The Spring Verdict EPK | Audio Science

Spring Verdict - single cover - SUNBURNT.jpg

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

With the release of "Sunburnt", The Spring Verdict takes some of the best parts of his staple sounds and gives them a refreshing spin. Lush with addictive melodies, a crisp indie-pop sound, and an array of instrumentation, the song boasts the aesthetic of alt-pop anthems.

"'Sunburnt' is about that initial gut-punch of a relationship or a flame ending when it’s not by your choice. When I wrote the lyrics, I was thinking about the kind of situations that burn out not necessarily over any ill will, but because one person just wasn’t feeling it. In a way, those can be the toughest to come to terms with. Because you invested yourself in it emotionally, you’re in a place where you’re looking for answers, or some meaning or silver lining in it all, and even some immediate band-aid relief from what you’re feeling. I liked the idea of analogizing romantic attraction to the sun; it can be captivating and warm and life-giving, but it can hurt you if you don’t know what to expect or if you aren’t protecting or looking after yourself" explains songwriter Geoff Trautman of his single.

The Spring Verdict is the brainchild of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Geoff Trautman, who began taking classical piano lessons when he was just 8 years old. He stuck with it for more than a decade, and attributes the development of his ear for music and foundational knowledge of music theory in large part to those years of learning.

Through his middle and high school years, Trautman performed in marching band, jazz band, concert band, small ensembles, and more playing trumpet and bass. During that time, he played bass and sang backup vocals in several pop punk bands, performing at Warped Tour with one of those bands.

As a member of UC Santa Cruz’s Acquire A Cappella, Trautman co-arranged an a cappella version of The Lonely Island’s “ I’m On A Boat,” which was filmed and went viral on YouTube with nearly 3 million views.

Even as he attended law school, Trautman played in a top 40's cover band called Shake Shake Shake.

It wasn't until around 2019 that Trautman decided he wanted to begin building out a home studio. When the pandemic hit, he decided to spend his newfound free time honing his recording, mixing, and creative abilities.

It was then that he realized he had something special, and decided to create The Spring Verdict, a project performed and produced almost completely by Trautman himself with the help of a few others. Echolocation stands as a testament to that decision.

“I realized that I had this opportunity to step back from the hectic life I had been living and taking for granted, look inward, and evaluate, and writing and producing music ended up being the perfect vehicle for doing that,” says Trautman.

"Sunburnt" is the first taste of a full-length album set to be released later this year dubbed "Thaw".

"In a lot of ways, my approach to writing Thaw was the same as it was for my first album, Echolocation. I’ll get totally engrossed in the mental imagery that a riff, a chord progression, a sound, or a lyric is creating for me, and then work on filling out that mental picture based on what it seems like it’s calling for. There’s a hazy kind of visual component to it that way. I’ve gotten better at getting out of my own way and not second-guessing that writer’s intuition that’s full of off-the-wall ideas and loves to run in different directions all at once. My performance has developed as I’ve focused more on capturing the right emotional quality and feel for any given part, whether that’s a vocal line or bass track or anything in between. On the more technical side, I spent a lot more time focusing on getting great quality recordings up front and honing my ear and production techniques in general. Whereas truthfully I barely knew what I was doing when I produced Echolocation, I found greater confidence and relatively solid footing producing Thaw from an engineering and process standpoint. So, I think through a combination of right-brain and left-brain growth, Thaw is a little more mature, more emotive and impactful, and more sonically diverse than Echolocation was, but in a way that builds on Echolocation’s sound."

"Sunburnt" will be available on all digital streaming outlets June 9th.