The LA-based musician reminisces on his work on the idiosyncratic AMC dramedy, and how its psychedelic sounds reflect on his new solo work.

Welcome back to the Spool’s weekly interview podcast, More of a Comment, Really…, where editor-in-chief Clint Worthington talks to actors, filmmakers, composers and other figures from the realm of film and television.

One of the best, strangest shows of the last few years was Lodge 49, a curious, sleepy, fascinating show that ran for two seasons on AMC until it was canceled in 2019. Created by author Jim Gavin, it followed a down on his luck Californian named Dud (played by Wyatt Russell) who mourns the death of his father and ends up finding a new sense of purpose in the membership of a fraternal organization called the Order of the Lynx. There, he finds all manner of colorful characters, all of whom are trying to find their way in a world of philosophical and financial uncertainty.

It’s a deeply strange show, that’s frankly almost impossible to describe accurately — think of it as a mix between Cheers and a Thomas Pynchon novel. There’s a lightness and a melancholy to it, aided of course by the show’s soundtrack, a groovy yet introspective mix of psychedelic and surf rock befitting the show’s Long Beach setting. In between tracks curated by music supervisor and longtime music journalist Tom Patterson, the score (including its dreamlike theme) was crafted by LA-based musician Andrew Carroll of The Lonely Wild. He’s a folk/country-rock guy in a similar stripe to Patterson’s ’60s-tinged soundtrack; his cues accompany these tracks wonderfully and lend the show a feeling of unexpected intimacy and grandeur.

While it’s been almost two years since Lodge 49‘s cancellation, it still lingers in the blood, and Carroll used that inspiration to craft a new EP out today, called You Are Here. A three-track blend of psychedelic rock and modern influences, it’s a curiously fitting match to the times we’re living in, from the isolation of “Vitamin C” to the dreamlike instrumentals of “Hackers in Love”. To commemorate the EP’s release, I sat down with Carroll to talk about the EP, collaborating with saxophone maestro Sam Gendel, and get some insight into his short-lived, but indelible work on Lodge 49. And in the process, I got him to break down one of the tracks he composed for the show, as well as offer us exclusive acoustic versions of the Lodge 49 theme and the song “Here/Now” from You Are Here.

Listen to our podcast interview above, and you can listen to You Are Here on Spotify below. You can also purchase it from Carroll directly through his Bandcamp page here.