SOURCE – Habits is the name of your next record. When is it coming out and how fitting does the title feel for these days?
Sam Hart (Drums) – The album is set to release on the 24th of April through Holy Roar Records. It’s really all about the Habits we pick up as not just individuals but also as a society. Currently we are all going through some tough times and really having a chance to evaluate our own habits so it fits pretty well with current events really.
SOURCE – Which songs on the new album pulled something out of you in terms of emotion, melody, or ability that even surprised yourself?
Sam Hart (Drums) – I think we each poured a little something of ourselves into each song. Without giving away the meaning behind them too much, as we like to hear what people who listen to them think, they all have something loosely to do with our own individual experiences as well as collectively as a group. When the subject matter is so close to home it’s hard to not become emotionally attached to some of the tracks on a personal level.
SOURCE – Nowadays in every album the person responsible for the sound production is strongly mentioned especially when he is a known one. How important do you think is the producer to the sound of a band?
Sam Hart (Drums) – Super super important. It truly is not possible to stress enough how much better the whole album is because of our relationship with our producer Riley. He really is something special to us, having known him a long time now and him being a member of the band really helps, but his exceptional talents really speak for themselves. We rarely had something truly finished when we went into record but Riley was able to bring everything together into something cohesive and into something that just made perfect sense sonically.
SOURCE – The reaction to the album thus far has been suitably positive. Has this surprised? And, do you pay much attention to what critics say about the band?
Sam Hart (Drums) – We do read quite a lot of the reviews that get posted but it’s also important to understand that you can’t please everyone. It’s also interesting to see what people really pick up on when listening, it can sometimes lead to cool ideas to try next time and also helps you pick out things that might quickly become a trope of your own particular sound.
SOURCE – What are your thoughts about Spotify and the whole fact that you can stream? Now everybody is putting their record out there a week before streaming it online on like iTunes.
Sam Hart (Drums) – I think this is really a thing that people are only just getting used to. For a while now we’ve been compressing media down into a more easily consumable format. Take for example newspapers. They used to be these huge sheets of information that used to take days to distribute and print and now we’re sharing the latest information after only a few seconds in tiny snippets.
The same is happening with music. People want to consume as much as possible as quickly as possible and with as little effort as possible. It’s not necessarily a bad thing because this way you can reach out to people who only might be interested in a song or two, but you’re always going to have the die hard fans sitting there with a broadsheet.
SOURCE – Do you have the support of friends and family in your music endeavors? And what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received regarding music related events – either from fellow musicians, friends, or outside parties?
Sam Hart (Drums) – We are really lucky to have some extremely patient and supportive friends and family. There’s been times when we have had strained relationships, romantic and otherwise, due to performance/recording commitments but so far they have all been pretty well justified. Really it comes down to keeping your expectations at a manageable level and setting little goals.
SOURCE – What worries or concerns you most about the current world that we live in today? If you had the opportunity to change anything about the world, what would you like to change and why?
Sam Hart (Drums) – Honestly, answering from a personal perspective, the world was becoming more and more self centred in nature. Current events though have really shown though that at the root of society there is still a compassion for fellow man and a real sense of community. Hopefully once we are recovering from the current pandemic then the ‘normal’ never returns and people can continue the current outlook of a more socially responsible lifestyle.
SOURCE – Finally, what’s on deck for the rest of 2020?
Sam Hart (Drums) – For now we’re just keeping bunkered down and coming up with ideas for when we are able to play again. I can say that some are most definitely more likely than others!
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