Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Preparing For MONOLITH FESTIVAL With MISHA MANSOOR & SPENCER SOTELO From PERIPHERY

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Preparing For MONOLITH FESTIVAL With MISHA MANSOOR & SPENCER SOTELO From PERIPHERY · HEAVY Music Interviews

0:00
Speaker 1: This dispenser and I sing for the band Periphery Bill.
0:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's nice to have you guys here. Can you
0:08
Speaker 2: tell us a bit more about the two song acoustic single?
0:12
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so that that kind of came about as
0:15
Speaker 1: an accident really. So last year we we did this
0:20
Speaker 1: you know, short two week run in the US with
0:22
Speaker 1: Mike Dawes opening for us, and we are all practicing
0:26
Speaker 1: at a warehouse here in Las Vegas. Mike Dawes was
0:30
Speaker 1: practicing with us too, and me and him, after one
0:34
Speaker 1: of the days of practice just went upstairs and like
0:36
Speaker 1: started running over these acoustic versions of the songs that
0:39
Speaker 1: we were gonna play live. We were just gonna cut
0:41
Speaker 1: them live, and we had a recording studio upstairs, so
0:46
Speaker 1: you know, we ran through him a few times the
0:48
Speaker 1: first day, and then the next day we went up
0:50
Speaker 1: to do it again. Yeah, and we were like, wow,
0:52
Speaker 1: these are turning out awesome, Like we're we're in a
0:54
Speaker 1: recording studio. We should just cut the guitar right now
0:57
Speaker 1: in case we want to do anything with it down
0:59
Speaker 1: the road. So we did, and then after we played
1:02
Speaker 1: the songs every night on that tour, you know, during
1:05
Speaker 1: we had that chill part during the Griff reset where
1:07
Speaker 1: Mike would come out, we played the two songs we
1:10
Speaker 1: just had. It was great crowd response to the song,
1:13
Speaker 1: so we were like, you know, after this tour, let's
1:15
Speaker 1: actually sit down and put together like acoustic versions of
1:19
Speaker 1: these songs. So it's kind of a weird way that
1:22
Speaker 1: it happened. I'm really glad that we ended up cutting
1:24
Speaker 1: the acoustic because Mike had to go home back to
1:27
Speaker 1: the UK after that tour. So we had the acoustics
1:30
Speaker 1: all tracked and ready, and then I just brought the
1:32
Speaker 1: recordings home and then kept the vocals over him.
1:35
Speaker 2: And went from there. Yeah, ja, mischa, Sorry, we were
1:39
Speaker 2: just talking about the two song acoustics single. Did you
1:43
Speaker 2: want to put anything there?
1:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, I sang on. I did all the vocals for that,
1:50
Speaker 3: and it's like my first time now, I was just joking. Now,
1:55
Speaker 3: that was a Spencer in my Dolls project. I contributed
1:58
Speaker 3: some layers and like some like you know, backing stuff
2:01
Speaker 3: just to fill out the sound a little bit, But
2:03
Speaker 3: that was Spencer kind of overseeing that entire thing. I
2:06
Speaker 3: thought was really cool. It's always fun to take the
2:08
Speaker 3: back seat onside and just like you know, to fill
2:11
Speaker 3: in a little bit. Yeah, yeah, it's a nice dynamic.
2:14
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Proofhery was really your brain child, Mischa, Did
2:19
Speaker 2: you have Spencer and the others in mind from the beginning?
2:24
Speaker 3: Spencer is our fourth singer, but he's the only one
2:27
Speaker 3: who survived. The other ones. They all exploded in various
2:33
Speaker 3: different ways. Now, it's tough a band. Bands are tough,
2:37
Speaker 3: and you know, anyone who started a band will tell you,
2:40
Speaker 3: like it's really hard to find the right members. You know.
2:42
Speaker 3: I think that the example has been given many times before.
2:46
Speaker 3: But it's like being married. Yeah, four or five people, right, yeah,
2:50
Speaker 3: who all have to get along. I always say it's
2:52
Speaker 3: a bit of a miracle that any band works at all.
2:56
Speaker 3: But I remember, I remember when when Spencer joined up.
3:00
Speaker 3: You know, he was very green at the time, but
3:02
Speaker 3: like I just saw this like immense potential and and
3:06
Speaker 3: you know, I told him early on, like like why,
3:09
Speaker 3: like I thought he would work really well for us,
3:12
Speaker 3: and he was hungry, and I was like, just you know,
3:14
Speaker 3: because it was tough in the beginning. We were all
3:16
Speaker 3: we were all fairly green. We're getting quite a bit
3:17
Speaker 3: of hate and it's very easy to sort of give up.
3:19
Speaker 3: But like Spencer never did, and I always saw the
3:22
Speaker 3: fire in him to improve, and even to this day,
3:24
Speaker 3: you know, it's like he's always I think everyone in
3:27
Speaker 3: the band's like that too. Were always hungry like to
3:29
Speaker 3: just like all right, cool, so we're here, what's next? Yeah?
3:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't believe did you. I didn't know that
3:34
Speaker 2: you guys got a bit of hate when you first
3:36
Speaker 2: started out that what was that like? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, crazy,
3:41
Speaker 2: just what bagging your I don't know, I guess abilities.
3:44
Speaker 1: Or I mean starting out, I wasn't the best singer
3:50
Speaker 1: in the world, like Misha was saying, you know, he
3:51
Speaker 1: saw the potential in me. Yeah, and I think I
3:54
Speaker 1: think the band liked the way I composed vocals and
3:57
Speaker 1: like wrote them for the records things like that. But
4:00
Speaker 1: I mean I wasn't anywhere near where I'm at now
4:02
Speaker 1: ability wise with singing. So there was a little bit
4:05
Speaker 1: of you know, ragging on me online. And I mean,
4:09
Speaker 1: as Misha said, you know, like we've never worried about
4:12
Speaker 1: that from the beginning. We always just knew if we
4:14
Speaker 1: were happy, then we're doing things the right way.
4:16
Speaker 3: You know.
4:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it.
4:17
Speaker 3: That's it.
4:17
Speaker 2: That leads me to one of my other questions actually
4:19
Speaker 2: is did you, Spencer, have any or have you had
4:22
Speaker 2: any formal vocal training because you're able to produce such beautiful, melodic,
4:28
Speaker 2: you know tones and that, but then also do really
4:30
Speaker 2: harsh vocals as well. Have you had training or is
4:33
Speaker 2: that natural to you?
4:35
Speaker 1: I never have all self thought, and it's it's really
4:38
Speaker 1: just due to you know, I really love recording and producing.
4:42
Speaker 1: When we're not working on periphery stuff, like I'm always writing,
4:45
Speaker 1: I'm producing for other people, So I think a lot
4:48
Speaker 1: of that. Just just doing that regularly just kind of
4:51
Speaker 1: beat things into my brain and help me learn and
4:54
Speaker 1: analyze things differently over time.
4:56
Speaker 3: Yeah.
4:56
Speaker 2: Yeah wow. And with the songwriting process, is it a
5:00
Speaker 2: collaborative effort from all of you guys or is there
5:02
Speaker 2: just sort of one person behind the lyrics?
5:05
Speaker 1: And I would say every album has gotten more and
5:09
Speaker 1: more collaborative, down to you know, our last record for
5:12
Speaker 1: Free five, but that was like a huge group effort
5:16
Speaker 1: in the music, vocals, lyrics, everything.
5:19
Speaker 2: Yeah.
5:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
5:20
Speaker 3: When when I started the band, you know, I started
5:23
Speaker 3: it myself, but the dream was always to have a
5:26
Speaker 3: collaborative project. The whole point of starting was a band
5:29
Speaker 3: was I didn't want to do everything myself. Yeah, but
5:32
Speaker 3: that's but that's tricky because just because you have people
5:35
Speaker 3: in your band doesn't mean that you'd necessarily have good chemistry.
5:38
Speaker 3: But that would work. But I think we're just in
5:41
Speaker 3: a really good play. We've gotten better with time, but
5:44
Speaker 3: we've always had good writing chemistry and nothing sacred, you know,
5:48
Speaker 3: like all those Fencer does write, like basically all the lyrics.
5:52
Speaker 3: He's very open to us, being like, well, you know,
5:54
Speaker 3: what are you trying to say? Like is there another
5:56
Speaker 3: way to say? Like is there a way that sounds better?
5:58
Speaker 3: We've changed, you know, we've changed entirely, you know, be like, hey,
6:02
Speaker 3: that chorus, I don't feel like we're quite hitting it.
6:04
Speaker 3: We just rewrite a new chorus. And he's very generous,
6:07
Speaker 3: very gracious with that, you know, like not everyone would
6:11
Speaker 3: necessarily be cool with that, you know. Yeah, but I
6:13
Speaker 3: think we all are pretty good at taking a step
6:15
Speaker 3: back and being like, all right, like this is not
6:18
Speaker 3: about my wrist or my part or whatever. Like if
6:20
Speaker 3: we're all kind of looking at it and be like
6:23
Speaker 3: all right, yeah, that's not there yet, you know, it's
6:26
Speaker 3: kind of taking a step back and being honest and
6:28
Speaker 3: not taking it personally then we all realize we're on
6:31
Speaker 3: the same team, and when we hear that thing, we're like,
6:33
Speaker 3: all right, now we've got it. It's like that was
6:36
Speaker 3: the goal all along. It was never about saying that
6:39
Speaker 3: your part wasn't good or appropriate. You know, it's really
6:41
Speaker 3: just taking a step back and writing for the song.
6:44
Speaker 3: So I feel very lucky that we have this relationship
6:48
Speaker 3: where we get to write like that. It makes it
6:50
Speaker 3: very easy when we get into a flow because it's
6:52
Speaker 3: just becoming. It's just like about problem solving really, and
6:55
Speaker 3: the problem to solve is how do we end up
6:57
Speaker 3: with a thing that we're happy with?
6:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, And I think that's really powerful if it
7:01
Speaker 2: has all of you guys involved, not just say one
7:04
Speaker 2: person all the time saying this is a direction and
7:06
Speaker 2: all that. Yeah, what's different between your early releases to
7:10
Speaker 2: Jen is not a genre.
7:14
Speaker 3: I mean, we're that came was that two thousand and nine.
7:17
Speaker 3: It's like fifteen years ago. You know, we've changed a
7:20
Speaker 3: lot as people. We've we've back then we weren't touring.
7:23
Speaker 3: You know, we've learned a lot, and in some ways
7:27
Speaker 3: we're doing exactly the same thing and that we're just
7:29
Speaker 3: sort of exploring and just having fun and just trying
7:33
Speaker 3: to make stuff that sounds cool to us. Yeah, but
7:35
Speaker 3: in other ways, you know, we feel like we've we've
7:40
Speaker 3: you know, raised the bar with certain releases and when
7:43
Speaker 3: we want to we want you know, it's now harder
7:45
Speaker 3: to find stuff that makes the cut, and stuff that
7:48
Speaker 3: maybe would have been okay in the past that's not
7:50
Speaker 3: that's not hitting the mark anymore. We've kind of done that,
7:53
Speaker 3: like how do we how do we have, say to
7:55
Speaker 3: feel satisfying. So yeah, in some ways it's very similar
8:00
Speaker 3: and in some ways it's completely different. But in as
8:02
Speaker 3: much as anyone changes in fifteen years, you know.
8:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely, I think it'd be really weird if
8:08
Speaker 2: you guys didn't change and you just stuck to everything.
8:11
Speaker 2: It's obvious that you guys have learned a lot from
8:13
Speaker 2: those earlier releases and touring.
8:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's certain bands that do that really well though,
8:19
Speaker 3: Like you know, I think of a man like Lamb
8:20
Speaker 3: of God. They sound very consistent over the years to
8:24
Speaker 3: where it's like I don't really think I'd want to
8:26
Speaker 3: do anything too different from it. It's like you kind
8:29
Speaker 3: of know what you're getting it. Yeah, But I think
8:33
Speaker 3: as long as like what you're doing is honest, you know,
8:35
Speaker 3: as long as like it always does feel honest. When
8:37
Speaker 3: bands that don't change their sound very much do it, well,
8:41
Speaker 3: it's because it sounds like that's what they're going for.
8:43
Speaker 3: It's this genuine there's this genuine sort of sense about it.
8:47
Speaker 3: I think where you get into trouble is like maybe
8:50
Speaker 3: if you had an era that you feel was like
8:52
Speaker 3: the one that connected with fans, and you're trying to
8:55
Speaker 3: chase that glory, you know, and you'd be like, well,
8:57
Speaker 3: let's do an album that sounds like that. Let's try
9:00
Speaker 3: to figure out what was going on on that, and
9:02
Speaker 3: like that's something that I know would be pretty much
9:04
Speaker 3: impossible for us to do because we're just not in
9:07
Speaker 3: the same place as people.
9:09
Speaker 2: Yeah no, but I think it's really smart as well
9:11
Speaker 2: if you've recognized that that that's something if there's a
9:14
Speaker 2: pace or an album that really resonated with the fans,
9:17
Speaker 2: you know, saying to yourselves, well, Okay, maybe we can't
9:21
Speaker 2: get back there, let's try and do something new and fresh.
9:23
Speaker 2: I totally agree with what you said about, yeah, trying
9:26
Speaker 2: to not always stick to what worked in the past, and.
9:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, just comment on saying that, you said, like,
9:32
Speaker 3: it's not really about reaching people with us, we do
9:35
Speaker 3: a very selfish pursuit. That's amazing that it works, you know. Yeah,
9:38
Speaker 3: I know that there's one thing that we're all pretty
9:40
Speaker 3: united on. It's it's really about just gain the five
9:43
Speaker 3: of us to be stoked. Like if the four of
9:45
Speaker 3: us are stoked and like Spencer is not stoked, that'll
9:48
Speaker 3: kill it for me, you know, Like that's like, ah,
9:50
Speaker 3: that's a bummer. I know we can do but I know,
9:52
Speaker 3: I know we can write stuff where all of us
9:54
Speaker 3: are stoked, you know, and that's generally how we kind
9:56
Speaker 3: of all operate. I mean, I said, Spencer there, it
9:58
Speaker 3: could be me, it could be anyone, but like for
10:00
Speaker 3: not all there, Like those are the people that were
10:03
Speaker 3: trying to make happy as the five of us. Beyond that,
10:07
Speaker 3: beyond that, it's it's it's lucky. We're very grateful that
10:11
Speaker 3: people listen to our stuff because there's very little consideration
10:14
Speaker 3: for what people will think of it, and I think
10:17
Speaker 3: there's always a sense.
10:20
Speaker 1: I was just sorry, I was just gonna say it.
10:21
Speaker 1: It's funny you're saying that because I was thinking about,
10:24
Speaker 1: you know, what's different about now, Like you know what
10:26
Speaker 1: you were talking about. And I feel like on every
10:30
Speaker 1: other record aside from P five, there certain people had
10:34
Speaker 1: to kind of like be okay with Okay, well I'm
10:36
Speaker 1: not one hundred percent with this song or I'm not
10:38
Speaker 1: one hundred percent with this part, but the rest of
10:40
Speaker 1: the band is. And I feel like P five was
10:43
Speaker 1: kind of the first record where I mean, we had
10:45
Speaker 1: enough time to do it and make it work, but
10:47
Speaker 1: I feel like everybody was so stoked with everything across
10:50
Speaker 1: the board, and we were we were really trying to
10:52
Speaker 1: make sure that that was the case, you know, like
10:54
Speaker 1: if one person wasn't happy, you know, I remember a
10:58
Speaker 1: few parts or a few songs where I wasn't super
11:01
Speaker 1: stoked during the writing process, and everybody in the band,
11:04
Speaker 1: you know, was like, well, what is it about it?
11:06
Speaker 1: Or what can we do to get you staked there?
11:08
Speaker 3: You know?
11:08
Speaker 1: And I feel like that's probably the biggest difference with
11:11
Speaker 1: this new stuff as opposed to older releases.
11:15
Speaker 3: And we cut, we cut entire songs or entire ideas
11:17
Speaker 3: over that, you know, like if we can't solve it,
11:20
Speaker 3: if we can't solve it, if we can't solve it,
11:22
Speaker 3: it's like it's not saying we won't ever work on it,
11:25
Speaker 3: but it's just it just wasn't It wasn't happening. It's
11:27
Speaker 3: no need, no need to force it. I'd say that's
11:30
Speaker 3: actually the big shift. If there was a big source
11:32
Speaker 3: schism in our approach, it would be PERI three four,
11:36
Speaker 3: when we're when we started three dot and we're on
11:38
Speaker 3: our own label and we're on our own schedule. It
11:40
Speaker 3: allowed us the time to just be like, all right,
11:42
Speaker 3: well we're going to take exactly the amount of time
11:45
Speaker 3: that we need for this album. Before that, we always
11:47
Speaker 3: beholding to some sort of schedule or deadlines that even
11:50
Speaker 3: if we miss them, we're generally trying to meet. Whereas
11:53
Speaker 3: now the music feels very sacred, manage running and everyone's
11:56
Speaker 3: on board and like it all starts with the album.
11:59
Speaker 3: So that's why I'd say there was a big shift
12:01
Speaker 3: is as a periphery for we've been able to get
12:03
Speaker 3: a point where people are more happy, everyone's closer to
12:07
Speaker 3: that one hundred percent happiness with what we're putting out
12:10
Speaker 3: because we have the time to refine it to where
12:13
Speaker 3: to where everyone could kind of feel like we've got
12:15
Speaker 3: the right the right.
12:16
Speaker 2: Songs and producing it yourself like you guys said, I
12:18
Speaker 2: imagine that would relate quite a bit of pressure as
12:21
Speaker 2: well in all of that sense.
12:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, well we've always we've always self produced, so it's
12:27
Speaker 3: kind of like all we know, all we know, we've
12:29
Speaker 3: we've we've we've toyed around with like you know, other
12:32
Speaker 3: producers and tried some stuff out, and it wasn't right
12:35
Speaker 3: for us. I think. I think the thing I've come
12:36
Speaker 3: to understand is, you know, because I produced bands, spencer
12:40
Speaker 3: producers bands like you know, it may seem hypocritical, but
12:43
Speaker 3: like the way to see it is like, uh, a
12:47
Speaker 3: producer could be really good when you have like a
12:49
Speaker 3: band with a lot of talent but maybe not like
12:52
Speaker 3: the most solidified vision. And what they can do is
12:54
Speaker 3: they can take that step back and be that vision
12:56
Speaker 3: and sort of like organize the vision, see the forest
13:00
Speaker 3: of the trees, kind of get like a vibe and
13:02
Speaker 3: everything going that the band themselves can't quite walk into. Yeah,
13:06
Speaker 3: and that's where that's where the producer could be super essential.
13:08
Speaker 3: But where you have a problem is if you have
13:10
Speaker 3: a band that has a very very specific vision, like
13:13
Speaker 3: it's all like our vision is so clear and our
13:16
Speaker 3: process is so clear that unless we find a producer
13:20
Speaker 3: who happens to mesh perfectly with that, it ends up
13:24
Speaker 3: just butting heads and it ends up just like kind
13:26
Speaker 3: of slowing the process down. Ye and and and that's
13:32
Speaker 3: that's why it's never quite So I'll never say never, Like,
13:35
Speaker 3: I'm sure there's a producer out there who would work,
13:38
Speaker 3: you know, chemistry wise, very well with us. But until
13:40
Speaker 3: we find them, you know, if it ain't broke, don't
13:43
Speaker 3: fix it.
13:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, that's it. That's exactly right. A bit of
13:47
Speaker 2: a different question here for you guys. If you guys
13:49
Speaker 2: weren't in periphery, what would you guys be doing?
13:53
Speaker 3: God, I don't want to think about it. It would
14:00
Speaker 3: be pretty rough, a normal job.
14:02
Speaker 1: I haven't worked a real job since I was twenty three,
14:04
Speaker 1: so I don't even know how to answer that question
14:06
Speaker 1: fair enough.
14:07
Speaker 2: Any any hobbies, Like, what do you like doing outside
14:09
Speaker 2: of the band?
14:13
Speaker 3: Spencer you first?
14:15
Speaker 1: I like health and fitness. I mean that's always been
14:17
Speaker 1: kind of a kind of a hobby of mine.
14:21
Speaker 3: Taking be a personal trainer. There we go.
14:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I guess something like that or nutritionist or something.
14:26
Speaker 3: I don't know.
14:27
Speaker 1: I mean that that's always kind of, uh, kind of
14:29
Speaker 1: piqued my interest.
14:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, awesome, I love cars way too much. Probably somebody
14:36
Speaker 3: to do with cars something, you know. But yeah, i'd
14:40
Speaker 3: probably try to race, that's cool. I don't think i'd
14:43
Speaker 3: be I don't think i'd be good enough sights. That
14:45
Speaker 3: wouldn't be. That's just the thing where I spend money.
14:48
Speaker 3: I don't get paid.
14:49
Speaker 2: Full like VR set up with the steering wheel, and I.
14:53
Speaker 3: Thought so absolutely absolutely, I've had that for many years now.
14:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, when is your biggest inspiration come from? Lyrically and musically?
15:05
Speaker 1: Really just whatever is kind of going either going on
15:09
Speaker 1: in my life or whatever I'm interested in at the time. Like,
15:13
Speaker 1: for example, you know, me're writing Juggernaut, we wanted to
15:16
Speaker 1: write a concept record. I was really into like old
15:18
Speaker 1: horror movies at that time, and Rosemary's Baby was like
15:21
Speaker 1: my favorite horror movie at that time, so I took
15:23
Speaker 1: inspiration from that. And it's really it's it's so different
15:28
Speaker 1: between every record, like the lyrical content and it's really
15:31
Speaker 1: just where I'm at in my life. And I mean,
15:34
Speaker 1: I don't know if Misha can can relate to that musically,
15:38
Speaker 1: you know, kind of whatever is going on in your
15:40
Speaker 1: life dictates, like the style and you know stylistically how
15:44
Speaker 1: you're writing at that time.
15:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, a little bit, Like I mean maybe somewhat. It's
15:50
Speaker 3: it's not as directed. We only have lyrics you can
15:52
Speaker 3: write about stuff. So I'm definitely not one of those
15:55
Speaker 3: people who like it's consciously working through emotions or anything.
15:59
Speaker 3: I got with the me music. Yeah, it's more just this,
16:03
Speaker 3: Like I just like writing. I've always, like since I
16:05
Speaker 3: started writing in like two thousand and two or whatever,
16:08
Speaker 3: you know, I've always just liked writing, And it's just
16:11
Speaker 3: the thing I like to do, whether or not that
16:13
Speaker 3: music ever comes out. And I'm just in certain moods
16:16
Speaker 3: to write certain kind of stuff. I don't really know why.
16:20
Speaker 3: But also this this, this stuff takes a life, it
16:23
Speaker 3: takes on a life of its own. Like when we
16:26
Speaker 3: get together, there's just an energy. It's a big reason
16:29
Speaker 3: why I think we've been abandoned as long as we have,
16:31
Speaker 3: Like there's a very special energy that that just comes out.
16:35
Speaker 3: Like there have been so many times we've gone into
16:37
Speaker 3: a writing session and I'm just like, oh God, like
16:40
Speaker 3: I'm tapped, Like I feel like I have nothing in
16:42
Speaker 3: the tank, Like what am I going to do? And
16:44
Speaker 3: this I'm just so energized by being around the guys
16:47
Speaker 3: that it just it just feels like, all of a sudden,
16:50
Speaker 3: like I have all the ideas in the world and
16:52
Speaker 3: just it just takes a spark from one of them,
16:54
Speaker 3: and then all of a sudden, it's like, oh, oh yeah,
16:56
Speaker 3: if we try this and that gets a momentum going,
16:59
Speaker 3: that's a very specials that's awesome. Yeah, and I love that.
17:02
Speaker 3: So I love the writing sessions with the guys, But
17:05
Speaker 3: like because it takes a life of its own, there's
17:10
Speaker 3: so many times, like pretty much every time we'll usually
17:13
Speaker 3: have some sort of discussion about what our goals are
17:16
Speaker 3: with the album, like what we're feeling, like, where our
17:18
Speaker 3: heads at, like what we think we want it to
17:19
Speaker 3: sound like. And then we've got like a bunch of
17:21
Speaker 3: old demos that like been in the demo graveyard. They're like, oh,
17:24
Speaker 3: maybe we could use this, use that, And pretty much
17:27
Speaker 3: every time the album just ends up completely different from
17:29
Speaker 3: what we play. Absolutely, it's really funny. I think, you know,
17:34
Speaker 3: Periphery for is a pretty heavy, dark album. I'm pretty
17:37
Speaker 3: sure I remember distinctly having a conversation like maybe we
17:40
Speaker 3: should go for like more of an ambient thing, like
17:41
Speaker 3: more like chill, quiet, like more melodic, you know, and
17:45
Speaker 3: everyone's like, yeah, yeah, that's sick, that'd be great. But
17:47
Speaker 3: but we've also learned to sort of just follow the thread.
17:50
Speaker 3: Just this thing is gonna be what it's gonna be,
17:52
Speaker 3: and you can fight it or you could go with it,
17:55
Speaker 3: and it just becomes what it becomes. So I don't
17:58
Speaker 3: think there's ever any sort of conscious aspect of like
18:02
Speaker 3: I wanted to do this or that, or I'm trying
18:03
Speaker 3: to work through this or that, and even if there is,
18:06
Speaker 3: it never seems to work out. So just I feel
18:09
Speaker 3: like it's more like a passenger.
18:10
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, No, that's awesome that it works that way
18:13
Speaker 2: for you, that you just get around the guys and
18:15
Speaker 2: then you're inspired, Like that's yeah, that's amazing.
18:18
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah.
18:19
Speaker 2: Is there any music you guys like at the moment
18:21
Speaker 2: that may be a surprise given the music you make?
18:27
Speaker 1: Metal music is pretty much the last thing I choose
18:30
Speaker 1: to listen to if I'm ever listening to music.
18:32
Speaker 3: Really.
18:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just it's it's at the point now where
18:36
Speaker 1: like since it's what we do. Yeah, I don't know
18:39
Speaker 1: if it's subconscious or not, but like I'm it's just
18:43
Speaker 1: too much on my ears and also like taking inspiration
18:47
Speaker 1: from other genres and styles and fusing it into metal.
18:51
Speaker 1: I feel like that helps me keep my sound original
18:55
Speaker 1: at least.
18:56
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, and yeah, I'm I'm like, my confession is
19:03
Speaker 3: they don't listen to that much music. Yeah, it's I'm
19:06
Speaker 3: pretty bad about it. I listened to a lot of
19:08
Speaker 3: podcasts or silence.
19:10
Speaker 2: Yeah.
19:11
Speaker 3: My girlfriend does this thing though, where like because because
19:14
Speaker 3: we've got like a sonar system in our living room
19:17
Speaker 3: where like pretty much anytime we're awake, it will either
19:21
Speaker 3: be playing like the classical station or like like chill jazz,
19:27
Speaker 3: So that's just always going on in the background. And
19:29
Speaker 3: I like that because I don't really have to focus
19:31
Speaker 3: on it. But yeah, and I'm I literally turned in
19:38
Speaker 3: the master for this electronic project that Jake from the
19:42
Speaker 3: band and I are working on called four Seconds Ago
19:45
Speaker 3: for a second album. And I always find when I'm
19:48
Speaker 3: working on music, like it's really really hard to listen
19:51
Speaker 3: to anything else. I think Spencer could probably relate to that,
19:53
Speaker 3: Like when you're when you're in writing mode or working
19:55
Speaker 3: about it's like that becomes what what takes up all this.
19:59
Speaker 3: It's very hard to listen to anything else, so so
20:02
Speaker 3: that that also probably is part of the reason why
20:04
Speaker 3: I just haven't been able to listen to anything recently.
20:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that makes sense, And then I guess as well,
20:09
Speaker 2: jazz and podcasts. It's kind of like that background sound
20:12
Speaker 2: that you can.
20:12
Speaker 3: Just yeah, yeah, yeah, anything. Like I think one thing
20:17
Speaker 3: I've realized, which I'm like, I don't know how to
20:20
Speaker 3: get out of this, is like I listen to music
20:22
Speaker 3: very actively, especially if it's a style of music that
20:25
Speaker 3: I kind of know how to make. So like if
20:30
Speaker 3: like I'm so jealous of people that could put on
20:33
Speaker 3: music and just enjoy it, Like if I could do that,
20:37
Speaker 3: I would listen to so much music. Yeah, but like
20:40
Speaker 3: it just it throws me into analytical mode. And I
20:43
Speaker 3: used to be that way with electronic music, which is
20:45
Speaker 3: why I loved it so much. But now that I
20:47
Speaker 3: make it, I also get analytical with that, so now
20:49
Speaker 3: it becomes hard to listen to that. Like I like it,
20:52
Speaker 3: but it's just such a it's like work. It's like
20:54
Speaker 3: such an active process, and I just can't shut that
20:57
Speaker 3: part of my brain off. So at least like with
21:00
Speaker 3: classical stuff in the background, the jat stuff in the background,
21:02
Speaker 3: it doesn't indeed, it's just kind of a nice, pleasant thing.
21:05
Speaker 3: But yeah, but it doesn't it allows me to focus
21:08
Speaker 3: on other things and it doesn't take over, which is
21:10
Speaker 3: kind of nice.
21:11
Speaker 2: Are you guys looking forward to coming to Australia and
21:14
Speaker 2: that really long slot that you have to.
21:15
Speaker 3: Get on so much?
21:20
Speaker 1: Yes, Like I think, what has it been seven years
21:22
Speaker 1: now since we've been there, and Australia has always been
21:25
Speaker 1: one of my favorite places in the world to go,
21:28
Speaker 1: you know, always have a couple of days off worked
21:31
Speaker 1: into the routing and stuff and getting to spend time
21:33
Speaker 1: at the beach. And we're always there, you know, around summer, spring,
21:36
Speaker 1: summertime for you guys, So it's just this time great weather. Yeah, yeah, I.
21:40
Speaker 3: Would genuinely I would enjoy Australia if it was real.
21:44
Speaker 3: But I think we all know that it's not that that,
21:47
Speaker 3: like all Australians are just crisis actors, probably paid off
21:51
Speaker 3: by George Soros or something. So now, yeah, it's it's
21:59
Speaker 3: it's genuinely it's a testament to how much we love
22:03
Speaker 3: Australia that we put up with that horrendous flight. I
22:06
Speaker 3: think marks Mark's coming from Spain and and Jake, Jake
22:13
Speaker 3: and well that's not coming because he because he had
22:16
Speaker 3: a baby. But Jake, Jake coming from New Jersey. He's
22:20
Speaker 3: got to got a cross country flight to la and
22:23
Speaker 3: then another thirteen hour flight. So yeah, we we we
22:26
Speaker 3: make the trek because we love it down there. Believe
22:28
Speaker 3: it or not, it's we I think Australians and Americans
22:31
Speaker 3: get along very well, and the crowds have always been
22:34
Speaker 3: very very good to us. Like I say this sometimes
22:37
Speaker 3: like a lot of markets that we have to work for,
22:40
Speaker 3: you know, like Germany for example, really have had to
22:43
Speaker 3: put a lot of work into Germany to make that work.
22:44
Speaker 3: But Australia has just always been great toest It's been
22:47
Speaker 3: very easy. So we always look forward to going there.
22:49
Speaker 3: I think we haven't been there in forever just because
22:51
Speaker 3: of the PANDE mainly. So like, uh, it's overdue and
22:57
Speaker 3: we're gonna play some stuff that you guys missed out on,
22:59
Speaker 3: so that'll be kind of nice.
23:01
Speaker 2: See, we can't wait. Well, the Wildfire Tour kicks off
23:04
Speaker 2: November two in Brisbane. One of the shows is already
23:08
Speaker 2: sold out as well. I think Melbourne. I don't know
23:11
Speaker 2: if you guys know that.
23:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think it might be Melbourne. Yeah, yeah,
23:14
Speaker 3: Brisbane isn't so by tickets to Brisbane. The tickets went
23:17
Speaker 3: on sale very very late, and I don't know that
23:18
Speaker 3: people know about it. So come to the Brisbane show.
23:21
Speaker 1: Okay, I think I think they just want to what
23:23
Speaker 1: three or four days ago or something.
23:25
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, it's a little a little, a little too
23:26
Speaker 3: close for comfort. So hopefully some people show up. Well,
23:30
Speaker 3: we're playing, we're playing. How do you say, Canberra, Canberra,
23:34
Speaker 3: Canbra Canberra, I always say, I always say, right, Canberra, Cara,
23:38
Speaker 3: the capital, the capital of your wonderful country. Yeah, right
23:44
Speaker 3: there in the center, good old Canberra. Yeap.
23:47
Speaker 2: Nothing to do, but it's a nice, nice place.
23:50
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, oh really yeah, Well I can think of
23:55
Speaker 3: one thing to do, and that's come to our show.
23:57
Speaker 3: That's uh, whatever date that is, it'll it will be
24:00
Speaker 3: a party. It'll be our first time there. Oh. I
24:03
Speaker 3: pray I don't see any huntsmen. That's my only that's
24:06
Speaker 3: my only request. No, no huntsman, it's yeah, don't say that.
24:12
Speaker 2: Well, just tell them all to just not be in
24:15
Speaker 2: your area when you come.
24:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's only go whatever other shows, you know.
24:20
Speaker 2: All right, thank you so much, guys. We'll see you soon,
24:24
Speaker 2: and yeah, thank you so much for a wonderful interview.
24:27
Speaker 3: All right, thank you, thank you,