How do you usually write the lyrics of your songs?
I always start with the chorus/hook first when writing songs in general. For me it’s always been more coherent and fluid to build a song around the main part rather than start to finish. So, I usually start by writing a rough arrangement. Once I have something that evokes emotion, I just start toplining over it. My lyrical content really depends on what type of emotion my song arrangement is pulling from me. The rest is just being straightforward and honest.
In your opinion, what is the most important thing in songwriting?
Every Artist has a different reason for doing what they do. For us, it’s our message. The music is just a tool for us to deliver the message. We’ve always been a band built on spreading positivity and hope. Honestly, there are too many things that are “important” in songwriting however for us, our simple rule is “if it doesn’t move us, we can’t expect it to move anyone else”.
Are you ever scared of revealing aspects of your personal life/experience to strangers through your music?
Sometimes. I’ve never been very good at expressing myself except through music. So, music becomes an outlet for me to say all the things that I’ve always wanted to tell people. I make myself pretty vulnerable in some songs but we hope that by doing so, we can let people know that they’re not alone.
What is the best lyric that you ever wrote (the most meaningful for you)?
It’s from our song “Insecure”.
“I’d be so relevant
with just a few more friends
pressing like on my posts
Giving false sense of hope
I’m alright….
I have a life…”
What inspired “Antisocial”, your latest single part of your album “Disorder”?
I’ve typed, erased, and retyped this answer at least 15 times in the last 30 minutes thinking of the best way to tell this story. I honestly don’t know how to fit it into a short answer and I think that most traumatic experiences in life can’t be. It’s always a build up of things. A ripple effect. I grew up with some traumatic experiences that led me to detach myself from people. It was a process. Each experience I went through led me to detach a little bit more until there came a point where I didn’t know how to socialize with people anymore. I would have anxiety whenever I was around people that I didn’t know. It’s something that I work on all the time. I’m nowhere as bad as I was at one point and I know that there are people that have it way worse than me. I just wanted to write a song to talk about it.
And “Find A Way”?
I co-wrote “Find A Way” with my good friend and producer Aaron Edwards. I just sat down with Aaron before the writing began and showed him what we had written already and then I roughly put together an 80’s style arrangement. We wrote the hook in about an hour and I finished the rest of the song the same day. When I was writing the lyrics, I remember thinking that there have been so many times where life drops that bomb on you and feel absolutely defeated. It’s 100x that effect when you’re already struggling with something like depression or anxiety. “Find a way” is a message to everyone that fights that war each day…a reminder to not give up. That life is worth fighting for.
Do you remember the day you wrote “Get Myself”?
Yes. I remember that day thinking, “why am I so socially awkward? Like, why can’t I just go up to people and start a conversation…I don’t get myself”. I decided to write a song about it but suffice to say, Once Amber came into the mix and directed the Music Video, she took the meaning to a whole new level.
Is there a link/a common theme among the songs of the new album?
Our new record is dedicated to spread mental health awareness.
What is the best suggestion your producer gave you?
I am the producer so my best advice to myself is to turn the knobs until it sounds good. lol
What are your plans for the few remaining months of 2019?
We’d like to focus on touring and getting our music out to as many people.
To conclude the interview a short Q/A session, please answer the first thing that comes to your mind:
- Define in one word your album “Disorder”: DISORDER.
- The best show you ever played: Ktown Night Market 2018.
- The one thing that you must have in your backstage: Water.
- The soundtrack of your childhood: Story of the Year – Until the Day I Die.
- Your favourite song lyrically speaking, but not written by you: There’s just way too many.
- Last question is “unusual”, we want to know your best relationship advice: Read “The 5 Love Languages” by Gary Chapman.