue is presented in front of us. Whereas maybe in the past, artists were able to focus more solely on the music, and I think now we just have to be able to roll with the punches, and if something new comes up, be open to learning more about it and trying it out and not be instantly dismissive of it.”
Despite the pressure that can sometimes come with navigating these platforms, the band’s motivations stay deeply rooted in a love for creating, “In the end, we’re doing this for ourselves,” Gianluca added. “Obviously, it’s a plus if we get people, and we have to engage with the listeners as much as we can, but I’m just happy to be playing music.”