Latest / OurSpace with Matt Vettese / Catchy Riffs & Heavy Lyrics with If Not For Me
Transcript
- 0:01You're listening to our space with matt
- 0:04batiste thank you so much for throwing on another episode of
- 0:07our space today we are talking with patrick
- 0:11hayden zach and cody of metalcore band if not for me thank you so much for coming
- 0:15on the show today guys of course we're happy to be here thanks for having us
- 0:19this is awesome and exciting on the same day that this podcast comes out you
- 0:25will be releasing a new single.
- 0:28Why don't we start off the show by telling me a little bit about that?
- 0:34How did that single kind of come to be?
- 0:36What was the process with all of that? What was the inspiration there?
- 0:40Yeah, the single, we actually wrote this one a long time ago,
- 0:44back before a lot of, actually back before all of the most recent singles we put out.
- 0:49We wrote this with Grant McFarlane and Carson Slovak of Atrium Audio in Lancaster, PA.
- 0:56And it was, I don't know, we tried to use a lot of different producers for this
- 1:00record, because we just wanted a lot of different influences and sounds.
- 1:04And so those are some of the guys we went to.
- 1:07And we, you know, just writing a song from scratch with them.
- 1:10And it came out really sick. And now it's going to be a single.
- 1:13So we weren't sure if it was going to be one of the singles for a while.
- 1:16But here it is. And you've worked with them in the past, right?
- 1:20We have. Yeah, they did our whole eulogy album.
- 1:23And actually, they did the EP that we have out to capture the current.
- 1:26So we did all those songs with them.
- 1:28So this is just sort of an addition to that and kind of keeping with that same
- 1:33theme as your older stuff.
- 1:36I do actually really love this song so far. It's personally one of my favorites.
- 1:42So definitely excited to see what the feedback is going to be from fans on that one.
- 1:49Is this a one-off single right now? Do you have another EP in the works or a full length?
- 1:55Yes, we have a full length in the works. I believe by the time that this episode
- 2:01comes out, we'll have announced it.
- 2:03So I guess we can say the date, right? Sure. Okay.
- 2:07Yeah, so I think the album should be coming out on March 29th.
- 2:13It's actually going to be titled The Name of This Single, Everything You Wanted.
- 2:17And yeah, I mean, we're really stoked about it. Hopefully everyone else is really stoked about it too.
- 2:21It's really exciting within you. I'm especially coming out so fast.
- 2:25How long have you guys been working on this?
- 2:27It feels like forever. Yeah, probably.
- 2:31I don't even know. Maybe a year total. No, not that long. Probably no longer going to feel me now.
- 2:39Yeah, probably even a little bit longer. Like we've been sitting on feel me
- 2:43now and demons for almost like a little over a year now.
- 2:48But yeah, yeah probably like a year and a half stoked to
- 2:50see you working with the same producers as well were you did you sort of put
- 2:54together this song and a lot of the songs from this upcoming album sort of around
- 2:58the same time as eulogy no the majority of the album was actually written this
- 3:02year only probably like six months ago i'd say maybe eight months ago oh well yeah 2024,
- 3:10okay they got me on they got me all right 2024 now
- 3:13so yeah anything else big
- 3:16planned for 2024 24 is there going to be
- 3:18a tour announcement at some point or uh is that
- 3:22sort of kept under wraps for now we're working
- 3:25on stuff nothing that we can really confirm
- 3:28or say so there's always so much red tape i know every time i talk to bands
- 3:31they're like oh we want to tell you everything but also at the same time we
- 3:36can't because we're sort of waiting on on a whole lot of moving parts but it's
- 3:41good to know at the very least to kind of get a hint that you guys are sort
- 3:44of looking Looking forward to...
- 3:47Big things this year we'll kind of like leave it at that yeah
- 3:50definitely things are in the works i do want to
- 3:53know i know we wanted to start the show off talking about the single because
- 3:56the episode is being released the same day as as the single and like i said
- 4:00it's awesome but kind of getting back to the basics of the band one question
- 4:06i've wanted to know and i haven't been able to find anywhere on the internet
- 4:09if not for me where did that name come from.
- 4:14Yeah i don't know there's the
- 4:17long story short it was
- 4:20an old member that's no longer with us and i honestly wasn't even a part of
- 4:25the conversation when it happened but it just kind of like stuck around and
- 4:29we all really like this so we haven't changed it maybe one day i'm just kidding
- 4:34but um yeah no no we i don't know yeah that's that's the simplest answer,
- 4:40we get asked that question all the time and you
- 4:44would think by now that we have would come up with like a
- 4:47better answer so i think you just need to make something up at
- 4:49this point honestly we should make up like a cool story
- 4:52about it just like make up the most outrageous story you know like i was dreaming
- 4:58one day and there was this dragon that was destroying the whole world and if
- 5:02not for me and my magical sword the world would have been able to stop it and
- 5:07then i woke up and i was like Like, if not for me, that's a great band name.
- 5:10Yep. Yep. It came to me in a dream.
- 5:14I think with Metalcore and as a Metalcore band like you guys,
- 5:19I feel like amongst fans,
- 5:23things can be like a little bit split in terms of the way that people listen
- 5:26to music, whether they listen to it for the instrumentals or for the lyrics.
- 5:31How important are the lyrics to a band, to your band? Why are you giving this to me?
- 5:40It's definitely important but ironically for
- 5:44us i feel like like that's what comes
- 5:47last in the songwriting process like very rarely will i come into a song like
- 5:51with lyrics like already like i already know what i want to talk about and all
- 5:56that kind of stuff because generally i will i'll feed off the instrumental it's
- 6:00like typically we'll start with an instrumental and then we'll just.
- 6:05Lay out as many like hooks as we can think of. We'll just like hum along to
- 6:09it and try to find like what we think is catchy.
- 6:12And then from there, I'll go in and I'll take whatever melodies that we like
- 6:17and then kind of think about what they make me feel.
- 6:21And then that's when the words kind of start coming to it, which is it's probably
- 6:25like kind of backwards in comparison to like what a lot of people do.
- 6:30I know a lot of people like to start with like what the song is about. but
- 6:33for me it's hard for me to to
- 6:36really like come up with that kind of stuff unless i know
- 6:39like a general mood that the song is
- 6:41making me feel and we're just we're writing catchy songs
- 6:44that we like so like the catchiness is what's really important to us and then
- 6:49all that kind of stuff falls into place with whatever the song is making me
- 6:53feel at the time that's kind of cool though that you get the instrumentals and
- 6:57how do the instrumentals make you feel and you're able able to sort of piece
- 7:00together the words that way,
- 7:02which I don't know how common that might be.
- 7:05Like you said, I think a lot of people might write their lyrics first and sort
- 7:08of write the instrumentals based around that. I feel like it's sort of a case by case basis.
- 7:13But you know, you guys have a lot of really catchy hooks and melodies and lyrics.
- 7:19So I was wondering, you know, are you a lyrics first?
- 7:22Like how much do lyrics matter to you guys?
- 7:25I mean, I mean, even when you're sort of piecing together and taking how it
- 7:28feels, the thought that goes into the lyrics, like, is there a lot of thought?
- 7:33Like, do you guys, even when you're sort of listening to music from other bands,
- 7:38are you listening for the instrumentals or are you listening for the lyrics?
- 7:41I feel like we're all, we probably would all have a different answer to that.
- 7:45When I like listen to something, I really appreciate good lyricism and like
- 7:50telling a story and stuff like that. I know Hayden doesn't really care about that kind of stuff.
- 7:56He's more into the actual songwriting stuff.
- 8:00But yeah i don't like you guys yeah like patty
- 8:03said i am terrible with lyrics i even our
- 8:06songs he doesn't even know most of our yeah a lot
- 8:09of our songs i'm still singing wrong words when i especially when
- 8:12i sing in the car live i practice them and i'm just like all right this this
- 8:16is the part that i gotta do i know that one line um but yeah when i listen to
- 8:21like you know the radio spotify apple music whatever it is i'm definitely just
- 8:25kind of like i'm like a producer brain i I guess, mixing guy.
- 8:30I just really appreciate arrangements, productions, mixes, and the way that
- 8:37the beat... And don't get me wrong, I don't hate vocals.
- 8:41I love the catchy choruses and stuff like that.
- 8:45That's what I think we all like about this band and we try to bring to the table.
- 8:50Yeah, I don't know. That's my point of view. I'm honestly all about the lyrics.
- 8:56Just kind of like an emo kid at heart, elder emo here.
- 8:59So it's all about just like how lyrics resonate with me and just
- 9:02like the story behind all that kind of like what patty was saying but also as
- 9:05a drummer i'm like really into just the instruments as well
- 9:08so i'm going to give you both just i just love when i
- 9:10hear a random part that has like a really cool subtlety and like a drum fill
- 9:13or something that really stands out to me or like listening to a couple song
- 9:16the same song over and over again and just like still finding like really cool
- 9:20instrumental things hidden in the song every time yeah both definitely matter
- 9:25yeah i I definitely think composition is king first, for sure.
- 9:29I do think lyrics matter a lot, though, especially because, you know,
- 9:33you can have a great composition, but if the lyrics are just like whacked up,
- 9:36like, you know, somebody's going to notice that.
- 9:38So it's like if people listen to your song and like they're not pointing out
- 9:41any of the lyrics, I'd say that's probably a good thing.
- 9:44You know what i mean you kind of want both to give
- 9:47you the chills you know like that's how you know you have a good song
- 9:49is when you're getting chills from like you know a
- 9:53filthy breakdown or from like some really
- 9:56heavy lyrics i will say you mentioned
- 9:59the wonder years when we were off camera and like that's that's
- 10:02my favorite band of all time so like me as
- 10:06a as a as somebody that appreciates that band like how
- 10:09could i not appreciate their lyricism like it's it's
- 10:11just top-notch like they're like that perfect band with
- 10:14having those catchy hooks and those really catchy lyrics that
- 10:17just sort of have that and it's all just
- 10:20it's all just life stories too which is something that i really appreciate but
- 10:25i will say like after we you know hammer out the melodies and all that kind
- 10:29of stuff and and like it's time for me to write lyrics i'm definitely very picky
- 10:32about that kind of stuff and i can be pretty stubborn and set in my ways sometimes like Like,
- 10:38if like something if we come up with something better,
- 10:42I'm pretty resistant to change sometimes,
- 10:45but it'd be like that.
- 10:47It's just a I feel like that's just the artistic side of me.
- 10:51Do you find that you try to put more of those personal stories into your lyrics
- 10:54because of your inspiration? Pretty much everything I write about is just personal experience stuff.
- 10:59And like, even things that because I do a lot of perspective writing to where
- 11:05I try try to put myself in the shoes of other people and write about what they might be feeling.
- 11:09And even for those kind of songs, a lot of it is still based on my perception of everything.
- 11:15But yeah, everything I write about is very personal to me most of the time.
- 11:20Do you ever get uncomfortable writing personal songs, knowing that someone might hear them?
- 11:25And, you know, maybe that might be a story about someone, you know, in there all the time.
- 11:30And it's it's funny you say that, because where this happens the most is like
- 11:36with my mom, because like I know my mom's going to listen to the songs.
- 11:40And I know she's going to come to me and be like, what are you talking about right here?
- 11:44Especially with eulogy, because that album was all about like mental health
- 11:48and like my struggles with like suicide and all that kind of stuff.
- 11:51And like, and my mom probably didn't know I was dealing with a lot of that kind of stuff.
- 11:57So like, it's always weird, that kind of vulnerability when you put yourself out there like that.
- 12:03And you don't really know how people are going to react to it,
- 12:06or if they're just gonna, you know, like crap all over you about it.
- 12:09Or because because there's always that potential that you
- 12:12could really put yourself into something and then it
- 12:15comes out and somebody's like yeah this is mid and it's
- 12:18just like oh well thanks but yeah
- 12:21there's there's just a there's a certain amount of vulnerability to that
- 12:24that is it's scary sometimes but most of
- 12:27the time it pays off yeah i feel like especially with something like you
- 12:30mentioned your mom you know we don't really tell our
- 12:32parents everything i'd say that's a normal thing for
- 12:35most people to keep their parents out of the loop where
- 12:38it almost feels like more comfortable talking about mental health
- 12:41struggles with friends or strangers than it would yeah
- 12:44100 so writing a song you know mentioning
- 12:47your mom or mentioning something that's personal that
- 12:50your mom didn't know about you and she's finding it out through a song that's
- 12:53got definitely have to be that has to be like nerve-wracking right do you ever
- 12:58get any sort of like feedback from from fans through social media like you know
- 13:03you mentioned maybe someone might say something mid after putting yourself out there,
- 13:08but have you ever received any sort of notes from fans where you're.
- 13:13They've really stuck out because they've been so overwhelmingly positive. It happens a lot.
- 13:18It's just really cool to be able to be a part of something and have somebody
- 13:23reach out to you, whether it's like at a show or just over social media or something like that.
- 13:28Like they'll sometimes it'll be like the band's page, but a lot of the times
- 13:31they'll like DM me personally.
- 13:33And it's just like, yo, like whatever you said here really made an impact on me.
- 13:38And And that's just like, that's so cool to me because I just,
- 13:43I remember being that kid where, you know, I would go to the shows and all that
- 13:47kind of stuff and something would really touch me and, you know,
- 13:51it would just inspire something in me.
- 13:53And, and to know that like, I sometimes do that for other people is just like
- 13:57the coolest thing in the world to me.
- 13:59Wanting to be that person that you sort of needed or wanted when you were younger
- 14:05definitely Definitely has a huge impact on the way on the way that I think a lot of us react.
- 14:09Like, is there a way that you guys as a band sort of do that at your shows or
- 14:13when connecting with fans to sort of be that person that you may be needed?
- 14:18Yeah, I think one thing that's very important to us is like we whether it's,
- 14:23you know, whether we're playing to five people or 500 people or 5000 people,
- 14:27we want to put on the same level of performance that we can every single night,
- 14:31just because that one kid in the crowd could have drove four hours to come see
- 14:36us and was waiting months for this.
- 14:39And we just want to give them the best of us that we possibly can every single night.
- 14:44And yeah, that's just one thing that's really important to us.
- 14:48But I think something really big for us, especially lately too,
- 14:51is just responding to almost every comment that we can on TikTok.
- 14:55Instagram, just because I know how I used to feel when a band would respond
- 15:00back to me or just even share something I posted in their story or something.
- 15:03I was like, oh my God, this...
- 15:05Person I look up to just like shared this. They actually cared of what I said there.
- 15:09I remember one time I took a picture of my cat next to a Motion City soundtrack final.
- 15:14The vocalists like commented on it and it just like made my whole day.
- 15:18It's like it's such a lame thing, though, I completely like resonated with me.
- 15:21And that's something we really take pride in is trying to respond to everybody we can.
- 15:25You know, I love that you're one of those bands that do that because you see the importance in it.
- 15:29You know, I still remember that time in like
- 15:322005 where Jimmy world messaged me
- 15:35back on my space as a
- 15:39teenager being like what so like it's cool
- 15:42to to build a community as a band
- 15:45and be there for your fans and I mean even going back
- 15:48to sort of mentioning the being at a show and putting on that show that people
- 15:53might need to hear I mean even if it's someone that may not be a fan sort of
- 15:57being there for even people that that might be discovering you and sort of giving
- 16:02those new potential fans the chills is is awesome.
- 16:06And I've seen a ton of great comments about you guys online about the show that
- 16:11you the show that you do put on.
- 16:13Is there anything in particular you do with like your stage presence that sort
- 16:16of might connect more with the fans?
- 16:18I'll do my take on the situation.
- 16:22I'm really big into like, again, like the production side of things.
- 16:25And I like I really like sound. I really like lighting
- 16:28and like all that kind of stuff so i just make sure that
- 16:32like if the venue that we're playing doesn't have like an adequate system
- 16:35to our you know yeah our
- 16:38needs uh we bring one and you
- 16:41know like sometimes that that stuff is hard with the venue sometimes the
- 16:44their employees and their owners don't like that but we have a saying and if
- 16:49not for me and we make it their problem them um and yeah so we you know and
- 16:57then we have we have a light show that we program again you know if the venue
- 17:00doesn't have adequate lighting we bring our own uh we we program it,
- 17:04If not for me, there would be great. There would be terrible lighting.
- 17:08That could be the new definition.
- 17:09As far as stage presence goes, I don't know.
- 17:14I mean, we just try to realistically look cool.
- 17:19And yeah, yeah, exactly. Zach and I have like, you know, things that we try
- 17:23to do together so that we're symmetrical on stage and Patrick's in the middle.
- 17:27He kind of does his own thing and interacts with people.
- 17:30Yeah i think uh part of it for me in
- 17:33particular is i like to be really interactive when i can especially
- 17:36if the crowd you know wants to be because
- 17:39like sure you'll have you'll have nights where like the crowd's kind of dead but like
- 17:43if the crowd is just like so into it the
- 17:45whole time it just gets so easy and i
- 17:49just like to do i don't know i like to i come from
- 17:52a pop punk background so like i'm all about mic
- 17:55grabs like i think that is so cool like if somebody's
- 17:58like singing along and they're acting like they like you know
- 18:01they want to sing a part or whatever like yeah here you go buddy
- 18:03and i don't know i'm just all about
- 18:06you know being up front with them and interacting with them and like a lot of
- 18:12especially when we play in like the upstate new york area a lot of them that
- 18:17have you know been coming out and seeing us consistently they do this thing
- 18:20where like they like to hand me their cell phones like recording and i'm like
- 18:24sure like i'll grab it and i'll you You know,
- 18:26like I'll do like selfie of the crowd and selfie of us playing and like all that kind of stuff.
- 18:30And it's just I like to keep it fun for the fans.
- 18:34And I like to I like to make them feel like.
- 18:39You know that they matter to us because at the end of the day you
- 18:42know we would not be there without them so like honestly
- 18:45like we're in and so much debt to them when it comes to
- 18:48that perspective that's so cool you like you
- 18:51bring the fans into the show like you make it an engaging show and like i have
- 18:58so many of them come up to me after like thank you for letting me sing with
- 19:01you thank you for you know taking my phone thanks for all this kind of stuff
- 19:04you know we'll take pictures and we'll do all that kind of stuff and it's just
- 19:07and like i said earlier just i remember remember being that fan.
- 19:10So to be able to provide that for somebody and to show them like what they're
- 19:15doing for us, it matters just as much as what we're doing for them is very important
- 19:20to me. And you guys grew up in Pennsylvania.
- 19:22Did you find that, you know, you had a big scene that way growing up that sort
- 19:28of kind of gave back the same way that you feel you're giving back?
- 19:31Like does that has that had any impact or inspiration on the way that you guys
- 19:36sort of act and put on shows as a band? Yeah, we had some sick venues,
- 19:40some of which are not around anymore due to, you know, COVID and other things
- 19:44when we were all growing up.
- 19:45And we all know each other because we grew up playing in, you know,
- 19:49local bands are adjacent to each other. And that's kind of how we formed.
- 19:53And we had some sick venues and shows around here. And I was just really blessed
- 19:58to have the kind of bands that we have in this area.
- 20:00We grew up with the August Burns Red and the emergence of that kind of metalcore
- 20:04sound. This is the Apocalypse.
- 20:06Texas in July is all from the central PA hub.
- 20:10And because of those bands, it really made all the emerging bands just have
- 20:13to try to get up to that level and just keep leveling up and leveling up and
- 20:17just pushing each other.
- 20:18And yeah, I think it created some really incredible metalcore bands.
- 20:22Was there like a gateway band for each of you that kind of got you into metalcore?
- 20:28And it could be something that's totally not metalcore related at all.
- 20:32Like, you know, I often say it like, if it wasn't for Avril Lavigne,
- 20:36I wouldn't be like, where I am today, right?
- 20:38Like little 11 year old Matt listening to I'm With You on his Discman,
- 20:42you know, sort of paved that
- 20:45way and was that pipeline to getting me into more of like the
- 20:48Blink-182s and the Sum 41s and sort
- 20:51of like developing my music taste it was just sort of like
- 20:53all over the place into like metallica and there
- 20:56was just such a huge like crossover pipeline
- 20:59but like it it feels like it all started with
- 21:02like 10 year old matt and being listening to avril lafine at that point and
- 21:07it sort of developed like what was that first band that sort of started that
- 21:12pipeline for you guys personally i think i'm gonna throw a couple out at you
- 21:15just as like my progression is just getting it further and further into this
- 21:18and And as a drummer, probably starting with Atreyu,
- 21:21like when Lipgloss and Platt came out, that like blew me away as like a middle schooler, you know.
- 21:25And then I was like the first time I heard double bass pedal too.
- 21:28So I was just like, I got to try to replicate this.
- 21:30Then probably Poison the Well, getting into more of like a post-hardcore and
- 21:34like early metalcore sound. Yeah.
- 21:35Um then uh probably then august burns red mac reiner
- 21:38completely blew me away as a as a drummer and then
- 21:41probably the dillinger escape plan just kind of taking the technicality a
- 21:44little bit further absolutely that's a pretty sweet pipeline a lot
- 21:47cooler than avril lavigne yeah for me it was
- 21:50definitely definitely lincoln park i don't
- 21:53even know if i liked music before i heard them and i was like oh my god music
- 21:57can be like this yeah i just remember being in the car at a very young age my
- 22:01dad would like put it on the radio i'm like dude this gets me so hype and i
- 22:04was just like Like I listened to like basically their discography until I was
- 22:08like 13, 15 and finally started listening to other stuff.
- 22:11But yeah, into like metalcore was definitely probably like Asking Alexandria,
- 22:15Bring Me the Horizon, you know, that scene, Escape the Fate.
- 22:18So first of all, Avril Lavigne is a queen. That's great.
- 22:22And I grew up as a country kid until I was probably like an early teenager,
- 22:28maybe, I don't know, maybe like 12 or something like that.
- 22:31And I remember my uncle showed me
- 22:35Kill Switch Engage and it was the first time I
- 22:38ever heard like heavy guitars and drums and like like
- 22:41screaming vocals and I was like what is this
- 22:44and then you know I started to
- 22:47you know dive a little bit more into that and then it was like under oath because
- 22:50like I grew up going to like youth group in
- 22:52church and so like they'd
- 22:55play music videos before you know the whole shindig that
- 22:59we would do and like i remember the video which
- 23:02song was it uh writing on the walls came up on
- 23:05like their music video reels or whatever and by under oath
- 23:08and i was like wow like this is nuts and then um
- 23:11as i got a little older like maybe 14 15 something
- 23:15like that asking alexandria happened and
- 23:18at first i was like yo this is whack back
- 23:21because yeah i have
- 23:25never heard like synths and stuff and metal
- 23:28before and like all this all these like poppy techno
- 23:31elements and stuff like that but it just it had me in a chokehold for years
- 23:35and then like the first band i had was like an asking alexandria clone yeah
- 23:40honestly when i first started like playing playing music i well i mean in like
- 23:45high school when i started playing with other people started playing music,
- 23:48I hated asking Alexandria.
- 23:50But now I like them and I appreciate them. And they eventually did get me into this.
- 23:54But early on, and I hate to be this guy because I don't know,
- 23:59but Metallica was like a really big influence for me. I was like,
- 24:02whoa, this sounds massive.
- 24:04And then I got into like Avenged Sevenfold. And then like everyone else was
- 24:09saying, like Escape the Fade, Asking Alexandria.
- 24:12That was like the really big big part that influenced me and to like,
- 24:15start, you know, writing like this kind of music and stuff like that.
- 24:18You know, I'm glad that you said Metallica because I feel like Metallica.
- 24:22While it kind of feels almost cliche to say that
- 24:26they were the gateway into metal but it's like
- 24:28at what point do we just kind of take that step back and be
- 24:31like yeah they were the gateway into metal and and we can just respect them
- 24:36for that like it's sure maybe it's cliche but i mean they were my gateway into
- 24:40it too like i said i went from avril lavigne into metallica into like then that
- 24:45got me into like the punk and it was like sex pistols and ramones and then blink 182 and And,
- 24:51you know, it was just sort of like all over the place.
- 24:53And that sort of really developed my personality and music taste before it was
- 24:59like The Used and Chiodos and all of that. Like it was just all over the place.
- 25:03But it kind of starts sometimes with Metallica. They were that first band with
- 25:07for so many of us with the heavy vocals and heavy instrumentals.
- 25:13And we can sort of respect them for what they are, even though everything, you know, St.
- 25:18Anger and on is just whatever. but i think there's
- 25:21some good stuff after saint anger personally but not saint
- 25:24anger i'm like a little
- 25:27bit of the opposite where i'm like there's a couple of songs on saint anger
- 25:30as much as i hate to admit it where i'm like oh these are actually kind of good
- 25:34songs it's just the snare drum like just is so bad it's hard to ignore but like
- 25:41frantic is a good song and And Some Kind of Monster is kind of a good song, too.
- 25:46But other than that, you know, I just kind of like fell off of them after that.
- 25:52I think with a lot of people, even with their, you know, stuff being afterwards being good.
- 25:57But Metalcore itself is sort of like in a really cool spot right now.
- 26:03And it's probably bigger now than it even was in the 2000s. I'm kind of curious
- 26:08how you guys feel about the metalcore scene right now and how that sort of impacts you guys as a band.
- 26:15It's pretty crazy because I definitely never expected to see any type of metalcore
- 26:22band have the commercial success that some of them are having right now.
- 26:25And I think like the ultimate example is probably Bring Me the Horizon,
- 26:29where like a lot of people are like, oh, they're not metal anymore,
- 26:33whatever, blah, blah, blah.
- 26:35Even though if you listen to some of their new songs, it's obviously metalcore.
- 26:39But it's cool because they're kind of in a spot now where they can just do anything
- 26:44that they want and it's going to hit no matter what.
- 26:48Because every single album they do, they push their genre.
- 26:52And then you have, what's another good example? Falling in Reverse or I Prevail and bands like that.
- 26:59I never expected to hear that kind of music on the radio.
- 27:03And now it's it's it just keeps happening and
- 27:06it's kind of like it's kind of inspiring in a
- 27:09way it's it's like yeah sorry
- 27:12yeah i think it's crazy because all the bands that we probably all used to listen
- 27:17to in high school and were made fun of for it are massive and on the radio and
- 27:23you know it's it's really a good feeling for me personally because i don't know
- 27:28like falling in reverse for for example, like he was talking about,
- 27:30I, I followed, they were like one of the only bands that I've followed since they debuted,
- 27:35probably because, you know, he already had a successful band before that.
- 27:39But I don't know, I love that first album, and honestly, everything that they put out.
- 27:43And it was just kind of one of those things that people were like, you know what I mean?
- 27:47When they see that you listening to that, or they see you listening to that kind of stuff.
- 27:52And now it's like, hey, told you so.
- 27:55Which is like, cool, because it's the same kind of music that we are you know
- 27:58playing but it's kind of like validating yeah yeah definitely i think it's also
- 28:04really cool to kind of see the crossovers that have been happening like look
- 28:06at like spirit box and megan the stallion like what the hell is that you know
- 28:11i love it that's so cool for it to like have a metal.
- 28:15Progressive metal band like merge over into rap and
- 28:18hip-hop and like the mainstream world like that's nuts or hell even
- 28:22look at like bands like knock loose and lorna shore playing huge festivals
- 28:25like coachella and that's just that's huge i don't
- 28:27know if it's like tiktok that's making all this like transcend over in the mainstream
- 28:30or just people's new acceptance of it but it's it's really sick i also love
- 28:35bands like sleep token and stuff they're trying to incorporate more of like
- 28:37pop influence into their sound and it's doing really well and being digested
- 28:41really well so yeah i I think the future is really bright for metalcore and it's really exciting.
- 28:45I think the thing is too with metalcore and with genre bending is that like
- 28:50good music is good music regardless of the genre, right?
- 28:55As sort of bands cross over genres, they kind of like sometimes amongst fans
- 29:00lose that like credibility of being a metalcore band or a hardcore band or anything like that.
- 29:08Do you find that there's like as a band yourself that you're sort of like,
- 29:12oh, well, we don't want to piss off those fans by releasing this song,
- 29:15or we might not be considered like a metal band.
- 29:17We try not to typically just because we're at the end of the day,
- 29:21we're writing songs that we like.
- 29:23And if it ends up being a soft song, then so be it. If it ends up being a heavy song, so be it.
- 29:28I've definitely had moments where, for example, when we put out blameless,
- 29:33that was like a heavier track.
- 29:35And it did way better than we were expecting it to.
- 29:38And then so I was like a a little weary about releasing the next one we put
- 29:42out alone because that one's a lot softer.
- 29:44And I was like, man, I hope people don't only want this one sound from us.
- 29:49But, like, as a whole, with the whole attitude of, like, bands reaching a level
- 29:54of commercial success and people being like, oh, they're not a metal band anymore,
- 29:59oh, it doesn't matter anymore, they sold out or whatever.
- 30:02I just think that's, like, such, like, a corny, like, backwards mindset to it.
- 30:06Because, like, if we have bands like Knocked Loose or Spiritbox doing,
- 30:11like, these crazy collabs or Bring Me doing these crazy collabs or whatever,
- 30:14it's like, at the end of the day, you're bringing more people into the genre.
- 30:19And I think that's what's important. Like, I know there's like a bit of exclusivity
- 30:23that people try to hold on to with alternative music, but to me,
- 30:28that's not what this genre was built on.
- 30:30To me, it was more built on like everybody's welcome.
- 30:34And I just think like the amount of people being brought into the genre by bands that have,
- 30:41you know, like hit, you know, crazy numbers doing huge things is like way more
- 30:46more beneficial to the scene than, you know, somebody potentially selling out
- 30:50or anything like that. I think you put that really well.
- 30:54I really do. I think that you put that really, really well, because I've always
- 30:57sort of been in the mentality of like, you want to bring people in because you know, why?
- 31:02Or like, why wouldn't you want to bring people in knowing how you feel with
- 31:06the music and how the music makes you feel?
- 31:08Why wouldn't you want more people to feel that way or to connect with something?
- 31:12Right? Like, oh, what? You don't want your shows to do better? you don't
- 31:15want more people to hear your message you don't want to you know make all
- 31:18these friends and music like okay whatever but that's also
- 31:21not just that but if you love a band the band sort of needs to make that money
- 31:25and make a living in order to continue making music or it might not be worth
- 31:29it for them and then your favorite band they they call it quits and then you
- 31:33have no more music from them wouldn't you much prefer your favorite band to
- 31:36sort of be making music constantly Yeah, I just don't get that.
- 31:41And like, for me, as a listener, or, I mean, as an enjoyer of anything,
- 31:45whether it's, you know, music, movies, video games, whatever,
- 31:49like food, if I love something, I want to share that with as many people as I can.
- 31:54Because I'm like, look how cool this is, look how good this is,
- 31:57whatever, like, I just don't get that mindset.
- 32:00Set like speaking of the scene and sort of spreading all that love who's your
- 32:05favorite up-and-coming band right now that everybody needs to check out it doesn't
- 32:09need to be metalcore just you know one isn't metalcore actually it's um.
- 32:14Sister label apparently we want to call them thriller they have honey
- 32:17revenge and honey revenge i think is probably one of the best up-and-coming
- 32:21bands i've heard in the last year of their album retrovision was
- 32:24awesome we actually did a thing at the end of the year we all saw
- 32:27what our album of the year was and three out of four of us all
- 32:30said that so i think it's a group mentality that they're you
- 32:33should really check out honey revenge they're sick i'm gonna
- 32:35get one band from each of you up and
- 32:39up and coming band we did a tour with our friends and
- 32:41archers last year they're a great band they make really sick music and they're
- 32:45doing really well so um i'd have to say check them out for sure archers i would
- 32:50have to say man there's not a lot honestly anymore no i do have one that i want
- 32:56to say but i think there's not a lot of up-and-coming,
- 33:01bands for me it's really and that that sucks to say and i'm really sorry to
- 33:05everyone but it's like you know the the bands that i like that i listen to are
- 33:10like the same like 17 bands that I listened to in high school that are still
- 33:14doing it, which is awesome, but bigger now.
- 33:17But honestly, for me, this band called Windwalkers is, yeah, it is a good one.
- 33:23They're so sick. I got the opportunity to edit the vocals on their newest album.
- 33:28I forget what it's called, honestly.
- 33:29What If I Break or something like that, I think. And that album from front to
- 33:33back is really honestly a masterpiece.
- 33:36I listened to it a lot more than I should.
- 33:39I had to scan my Spotify real quick to see like, cause I just forget what I'm
- 33:44listening to all the time.
- 33:46But there's this band that we've played with from they're like from the Scranton
- 33:51area, I think Scranton, PA.
- 33:52They're called So Much Hope Buried. And they're like we did a show with them
- 33:57and they just they blew me away.
- 33:58It's it's funny because it's like I don't even know how to describe the genre, I guess.
- 34:05It's like, yeah, it's like kind of like post hardcore, but it's like more rock
- 34:10influenced and more, I think, pop influenced in a way.
- 34:14It's a four piece and the front man who's like the singer like also plays piano like beautifully.
- 34:22And they're just doing some really cool stuff and they
- 34:25were super tight when we saw them they're working on a lot of new music which
- 34:28i'm excited to hear but yeah that'd probably be my pick i was gonna say honey
- 34:31revenge but cody stole it but yeah i love those guys is there anything else
- 34:36that you would like to say about your single that is out today or about the
- 34:40band or anything you want fans hands to know going into 2024?
- 34:45Yeah, we are actually we just launched a contest with this single,
- 34:48where it's going to go up through like the whole album cycle,
- 34:51we're going to add more stuff to it.
- 34:53But we're giving away like a ton of prizes for you to do you know,
- 34:57certain actions like saving songs, your Spotify and all that kind of stuff.
- 35:00And the links to that are all on our socials and stuff like that.
- 35:03But there's some pretty sick prizes, including you know, signed vinyl and assigned
- 35:07symbol clock that Cody makes out of like broken symbols and stuff like that, A lot of cool stuff.
- 35:13Not only broken, but used by Cody Frayn.
- 35:16Other than that, we're stoked to finally put this music out.
- 35:20We're really proud of all this stuff.
- 35:22And I hope it resonates with people as much as the previous four singles that we've had out does.
- 35:28Because it's been really cool so far and we're very appreciative of that.
- 35:31Well, Everything You Wanted is officially out today, the day that we are posting this episode.
- 35:36And you got to go and check it out. Thank you so much, guys,
- 35:39for taking the time to hang out with me today. Thank you. We appreciate you
- 35:42being here and having us.
- 35:44Thank you for listening to Our Space with Matt Batiste.
- 35:47If you enjoyed yourself, please support the show by subscribing and leaving a review.