rockyourlyricsHow do you usually write the lyrics of your songs?
I would say that the process is different every time.
Sometimes that starts with just the music and the lyrics come later and other times the lyrics come first.
But always the core of my lyrics comes from something that I’m experiencing in my life.
It has to be something that we started somewhere and that is very personal and very real…..sometimes the song will take on characters of their own….I’ll begin writing something that is more or less a true story and then the song becomes its own narrative.
The most important thing is that it expresses a real version.
Your new album is titled “What If Nothing”, lyrically speaking, is there a link that connects all the songs?
Yes and no. I would say I would think more yes than no.
This year has been a very intense one for me and the band…..We took a break about a year ago because my dad was getting sick, he’s been struggling with Alzheimers for a long time and then he passed away earlier this year.
There were a lot of life deepening experiences happening for us and a lot of the songs came out as appreciation for life.
Something like that changes your perspective on your love-life, your career and just about everything else.
I would say the main link it’s just that I personally have never been at such a vulnerable place and writing songs comes from that place of vulnerability.
Can you tell me more about “one foot” your first single?
It’s really about facing the unknown while having all those questions and no answers and deciding to move forward anyway.
Last summer, in August, I went to the Burning Man (you know the big festival in the desert) and that image of the desert as a sort of blank canvas became a focal point, a central image for us.
We turned to it quite a lot times while writing this record and that kind of became the central idea for us …..you know, that place of uncertainty where anything could happen….positive or negative.
When we got together for the first time in a while, it was at the beginning of this year in winter (early 2017) and a lot was going on in the band …..
I remember there was just some uncertainty too among the band members.
Meanwhile Donald Trump was just elected president and there was a lot of uncertainty as well in our country (so it is today) about how we were going to move forward and what that means for the world.
you know, it’s interesting …….we picked that song as the first single because it kind of represents the album as a whole….
What is the best verse you ever wrote for a song ?
It will probably be something on this upcoming record, but among the songs that are out there and that people would know….I would say “AquaMan” on our last record “Talking is Hard”
It is such a pure love song… it takes the image of the ocean and the idea of two people swimming and floating in the water
My favorite verse is saying “The real life love is under the mirror of the surface, So cut my cord I want to know how deep we can take it”
Is there a song, not written by you, that you really like because of its lyrics?
The song that comes to my mind is called “Summer Skin” by Death Cab for Cutie.
I think it has the most heartbreaking lyrics and what I love about it is the fact that uses a specific imagery…it gets very very detailed and allows the listener to paint a very detailed and beautiful picture.
What does music mean for you ?
you know….when you get down to something like beyond atoms and nucleus and down to the tiniest tiniest level of it, you will discover that we’re all made up of vibrations….
Music is just one of the many art forms, but it is the one that specifically uses vibration and so when you play a song or you would experience music, the very core fabric of what you’re made up is responding and it’s changing.
I know it can look nerdy for a moment, but, if you think that music is one of the few things in this world which can really affect someone so deeply in such a short amount of time
music has the power to really get down to your heart, really down to your soul.
Do you have a favorite song in your new album?
There’s a song called “Surrender” that’s coming out of the new record. That might be my favorite.
It’s just another one that’s just very very raw lyrically and it sort of describes the moments that follow after breaking up with the love of your life and what it takes to move on.
Tonight (last Wednesday) you’re playing in London correct? How will the tour evolve?
This is just a trip here to London.
We’ll be back to the UK and Europe in spring or summer 2018.
Today we’ve just got this warm up show, right after it we will be back in the States for a little while until we return….
And the last question is a very personal question….. what makes you happy in life?
I think sharing life experience with somebody that I care about like my friends or my family, whether it is just a happy experience or a unhappy one, positive or negative.
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