Bill Diver’s Passionproject Releases Debut EP

The Denver-based duo Bill Diver’s Passionproject is releasing a treasure trove of songs in the form of its seven-track debut EP, Diver #1.

The atmospheric, indie-rock songs on the new offering are doused with plenty of dense, layered instrumentation — twangy guitars, synths, drum machines, vocal manipulations — and candid songwriting.

Diver #1 includes remixes of three previously released singles: “Linklater,” “Wait!” and “In Confidence,” while the remaining four songs are all fresh cuts intentionally written for the EP. Interestingly, two of the four new songs were hatched from one snippet of music that Logan Kershaw and Aidan Morris both worked on separately.

“‘Arrowhead’ and ‘Fulfilled Pt. 2’ were part of a songwriting exercise where Aidan and I started with the same small piece of music. From there, we each built out a song separately, creating two pieces of music distinct from the original,” says Kershaw, a multi-instrumentalist and the principal songwriter for Bill Diver’s Passionproject.

The slow, dark industrial “Arrowhead,” penned by Kershaw, flaunts haunting, low- to high-pitched vocals that flow throughout the three-minute-and-eleven-second song. “I've always had a love-hate relationship with that track,” reflects Kershaw. “No matter what I added or took away, I wasn’t happy with it. But when I sent it over to Aidan to work on it, he was able to bring it to life in a way I never expected. Now I think it's one of the most unique and progressive tracks on the record.” Morris, a producer and beatmaker who handles all of the mixing and mastering for the pair, says “Arrowhead” is one of the songs on Diver #1 that best reflects the audio effects he was trying to accomplish.

“When Logan sent me his file, I basically arranged the song further while changing sounds, such as the synth that comes in first. For the outro, I took a vocal sample, distorted it heavily and panned the sample back and forth, which creates a different sound,” Morris explains. Audio panning allows you to move and distribute a sound so the source sounds like it's coming more from the left or right speaker.

For the other track, “Fulfilled Pt. 2,” Morris developed the mid-tempo electronica composition by “removing the drums on the original music snippet, speeding up the beats per minute and looping the vocals.” For more aesthetics, the song utilized “time-stretched vocal samples, especially toward the end.”

The two longtime friends created Bill Diver’s Passionproject in 2019, when they both lived outside of Dallas. Kershaw eventually moved back to Denver, where he was born, and Morris now resides in Phoenix. They are influenced by such acts as Radiohead, Gotye, Fishmans, Grandaddy, Hasuono, and Alex G. Their creative process, Kershaw says, is “a conversational way of making music. It’s very back-and-forth.”

Kershaw, who plays the guitar, keys and bass and sings on Diver #1, says he has a penchant for older music: “I like to use a lot of weird, random old Casio synthesizers and other instruments that I get at thrift shops.” Morris, who also contributes guitar and bass on the EP, says when he receives music pieces from Kershaw, he might add some drums and arrange the song before sending it back to him for feedback.

The inception of Bill Diver’s Passionproject, Morris says, is not just the name of the band, but also an “ambitious multi-media art effort that reflects on the unplaced feelings of loss, loneliness and disconnect created by society’s growing dependence on the internet for genuine experiences.”

Kershaw adds, “There is carelessness about how people create content. Short-form, fast-paced clips as a medium allow people to produce content at an unprecedented rate. As a result, the content stream is filled with meaningless, artless stimulation created with no intention other than gaining an amoral algorithm. Sadly, the acceptance of the internet being an alternative reality to what's real is taking over. I can feel it in all aspects of my life, and it feels deeply cynical. So we want to express that loss and cynicism through our art."

The band has plans to execute additional endeavors that underscore its feelings about digital disconnection. “We are working on a couple of platforms, including creating something that evokes a newspaper where other artists and writers can contribute their ideas and thoughts about this universe we’re trying to create," Kershaw says.

Diver #1 is available now on all streaming platforms. For more information on Bill Diver’s Passionproject, visit the band’s Instagram.