Thursday 30 January 2014

As It Is - This Mind of Mine, Track by Track Guide


Brighton's As it Is are soon to be releasing their fan funded E.P, This Mind of Mine, which will be out March 17th. With 18 months of hard work, independent gigging and a self released debut (Blenheim Place) already under their belts, This Mind of Mine is sure to be a success. Here the band take us on a track by track guide to reveal what's behind their latest creation...

Bitter, Broken Me
This song is about being sad. It's about unrequited love and self-loathing, effectively lyrically revisiting our previous single 'Upswing', going as far as to reference its lyrics. It's about when you stop seeing anything in yourself because no one else seems to anymore. We just wanted to convey that shattering feeling of desperately needing a person that doesn't give much of a shit about you. We talk about reconstructing yourself to love the pain somebody puts you through, because you can't seem to let them go despite knowing better. It's the fastest and angriest song on the EP. We also reference one of The Early November's lyrics, in the same vein as when they referenced a Get Up Kids lyric. They got sued though. We're hoping we don't. We'd be even more bitter and broken.
Horoscopes
This song is also about being sad. It was the first song we wrote for this EP, and it definitely set the tone for the songs we'd proceed to write. We wrote the chorus of this song after a night of Tarot cards and horror films with one of our best friends; we were too cynical to buy into any of it. It's about not having a religion to give you any sense of optimism for your mortality, making the fear of your friends dying before you absolutely fucking terrifying. It seems easier when you have some sort of faith to make you feel significant. We don't, so there's that. It ends in a big, shouty The Wonder Years-style finale. Not nearly as good as them though, obviously.

Can't Save Myself
This song is about how we were still sad. It was one of those songs that wrote itself basically; the music and lyrics were written in less than two days, which for us is unheard of. It's about hating yourself for lack of any specific reason, it's just a part of who you are, like being hungry or something. It touches on that feeling of being surrounded by people with their shit together, while you try desperately not to fall apart inside. It's about growing up and losing hope. We find a lot of inspiration in John Hughes films, and that's pretty apparent in these lyrics. 

Relive The Story

This song is easily the most sad. We wrote it with bands like Brand New and Hidden In Plain View in mind. Patty wrote the beginning guitar line and then went to pick up a friend (yes, we have friends) from the station. When he returned Andy and Ben had basically finished the song. If we hadn't before, we stopped holding back our most miserable and pessimistic thoughts. The first line is a reference to a Chuck Palanuik quote; ‘hope is just a phase you grow out of’ which when you read and believe as a kid is gonna fuck you up later down the line. The chorus screams, "I'll never be the man that I want to be, and he'd never want to be me," which kinda just implies "game over" or "what's the fucking point anyway?". It's both the quietest and loudest song on the EP. We went back and forth for ages discussing whether it was suitable on a four-track EP, but it's become one of the songs we're proudest of, and we think it's a rad way to see the EP out.

Above the Underground - Sonder, Track by Track Guide

























Above the Underground, who hail from Chester are releasing Sonder, their debut album on February 17th. With their song Return to Point Pleasant, already displaying what's to come from the album, this is definitely not one to miss. Vocalist Will takes us through the process of creating the album track by track.  

Track one - Prologue
We wanted the first song on the album to sum up the general mood of the record for the listener without actually being a full song. We like the idea of repeating themes, and the combination of chords and the riff in Prologue sets the first theme of the record which returns at the end of the album in“Reprise”. We really liked the idea of having two songs at either end of the record, kind of like bookends to tie it all together. Originally the ideas for this song were from a bridge in another song that we never ended up using; one day I was messing around on my acoustic and I played it a little slower and it just worked so much better, so we ended up using it. We wanted a lot of ambient noise at the beginning of the album to give off the impression that we were getting ready to start playing, lots of mic noise and background talking. It all came together really well in the studio and I think It sets a precedent for the album which is what we were aiming for, overall I feel it came out really well.

Track two – Return To Point Pleasant
This was the first track we wrote for the album. We wanted the first proper song to make people sit up and think, “Ok, now I'm interested”, so we wrote it so the chord progression in the intro was a continuation of the last two chords in “Prologue”. It seemed tie the two songs together and I think it flows really well. I started writing this on tour in the States. We were out with a band called On My Honor and when we started the tour they told us about this urban legend about a monster called the “moth man” that used to terrorize a town in West Virginia called Point Pleasant in the sixties. A couple of weeks into the tour I was riding in OMH's van and we got a call saying that the other van with the rest of my guys had broken down, so I had to play a couple of the dates on my own. After the show I fell asleep in the van and woke up to Drew from OMH excited as fuck shouting “Get up, we're in Point Pleasant!” The place was super eerie. It was the middle of the night and it was covered in fog. There was this big statue of the moth man in the centre of the town. After we were sufficiently creeped out we climbed back into the van and carried on towards Kentucky where we were playing the next day. I fell asleep in the back and had the weirdest dream I've ever had. I was in my old school and there were these men in suits roaming around searching for a monster. I was locked inside and couldn't escape. For some reason I climbed into this old bell tower to hide. There was a projector that was beaming a film down into a room below where all the men in suits were sat watching this crazy propaganda film. Aside from that the place was pitch black. Suddenly I got this weird feeling that the monster was in the bell tower with me. Trying to escape, I climbed in front of the projector, projecting my shadow down onto the screen below. The men in suits started freaking out, shouting “It's the monster!”. Suddenly I realized that the whole time I had been the monster and it was me that they had been searching for. When I woke up the two merch girls on the tour, Brittany and Nicole, told me that I'd been screaming in my sleep, which has never happened to me before. Overall it was a ridiculously freaky experience, but the combination of that dream and being out there on my own made me think about a lot of things. That's what the song deals with lyrically, coming to terms with parts of yourself that you're not happy with and accepting yourself for who you are. When I listened back to the song it didn't quite come across that way, but people can take from it what they want. All in all it turned out as one of my favourite tracks on the record.

Track three – Lavender Town Syndrome
We wanted a more upbeat song at this point, so we decided to put this track here. Musically it's very simple, we wanted the lyrics to carry it more than anything else so it never strayed too far from it's original format, an acoustic song. Lyrically it's about trying to reclaim a certain feeling of inner peace that you have when you're young that seems to disappear more and more as you get older, whilst at the same time accepting that things change and you have to adapt to the world around you. It's also about my friends and how grateful I am to have them. I know that's a cliché in this genre but they mean a lot to me and I wanted to write about something positive for a change. There are a few references to older songs we've written, “I won't forget you” citing lyrics from a song on our last EP called “MMIX”, which deals with similar themes, and “please don't be so ashamed of who you are” a throwback to one of the first songs we ever wrote, “We Are The Party”. The structure on this one is a little unconventional, the mood of the song changes towards the end. The lyrics over the outro, “I'll run faster than you can” deals with the feeling I have that my youth is kind of running out, which I think a lot of people my age can relate to. The line is almost a statement of defiance against that concept. The harmonies in the chorus of this track are the highlight for me, I think they really bring it to life. The change in tone after the bridge was intentionally written that way to set up the next track on the album, “Weathered”.

Track four – Weathered
This is another song that came together fairly early on in the album writing process. I think that everyone goes about life only showing a fraction of who they really are to the people they meet so I wrote a song that reflected that. Musically it's very short and angsty and I feel that it really fits the theme of the song in general. Everyone has so much more to give than their everyday persona lets on, so the lyrics in the chorus, “I mean this, I'd give you everything I have, believe it” are about that feeling of wanting something more than what goes on day to day and that longing for a deeper connection with someone. It's a short one but I feel like it says everything it needs to say. It's a very guitar driven track and we tried a few different combinations and tones before we got the right sound. It's one of our favourites to play live.

Track five – I Was Never Lost
We wrote this song originally for a split we put out last year. For the album, we re-wrote parts that we weren't completely happy with originally and I think it turned out a lot better. I love the guitar sounds on this track. We wanted it to sound massive and I think Matty, the producer on the album, really captured the right sounds in order to let that happen. The song is about the sense of adventure that comes with playing in a band and being on the road. It has it pitfalls and its downsides but for the right kind of person who's after the right kind of lifestyle it's the greatest thing in the world. Even though I loved it when I was younger I used to second guess wether being in a band was the right decision, but when we started touring properly and started writing music we were really happy with it put things into perspective and gave me the feeling that I'd made the right decisions for myself. The title of the song, “I Was Never Lost”, reflects on that. I really feel like this song sums up our band musically, it seems to have all the elements that make us sound like us. The bridge in this song is one of my favourite parts of the whole record.

Track six – Cheer Up
The name, “Cheer Up”, was one of the original ideas we had nocking about for the name of the record. We wanted an interlude in the middle of the album to tie it together and give it some breathing space. Musically this is my favourite song on the record. The lyrics are low in the mix for that purpose. I wanted it to be simple. The lyrics remind me of self titled era Blink, something Hoppus might write. For inspiration on this track I listened to songs like “Tautou” by Brand New and “The Fallen Interlude” by Blink. I wanted it to have big vibes without saying much. Again I love the guitar sounds on this track, Matty did a great job. Overall I feel like this one turned out really well and it ended up being one of my favourites on the record.

Track seven – Not Home
This is another one from the split we put out last year. It's definitely the angriest song on the record. The lyrics in this one are pretty straight forward, it's about infidelity and the subsequent fallout of that. I wrote the lyrics to this song when I was a bit younger and I think that shows, but I like that about it; it has an angsty, confused and desperate vibe about it that I think makes it stand out from other songs we've written. The lyrics, “every piece of real estate in hell you've built yourself, you've earned it” are the angriest I've ever written and some of my favourite on the record. We wanted this one to be very musically driven so we wanted the drums and guitars to sound and feel massive to reflect the tone of the song. If you listen closely there are very few parts of the song without any singing, which I think works really well. I had a lot to say and it gives the song an edge that reflects the subject matter. This is another one of our favourites to play live.

Track eight – Shine
Seeing as track seven and track nine are both fast and angry, we wanted an acoustic song here to give the record some room, and whilst I had a few written, Shine seemed to be the perfect fit and was the one that eventually made the cut. Originally I had not planned for this to be an ATU song, it was just something I had come up with myself. We didn't have a love song on the album so it was a nice change from what we normally do. The song itself is short and very simple. I jammed it out with Bran a couple of weeks before we went into the studio and we decided it would work best if the drums were as basic as possible in order to not crowd it up, but driving enough to carry the song in the right direction. The recording process on this one was very easy and fun. We wanted it to have a really live sound so the guitars were all recorded live without any overdubs, I just had to keep playing it over and over until I got it right. We'd never done a proper acoustic song before so we weren't quite sure how it turned out but it ended up working really well and I don't think that the album would feel right now without it.

Track nine – Bring Me The Sun
This song took a long time to write and went through a lot of different versions before we got to the final product. This is a pretty straightforward track and I feel like it could have fit in well on our last E.P, “Autumns”. Lyrically it deals with striving to be be the best person you can be and the idea of trying to live your life to the fullest. Although it took a long time it was a really fun song to write and we feel like it turned out really well. We wanted an epic half time chorus that juxtaposes the frantic double time verses and pre-chorus. The gang vocals and riff in the chorus really bring it to life and I think it might be one of the strongest sections on the record. We wanted this song to have a live, frantic sound. We used a lot of delay on the lead riffs in the choruses and pre-choruses to fill it out and give it a massive sound. Overall it turned into a really fun, cool song. It's definitely a fun one to play as a band.

Track ten – Reprise
This was the last track we wrote for the record and my favourite song we've ever written. It starts with the same progression as Prologue but introduces more themes that turn it into a different song in its own right. I really feel like the drums carry this track. Me and Brandon jammed it out a few weeks before we went into the studio and tried a few ideas but we settled on simple driving beats that complemented the lyrics and formed a crescendo towards the end. I feel like it worked really well. We kept the intro as basic as possible so that when it kicked in it would sound huge. The gang vocals in the verse are super high and we really had to push ourselves to hit them but I think that it gives it a cool sound. Structurally this song is very unconventional but we tried to just take it to the places it needed to go instead of worrying about choruses and verses and things like that. The whole song builds up to the outro and the last few lines are the pay off. Overall I think it ties the album up perfectly and if people make it this far it makes more sense than if it were a stand alone track. To me it feels like the plot twist at the end of a movie that makes everything you've been watching so far make sense and fit into place. The way this song ends after the climax is my favourite part and I really feel like it brings the record to a great end.



Wednesday 29 January 2014

Fireworks To Release New Album


Fireworks are releasing a new album. Their follow up to Gospel, 'Oh, Common Life', will be released on March 25th on Triple Crown Records. 

Basement Come Off Hiatus



Basement are off their hiatus! Read the statement from the band's Facebook below:

'In the autumn of 2012 we made a decision as a band to put things on hold, as many of us had other commitments in our lives that needed to take priority. Almost two years on, for the most part now settled in where we want to be, it feels like there is space for change. When we put out the hiatus statement, we genuinely thought we were going to be away for quite a while, and we didn't see any chance of having free time to do anything other than focus on our professional lives. We're glad that this is not the case. We are really excited to say that Basement will be playing shows this summer, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Thank you so much for your continued support.'

Alex, Andrew, Duncan, James and Ronan.
- Basement

Tuesday 28 January 2014

New Such Gold Song - Choosing Cages


Absolute Punk are streaming Such Gold's new song Choosing Cages which will feature on their upcoming split with Placeholder. Listen to it here

Sunday 26 January 2014

Follow Us on Spotify

If you have Spotify you can now follow us here. We thought we'd bring you to you our list of January favorites, including Neck Deep's new release Wishful Thinking, Real Friend's Put Yourself Back Together to celebrate the announcement that their touring the UK in May, Roam's EP Head Down because their supporting Neck Deep on their UK tour and some Save Your Breath because they're also heading out this month with Neck Deep and We are the In Crowd. 

Thursday 23 January 2014

Talking with Soup - Dan Campbell Starts New Web Series

Watch and subscribe to Dan Campbell's new web series 'Talking with Soup' below. His first interview feature Jack Barakat.

Friday 17 January 2014

Hit The Deck Festival Announcement

Hit The Deck have announced some of its line up yesterday. This year they've got Brand New, Saves the Day, Gnarwolves, Patent Pending and more. 

Dates:
Bristol - 19th April
Nottingham - 20th April


Man Overboard 'I Hate Her' Free Download


























Download Man Overboard's previously unreleased track 'I Hate Her' here. It's free, you know you want to.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Real Friends to Tour Europe With Modern Baseball and You Blew It

So, we've got the Real Friends tour with Modern Baseball and you Blew it at the same time as The Wonder Years, State Champs and A Loss For Words? WIN.

Could this mean that all 6 bands will be at Slam Dunk?

Dates:

May
07 Kingston Fighting Cocks
08 Kingston Fighting Cocks
09 London Old Blue Last
10 Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
11 Southampton Joiners
12 Liverpool Korova
13 Glasgow Audio
14 Manchester Star and Garter
15 Norwich Epic Studios
16 Leicester Soundhouse
17 Eindhoven Dynamo
18 Cologne MTC
19 Hamburg Hafenklang
20 Berlin Comet
21 Munich Germany Sunny Red
22 Karslruhe Jubez
23 Antwerp JH Kavka


Sunday 12 January 2014

Neck Deep Tip for 2014 Rock Sound Award

Late Last Year, Rock Sound asked readers to tell them who were their favourites in 2013, and what 2014 would bring. Well done to Neck Deep who won the 'Tip for 2014' category. Here's fan Daniel Matthews letting them know...

Saturday 11 January 2014

Soupy Rock Sound #7of30

Recently, Rock Sound asked Dan 'Soupy' Campbell from The Wonder Years a number of questions including ludicrous rider requests, having sex backstage and the worst thing that has been in Soupy's mouth...

Nick Trask parts ways with Major League

Singer Nick Trask has parted ways with Major League. However, everything is amicable and don't worry Major League will continue as a band.  You can read their statements below: 
"Major League has, and always will be an incredible experience filled with life changing memories. I wouldn’t change anything. It was a privilege to be able to spend the past few years with some amazing, talented, good hearted guys traveling the world playing music, and meeting so many awesome people. With saying that, I feel it is my time to leave Major League and move on to other things in my life. Besides writing a few lines of lyrics here and there, Major League is truly made up of Brian, Matt, Luke, and Kyle. They are the heart and soul behind what you hear, read, and relate. The music they have been writing for the next full length sounds amazing and I, as a fan cannot wait to hear how it all comes out. I wish nothing but the best for these guys in everything they will accomplish. Thanks for everything. I love you guys." - Nick Trask

“When you spend four years of your life traveling the world with someone, you develop a sort of new phase of friendship. It’s like this weird understanding of each other that’s hard to describe. I wish I could’ve said I didn’t see it coming but we both knew the time was here. It was time for a change for both parties, one was just afraid to say it to the other. That being said though, I’m not “replacing” Nick as a vocalist. I’m just here to sing my songs. I’m not going to try replicate his voice. I have my own. Nick and I in particular have always had this strange bond where, I write the song and he portrays it. It was an amazing and unique way of doing things to say the least, but it was our way. I’m glad we got to spend the last few years traveling and playing our music around the world; but people’s interests change. It’s ok to change. It’s how we grow into our own. I’d like to think that I helped him find himself as much as he helped me. I’m so excited to really push our band to its full potential and take on a new. 2014 is just the beginning of a beautiful new process. I wish Nick nothing but the best in his endeavors in the future and thank you for your contributions to not only Major League, but my life as well.” - Brian Joyce

Nick Trask also posted this tweet to explain his decision:

Tuesday 7 January 2014

Stream Wishful Thinking...

Neck Deep have decided to stream their album a week before its official release. We have no words.

Make sure you buy a real copy and catch them on their upcoming UK/US tours.



Monday 6 January 2014

The Works of Sam Pura...


In the Bay Area of California, Fremont to be precise, lies The Panda Studios where otherworldly things appear to happen. Founded by Sam Pura in 2003, the studios have hosted a number of critically acclaimed names including Man Overboard, Polar Bear Club, Balance and Composure and The Story So Far. Not only does Pura mix, master, engineer and produce albums and EPs, he also started The Waiting Room in 2011 which is a live performance series intended to showcase the live talents of bands instead of just their abilities in the recording studio. Because of the sheer brilliance of Sam Pura's releases we thought we'd bring you a list of our favourite albums that have been recorded and produced at The Panda Studios.


1. The Story So Far - Under Soil and Dirt
Pura worked on The Story So Far's debut album Under Soil and Dirt which received a prodigious reception. Not only did he produce the record, but it was also engineered, mixed and mastered by him too. Pura has worked on TSSF's other releases starting with While you Were Sleeping and their split with Maker. He also recently co-produced The Story So Far's most recent release What you Don't See with Steve Klein from New Found Glory. In an interview with Casual Friday Pura stated that the reason The Story So Far keep coming back to the Panda Studios is: 'They always wanted to be a serious band and I think working together really helped them recognize their potential as a touring band... They know that I’m on their team and have a lot of respect for them as people and their music... The Story So Far is the perfect example of a band who comes to the studio to work real hard, but wants to have a good time and make sure their songs feel good'. 


2. Misser - Distancing 
Misser is the creation of Tim Landers of Transit and Brad Wiseman formerly of This Time Next Year. What started as a side project can now safely be called a band after a number of great releases. Pura worked on the band's EP which was a follow up to their debut releases Problems.Problems.Problems and Every day I tell myself I'm going to be a better person. Absolute Punk even said of Distancing 'I, for one, hope that Landers realizes that Misser serves as a much brighter showcase of his talent than does Transit



3.State Champs - The Finer Things
Pura engineered, mixed and co produced (with Steve Klein) State Champ's debut album The Finer Things. Tyler had this to say about Sam's work in an interview with Property of Zack: 'Sam was pretty involved. Sam engineered it. So a lot of the time, for the last week, me and Steve would be in one side of the studio working on leads, while Sam was doing something in the other room with vocals or rhythm guitar. A lot of the times it was just Sam like, “Hey. You’re not doing that right. That needs to be better.” Because he wants to put out a sick record too. His thing is that every record he wants to be better and better. I think he’s doing it. It sounds sick so far.'


4.The American Scene - Safe For Now
Alternative Press stated in a review that Safe For Now is'assured, confident statement with far greater musical and emotional depth from TAS's occasionally homogenized scene'. Pura produced, mixed and engineered Safe For Now and Jeff Wright commented in a interview with Already Heard on their working and personal relationship with Sam:  Sam has been apart of our musician lives forever. Even some of our other bands have recorded with him and we’ve known him for a long time. He’s one of our really good friends and he’s a great engineer and producer. Recording with him is really easy for us because we’re just friends and he knows what we’re thinking so we don’t have to try and break it down for him." 


5.Basement - Colourmeinkindness
Under the gun called Colourmeinkindness 'an amazing adaptation of 90’s emo and a grunge-filled masterpiece that, while it may serve as the end of the band, is certainly the perfect way to say goodbye'. Although Basement broke up in 2012, Basement and Pura's work will never be consigned to an inadvertent memory. The band stated that working with Sam was a creative experience which pushed new things out from the band. Guitarist Alex Henery said of Pura: 'Luckily Sam Pura really understood where we were going with the record sonically and helped us enormously in creating the record we wanted. He gave us so many ideas and helped us explore new techniques in layering and texturizing the sound of the album.'


6.The Story So Far - What you don't see
Sam Pura co produced What you don't see with Steve Klein. Kelen stated in an interview with Alternative Press:  'We are all in such a close vicinity to each other, and it’s the team we’ve worked with since we started, so it’s just the functionality of it. We trust each other, so we have this little network to help our friends out and they can help us out. We know from our experiences recording with Sam [that it works]' 




7. Forever Came Calling - Contender
Contender was engineered by Sam Pura and co produced by Matt Vincent/ Sam Pura. Joe Candelaria said of Sam in an interview with Fuck Yeah Pop Punk: 'Sam is one of the hardest working dudes we have ever had the opportunity to work with. He told us “Hey, let’s work with a pop structure with this record. You have cool parts, let’s make a chorus so we don’t fuck up and make a weird minute long song with no chorus and it’s just one verse and a weird ending.” He helped us restructure a lot of the songs, as far as taking a guitar part that was awesome and making it into a chorus and repeating. The difference from other records is that we followed a bit more of a structured sound'.


Credit to Alternative Press, Absolute Punk, Already Heard, Casual Friday, Fuck Yeah Pop Punk, Property of Zack, Under the Gun for interviews.

Wednesday 1 January 2014

The Works of Steve Klein and Chad Gilbert...


You know when you listen to an album and it’s really great? Well, we've come to the conclusion that some of our favourite albums have one common factor; they were produced by the offspring of one pop punk’s greatest asset's, New Found Glory. Even though Steve Klein recently parted ways with NFG (full story here), we thought we'd bring together a compilation of albums produced by Gilbert and Klein. Both have worked with a number of bands including Set your Goals, Fireworks, The Story So Far and Man Overboard to name a few. Obviously, the producers are the aren't the only factor that make an album great, you have the band themselves which is a pretty big one too but nevertheless we thought we'd bring to you our favourite albums produced by Chad and Steve.

Chad Gilbert:


1. This Time Next Year - Drop Out of Life
Absolute Punk said of Drop Out of Life 'Enlisting Chad Gilbert’s services was a good move in two ways. First off, it gained some attention for this record...Secondly, Gilbert absolutely kills it in the studio'. Unfortunately, This Time Next Year parted ways in 2012 but for anyone who's listened to the album will know how incredibly underrated it is. The band said of Gilbert in an interview with Property of Zack: "He is a really talented guy, especially when it comes to our genre". Gilbert's influences can be heard throughout the album especially with stand out tracks 'Get it, Got it, Good' and 'My Side of Town' which accolades New Found Glory.   
2.Fireworks - All I Have to Offer is My Own Confusion 

All I Have to Offer is My Own Confusion (The title was taken from a quote by author Jack Kerouac) was recorded in 2008 and released the following year. Gilbert not only lends his production skills to the album but contributes to the backing vocals and plays additional guitar. Dave from Fireworks said of Chad: Well first of all,[AIHTOIMOC] was created with Chad Gilbert, and that was really cool because we’d never had a producer or anything like that before. It was something new to us and it was a cool, collaborative process working with Chad'. 




3.Set Your Goals - Only Right Now and I'll Walk it Off

Gilbert recently recorded two songs with Set Your Goals which were only released digitally. Gilbert also performs vocals on Set Your Goals's song Our Ethos from their album This Will Be the Death of Us. The band's next album which will be released in 2014 is also being produced by Gilbert. 





4. A Day to Remember - What Separates Me From You

If you want to see Chad Gilbert in the studio with A Day to Remember please click here. Homesick, ADTR's previous album was also produced by Gilbert. More recently, Gilbert has also produced A Day to Remember's latest release Common Courtesy. 


5.Candy Hearts - The Best Ways to Disappear

This EP was released on Gilbert's own record label Violently Happy/Bridge 9 Records. In an interview with Alter the Press, Gilbert stated that the first time he heard Candy Hearts was when his band mate Steve was listening to Tongue Tied. He had this to say about the band: "I think what I love about the band is that, I feel like the punk rock/emo scene is filled with singers that sound very similar. They go for that one sound. When I heard Mariel’s voice, I was like, “Finally a singer that doesn’t stick to this formula.” She’s got her own sound and a unique sound". Gilbert's aim in producing the EP was to get Candy Hearts closer to their 'potential' as a band, tour and be promoted to reach as many people as possible.




Steve Klein:


1. Man Overboard - Self Titled

Man Overboard delivered Klein with his first producing gig which resulted in their self titled record. In an interview with Property of Zack Klein explains how he swapped numbers with Zac and ended up going producing for them. In the interview he stated: "It just came together with Man Overboard; Zac and I started talking and then the band stayed at my house and we vibed on the ideas. I told them that I wanted to get into producing and it was cool that they gave me my first gig. I’m really excited about how it came out"  

2. The Story So Far - What You Don't See

The Band's name came from the track The Story So Far from New Found Glory's album Sticks and Stones so it was inevitable that the TSSF/ Steve Klein mix would work in everyone's favour. Kelen Cappener stated in an interview with Alternative PressYeah, he came in to see what we were working on and gave us some pointers without hurting our integrity or trying to take over the creative process. He’s just an extra set of ears on the outside so he can advise us in certain ways. He has experience we don’t have, so it’s a good element in the process, as far as developing these songs.

3.State Champs The Finer Things
Albany natives State Champs started work on The Finer Things in a practice room at home in New York. Eventually the album was recorded with Steve Klein and Sam Pura at the Panda Studios in Fremont California. Tyler Szalkowski commented: 
“Working with Steve Klein and Sam Pura was amazing because they both have so much experience under their belts, they helped us make the best record we could possibly make.”



Credit to Alternative Press, Property of Zack,Alter the Press and Absolute Punk.