Will Carpenter Opens Up About Tone and the Affecting Sound of Ships Have Sailed

The brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Will Carpenter, indie-rock/indie-pop duo Ships Have Sailed releases their new mini-EP, Invisible Ink, which explores the worst parts of love – betrayal, indifference, imbalance, loss, and heartbreak.

Along with drummer Art Andranikyan, Ships Have Sailed’s music is at once haunting and buoyant, highlighted by thoughtful lyrics, perhaps best described as indie rock marinated in pop extracts.

Co-created by Bill O’Hanlon, Anita Majumdar, and Carpenter, Invisible Ink began as a single song. It blossomed into a three-part EP featuring the original track, a stripped-down version, and a dreamy remix.

We caught up with Will Carpenter, expecting the usual pat responses. Instead, we found ourselves involved in a delightfully revealing interview.

Can you share the inspiration behind “Invisible Ink,” and the creative process involved in bringing it to life? 

Will Carpenter: “‘Invisible Ink’ embodies a feeling of being overlooked, heartbroken, emotional, and in a low moment of existence… There’s a catharsis that explodes out of this feeling that lends itself towards thinking you can get through this moment, but you’re not there yet. Interestingly for such an intimate song that wound up reaching this type of depth, myself and my two collaborators (Bill O’Hanlon and Anita Majumdar) had only just met each other, and this song was the first we’d ever joined forces on.

“Sometimes the synergy is just there. I think the themes that wove themselves into the music rang true and resonated with each of us in a different way and we were open enough to truly value the different perspectives we each brought to the process.”

Music journalist Anna Murphy once wrote, “Ships Have Sailed is the rare case of a band name embodying its sound.” How do you describe your sound? 

“I love that quote! Our sound is both eclectic and cohesive; the songs that we release mean something…Every single one of them, and more and more over the years I’ve come to practice what I look at as ‘radical authenticity.’ If it doesn’t feel true to me, it won’t be a Ships Have Sailed song… I pour my entire being into this music, because if we aren’t passionate about what we create, what are we really doing any of this for?

“My elevator pitch, though, is indie rock with a ‘Poptimistic’ angle.”

What’s the story behind the name Ships Have Sailed?  

“When this project was in its inception as just a collection of songs that resonated with me, but hadn’t found a home, I was in another band that had been together for quite a while and had gained a decent amount of success. However, as does sometimes happen, the rise to success had revealed some inequities within the band on the logistical side, which in turn caused some personal rifts. These were proving to be insurmountable, and the band was circling the drain. It was profoundly disappointing, and I was up too late, having drunk a bit too much whiskey, and throwing myself a little pity party, lamenting this missed opportunity.

“After a point, I tried to begin reframing it: perhaps this opportunity needed to be missed in order for another to form. The phrase ‘that ship has sailed’ came to mind, and I considered how inherently negative it was. I mused to myself that it should be a bit more agnostic, like ‘ships have sailed’ and I realized how cool of a band name that would be. Convinced it was likely taken already (as many band names are) I ran to my laptop and found all the social handles and domain names were available. So I drunkenly registered them at like 3 in the morning and the rest is history.”

Who produced the mini-EP, and where was it recorded? 

“I produced it in my home studio in Los Angeles. The original and ‘dreamy’ versions of the song were both mixed by Fernando Reyes who is a super talented engineer and has become a dear friend over the years. The ‘stripped’ version was mixed by myself, and all three were mastered by John Greenham.”

Ships Have Sailed ‘Invisible Ink’ album artwork

Let’s talk gear for a moment. Give us a general overview of your gear. 

“Wow, that could be a rabbit hole! I do my production and mixing in Logic, and my interface is a Universal Audio Apollo. I have a bunch of guitars, but my go-to electrics are a Fender Tele and a really old weird Vox guitar that is beat to crap, but it sounds really, really cool when the time is right. And I have a Fender PJ bass which is a hybrid Precision / Jazz with a blend knob, super versatile, and my vocal chain is a Neumann U87 into a Manley VoxBox.

“I have a Universal Audio Twinfinity preamp that I use to run guitars or bass through, but I leave it fully on the tube setting for the warmth which really helps when amping in the box. And plugins, well, I have too many to list!”

What one piece of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound? 

“Would it be totally obnoxious to say: ‘my ears?’ I think that is really the only honest answer to this question.”

When someone listens to “Invisible Ink,” what do you want them to take away from it? 

“Well, we all go through pain, struggle, and heartbreak – it’s impossible to avoid as a human being, but there is a beauty in pain and in the human condition as a whole. Our pain, struggle, and heartbreak can turn into empathy if we allow that to be their impact and so I think the underlying message of ‘Invisible Ink’ might be to embrace the pain, embrace the struggle, embrace the heartbreak. Let it make you stronger and more empathetic and look at it as part of the beautiful experience it is to be human.”

How did you get started in music? What’s the backstory there? 

“I’ve been playing instruments and making music from a very young age, so really, it’s just been a constant over the course of my life. I’d say I really started taking my music seriously as a career and not just a hobby when I moved to LA, and I’ve learned a lot of hard lessons on that journey, but I appreciate all of them. They all led me to here and now, and they allow me to start to give back in a really unique way which is to do my best to help the artists coming up who may be less experienced in certain areas to avoid some of the pitfalls I found myself stumbling over as I was coming up.

“I think everything we learn, we learn for a reason. So I’ve chosen to take a very deliberate approach towards how I engage with the artists I work with as a songwriter and producer.”

Ships Have Sailed in 2023, photo by Gentle Giant Digital

How would you describe Ships Have Sailed’s tone? Has your tone changed over time? 

“Oh, we’ve definitely changed over time. I’d describe us as thoughtful indie rock with a healthy dose of optimism and a lean here and there towards pop and electro sensibilities. Back when we were first starting out, I was not as good of a producer.

“Our first EP was co-produced with a friend because I literally couldn’t get things to sound the way I wanted, so you can actually hear my progression towards being a better producer, songwriter, and mix engineer over the course of our discography. I used to kind of dislike this aspect of looking through our catalogue, but now I think there’s a bit of magic to that – like, you can literally hear the progress over time.”

Which do you enjoy the most: writing, recording, practicing, or playing live? 

“I’m so sorry but that is an impossible question. Each of these things is an integral part of being an artist and they each have their own kind of magic. I genuinely love all of them in their own way equally.”

Ships Have Sailed in 2023, photo by Gentle Giant Digital

How do you define success? 

“This has also changed drastically over time. These days, if I can create music I love, with people I love, enjoy and respect, support my family and continue to progress with my craft I think that’s my most important success metric.”

Finally, what’s the long-term goal for Ships Have Sailed? When you’re 90 and sitting in your rocking chair, what would you like to remember most about Ships Have Sailed?  

“I want there to be music and a human being that people fondly remember… that’s really it. Everything else are kind of distractions in their own way, the numbers, the stats, etc. But when it comes down to it, we relate to music because of its humanity, so being a human that people remember with love is where any kind of legacy begins.”