I think we wanted the sound to be really dark and heavy, but not senselessly so. To me the overall sound is a mixture of aggression with a strong melodic side, but there is also an atmospheric element to a lot of tracks. That said, bands like Helmet, Failure, Handsome, Soundgarden, Quicksand, Shiner, and a host of others were really influential to this particular project. We’ve all explored countless musical paths outside of this era in the time since, but it has been super fun and really satisfying to revisit this era and attempt to put our own spin on it, as it was central to all of us in terms of our desire to play music in the first place.Īs far as specific bands from that time period that we love in general, the list is massive, and probably unique to each individual in the band. Beyond that, I think we collectively share a natural affinity for this era because it is when we started paying attention to music in a deeper way and it was also the time period that spawned many of the artists that inspired each of us to want to start getting involved in music as creators. Steve: Personally, I feel like it was a time when music and technology converged in a very meaningful way, in that there was enough technological capability to really pursue complex musical ideas and production aesthetics without the technology dominating the process and becoming the sound itself. What is it about that era that means so much to the band and are there any specific bands from that time that were especially influential? Having spent my mid-20's to mid-30's listening to all of those bands, I agree that is a very apt description. Your bio says the album is "A love letter to 90’s alternative rock and post hardcore written with an evolved sensibility”. Once we have a working demo of that fashion, we all get in a room together and play the stuff to make sure it hits the way we intended, modifying as needed based on the energy we’re getting from it in the moment. We then pass that demo to Jon and Shane, who come up with their respective parts.
Steve: Brendon will usually come up with a guitar-only skeleton for a song and I will then typically lay down some drum ideas, making edits to that skeleton if necessary. When we were looking to formalize the project, we decided to reach out to friends of ours whose music we loved to round out the lineup, and so Jon and Shane were obvious first choices.
I loved the tracks and we started rehearsing in my studio at night after other sessions wrapped. Steve: Brendon was living above the recording studio where I work and had passed me a couple demos to see if I was interested in drumming for the project. How did the four of you get together to form the band?