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THRICE Return to Australia Riding Momentum and Reflection · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Riley Breckenridge. I played drums for thrice.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Fantastic, Thanks so much. What was your first reaction when
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: you you Thrice was coming back to Australia.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Very excited. It's always a highlight for us, even going
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: back to like the first time we came down, I
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: think we were touring with Hot Water Music and Alkaline
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Trio and the crowd response, I mean, we had no
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: idea what to expect, but the crowd response during that
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: tour was insane. Yeah, blew our minds. And every time
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: we've come back it's been great. People are so friendly.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: It's beautiful down there, even though we're super jet lagged,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: traveling like crazy, it's great. I mean I've never been
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: down there and not had a good time.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Oh that's so nice. That playing trip is a killer,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: isn't it. It's awful. Yeah.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: And when we're down there, we're only down there for
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: like seven or eight days. We play five or six
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: shows in those eight days. It's a lot of travel.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: We're flying essentially every day and then playing a show
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: and then waking up and doing it again. You don't
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: really have time to catch up like and overcome jet lag. Yeah,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: and so you're slowly trying to catch up, you never
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: do and then by the time you think you might
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: have caught up, it's time to go home.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Yea.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: So it's it's pretty brutal, but if it were a
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: crummy place to come to it would be awful. But
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: it can be so good as tired as we are.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: That I mean that speaks volumes about how great Australia is.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Oh stop, that's lovely. Do you have a memory from
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: the last time you hear I think it was twenty
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: twenty three. I believe I went to the show.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We one of the coolest things that
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: happened to me. My family, we're really big birders. Yes,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: so we are into birds and so like my son
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: was like, oh, you got to see if you can
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: find a kukuburra. And we were out and every day
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I would walk around a little bit trying to find something.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: And then our very last show in Perth, I went
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: for a walk in some park and I was kind
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: of bummed. I was just like, oh, man, I haven't
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  Speaker 1: seen any cool birds. I'm gonna come home from Australa
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: and be like, well, I didn't see anything. I played
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: some shows but dad's home didn't find any birds. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: And I ended up seeing a bunch of kuckuburras in
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  Speaker 1: this park and got a bunch of photos and I
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: showed him to my son and he was super stoked
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: and it was really cool. But yeah, I mean, just
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: the crowds down there are great. That's my favorite part.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Like they're oh enthusiastic and so kind, no matter if
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: it's like a small show for us or a big show,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: they're always great.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Oh that's awesome. And is there a song that's evolved
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: most live over the years for you? I'm not sure.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: I would say a lot. I mean a lot of
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: the artists in the Ambulance stuff has evolved a lot,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: and you can kind of see that when we did
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the revisited album that we put out in twenty twenty three.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: That was the result of us playing those songs live
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: for twenty years. They've kind of taken on new life.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: And you know, our tones have evolved, their playing styles
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: have evolved, and I think the songs are in a
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: cool new place over time. And I mean that'll happen
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: with any song over time, but in different ways. But
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: I think the artist and the Ambulance stuff as a whole.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Is the stuff that's evolved the most over the years.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, And when creating artists in the ambulance, are
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: those feelings that you guys and emotions that you had
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: back then have they changed a lot? Like when you
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: go to play those songs again, or is everything do
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: you have a kind of new idea about what am
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: I trying to say? Do you know to say?
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, yeah, I like lyrically it's kind of messed up,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: like how spot on that lyrics the lyrics are Even
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: though that record came out twenty years ago, it's all
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: very relevant stuff, some of it even more relevant now
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: than it was then, which is mind blowing and then
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: also kind of sad, Yeah that we have we've passed
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: that stuff, but yeah, we're not as young as we
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: used to be, so physically it's challenging to play that
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: old stuff, but it doesn't make it any less fun.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: And for us, it was really cool to tap back
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: into that energy and then I think in a lot
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: of ways revisiting that energy and that style of songwriting.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: We were able to incorporate that on Horizons West, which
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: was really cool, and it seems like it's worked out well,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: because people seem pretty stoked on the record.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, we're talking more about Horizon's West. It sounds
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: to me like it's a halfback to like your old stuff,
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: but it also does have a slight amalgamation of your
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: newer stuff. Was that intentional? Hmm?
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Maybe a little bit, but not a ton. I mean
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: we knew we wanted it to be a little bit
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: more energetic than at least than East was. I think
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: revisiting artists and the ambulance and re recording all that
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: stuff played a part in West, like I said, And
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I think it just changed where our heads were at.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, we were trying to write a follow up
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: to East, and if we hadn't had the experience of
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: re recording artists, I mean, we just would have been
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: in a different headspace completely. Yeah, and I'm stoked that
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: we did. I mean it helped us lean into some
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: heavier stuff and some more energetic stuff and some more
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: linear songwriting than we had in the past. And yeah, yeah.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. And with Horizon's West being played live for
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: the first time on this tour here, how important is
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: the live environment in shaping how those songs really come alive?
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I think it's hard to tell. Initially, I mean, we
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: wrote West in person more so than any record since
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: I would say Major Minor.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Altogether.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we spent a very focused, like month to five
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: weeks jamming on the songs, making sure that they felt
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: good to play when we're all in the same room,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: and we hadn't done that since Major Minor because we
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: took a hiatus. We came back from the hiatus and
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: half the band was living up in the Seattle area
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: for a couple records, so we couldn't get together as
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: much as we wanted to. And then East we wrote
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: during COVID and we didn't know if we could be
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: in the same room with each other, so we were
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: writing virtually a lot. So this time around, we really
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: focused on being in the same room, getting a feel
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: for how these songs would eventually feel live. And I
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: think as a result, they're going over live better than
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: anything we've put out in a long time.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. Is
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: it fair to say that you enjoy this process with
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Wes better than you did with a Spain all separate?
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Very much? So, Yeah, much more collaborative in an exciting way.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, because if you're writing virtually the way we
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: do it is like everybody's kind of working on stuff
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: on their own and then we'll share it in like
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: a file sharing program, and then everybody kind of types
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: like how they feel about it. And yeah, you can
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: be productive that way, but it's not as cool and
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: exciting as being in the same room and seeing people's
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: eyes light up or seeing people like really get into
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: playing something. Plus, it makes the sharing of ideas much
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: more what's the word I'm looking for, like almost like
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: impulsive because you're experiencing it and then you're commenting on it.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: You're not listening to something that somebody made and then
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: typing some nicely worded things out, you know what I mean. Like,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: it's just all about vibes in the room, and I
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: think that matters a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Like the reactions are in real time, like as
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: you were trying to say, I think, yeah, yeah, for sure,
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: that makes a lot of sense. And Thrice has never
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: been a band that stands still creatively. From your perspective,
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: how has your drumming evolved alongside the band's shifts in
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: sound and experimentation.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: M I think I've put a much greater emphasis on
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: feel and dynamic than I used to. When I was younger,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: it was like how fast can I play? How hard
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: can I hit? How many notes can I fit into
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: this song? And then in a lot of ways like
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: how can I do more for me in this song?
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: You know? And as you mature and as like we
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: worked with different producers and had them in part their
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: wisdom on us, I learned like, I need to serve
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: the song first. This is not like a drum showcase.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: You don't always have to play as fast as you
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: possibly can. If something doesn't feel good to play, it
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: probably doesn't sound good either. So I've tried to shift
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: my focus to serving the song, making stuff feel good,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: making sure my dynamics are in check, and just trying
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: to push what I can do creatively without forcing something. Yeah,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: because a lot of times you might have an idea
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: in your head. You might think in your head that
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: it is going to sound good, and then you try
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: to put it into practice and it feels crummy, and
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: you practice it and you think you've got it closer,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: and then you record it and you listen back to
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: it and you're like, that doesn't sound good. I got
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: to fix that. Yeah, So yeah, just trying to do
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: what I can with what I have, but do the
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: most that I can with what I have.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: I'm picturing you too, in your downtime when you're not
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: working on price stuff, just like bashing it out as
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: fast as you can, just having a time on the drums.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Is that preparre for sure?
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah? I mix and match, but I definitely like bashing.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we did, and the Artistan in the Ambulance is
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: often cited as a defining album in post hardcore history.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: When you revisit that material live now, does it feel
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: like a snapshot of who you were or something still
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: very present? We kind of did touch on this already.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: I do it is a snapshot, I guess more from
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: songwriting and song structure point, but there is something very
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: fresh about how that stuff feels live now, especially revisiting it.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: It's it's aged, thankfully, it's aged. Most of it has
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: aged like a fine wine, and it's gotten better over time.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: But it's fun to revisit that headspace as far as
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: songwriting goes. But then it's also very fun to just
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: do it in the style that we do now, which
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: is not that far removed from what it used to be.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: But around the edges. You can feel that it's a
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: bit smoother, a bit groovyer, the tones are better.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And is there a personal favorite track
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: of yours from around that time or even earlier.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: I would say I always liked under a Killing Moon.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: I like hoods on Peregrine, Melting Point of Wax.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: I think maybe.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Songs like Artists in the Ambulancer or Silhouette or Stare
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: at the Sun, which we've been playing like almost every
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: show since we put that record out. Maybe aren't yeah,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: maybe aren't as exciting for me to play, but yeah,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: having an opportunity to play some of those deeper cuts
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: was really really fun and cool.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's weird. And for the Australian tour, we're obviously
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: getting some of your newer stuff and your old stuff,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: or are we focusing more just on the new songs.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: It's the set list we have we made for the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: fall tour in the States. It feels very balanced to me,
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: and it is paying respect to pretty I think every
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: record that we've ever put out, it is showcasing the
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: new record a lot, and it is doing that because
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: we started playing the new stuff live and it was
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: going over really well, and we're like wow, like this
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: is okay, Like people are digging this definitely. But we
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: managed to build a set list that actually flows well
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: and feels like it flows well to us, where we're
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: not like playing a super mellow song and then playing
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: something super fast and then playing something mellow and then
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: playing something mid tempo and then playing something fast.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Like it's it.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Has mood, it goes through moods and it's like a
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: long journey that feels cohesive. Yeah, even though even though
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: it's featuring record are songs that have come out over
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: a twenty five or twenty six year span, it really
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: flows well and feels good to play. And everything I
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: saw and heard from people was that they loved it.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: So we might make a couple little adjustments here or there,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: but I think we're going to bring that down to
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Australia and see if it goes over well.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Oh thank god, yeah it will, it will.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: I just know.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: And sorry, what's the coolest experience you've had with a
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: fan like ever? Oh?
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Man, that's tough. It's hard to pinpoint it to any
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: one thing, but I think I mean any time that
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: you hear from someone that your music got them through
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: a difficult time in their life, or it was the
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: soundtrack to something really cool. Like sometimes a lot of
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: people say, oh, this was my wedding song, or I
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: put this song on when I proposed to my wife,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: for like, we played this for baby when it was born.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: It's mind blowing because, I mean, we started this band
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: and playing in a garage and like work rooms and
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: playing house parties and stuff like. We never thought that
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: we were going to be doing this for our entire
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: adult lives really and certainly didn't think that we'd be
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: doing it for this long or at this level. So
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: that we're doing that and that our music is affecting
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: people in a positive way and can bring people comfort,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: especially when there's so much shitty stuff going on in
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: the world, it's really really special.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Oh that's so loved. That was going to be one
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: of my other questions. So thank you for answering that.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: It was. How you feel as the heartbeat of the
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: band really to know that your songs have made such
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: an impact on people.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's incredible. Yeah, I'm thankful to be able to
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: do it.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's so wonderful. Finally, what do you hope Australian
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: fans will take away from seeing thrice in twenty twenty six,
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: especially those hearing Horizons West live for the very first time.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: I hope that they like hearing these new songs as
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: much as we enjoy playing. I think it's evident you
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: can tell that we are enjoying what we're doing on stage.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Even my wife, who's seen us way too many times,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: was like, dang, that was like a really good set
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: and I can tell you guys were feeling it. And
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: that's a really good compliment from somebody who's seen us
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: a billion times. So hopefully, hopefully that'll resonate with people
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: down in Austraia.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: We're just excited to get down there, and like I said,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: it's always a highlight and it's not something we get
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: to do all the time. It's not the easiest thing
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: to do, so I'm thankful that we can do it.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: I'm thankful that it's going to work out, and I'm
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: thankful to anybody who's bought a ticket and it's going
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: to come see us, and I'm looking forward to it.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Australia is the best. I mean, it's it's legit, like
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: when people are like, oh, what are your favorite places
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: to play. Yeah, we are almost always saying Australia.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: That is true. I have heard that in past interviews.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: You guys do say that it is one of your
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: favorite places. Love it And we're so appreciative of you
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: two because we know a lot of us know the
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: logistics that goes into it, the cost, everything, So thank
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: you so much for visiting us. Do you get to
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: bring a family this time?
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: I don't. I really want to move.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: There if I could try and make that a thing.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I wish I could bring the family, but
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: kids are going to be in school and yeah, yeah,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: one of these days when they get a little older
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: and we can pull them out of school, we'll do
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: it good.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: So you will be back after this as well.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, unless nobody wants us back.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: They do, they will rally. Thank you so much. It's
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: been a pleasure. Wait to see you very much.