My Last Years is a Savannah based metalcore outfit with members from across the country. Having been a year since the band released their last single, “Dimensions,” the band are gearing up to release their debut EP in the near future.

Here’s a look at our interview with Andrew Preavett (vocals), Ethan Sather (vocals), Brendan Bagwell (guitar), Luke Myers (bass), and Jalen Roark (drums) of My Last Years.

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Kush with SCAD Radio: Are there any bands, both old and new, that you’d say would have influenced your music?

Andrew Prevett from My Last Years: It varies for each person, really. It’s like a cluster of a bunch of different bands all together. Some of us are really into metalcore like Of Mice and Men, Parkway Drive, or anything like that. Some of us are into djent.

Ethan Sather from My Last Years: Uh…I’ve been greatly influenced by The Wiggles. [laughs]

Jalen Roark from My Last Years: I think most interestingly — Andy, you’re in love with Def Leppard.

Andrew Prevett: I am a HUGE Def Leppard fan. They’re such a huge influence on me, but it’s not like they put me in the mood to write or anything, since they’re so different from what a lot of people in this genre will listen to. A lot of people are influenced by Issues or anything off of Rise Records. But I listen to a lot of hair metal. At the same time I also like R&B and I listen to some showtunes and I have a wide variety of what I like.

Brendan Bagwell from My Last Years: So the many different influences from each person really brings a new take on our music that we can all collaborate and try to bring something new to the genre.

Kush: Are there any other genres of music outside of metalcore and post-hardcore that you’d say had an impact on your music?

Jalen Roark: I’m actually a jazz drummer above anything else. I try to bring the more interesting chops I’ve got now from that into this.

Ethan Sather: A lot of us listen to a lot of different music. I used to listen to country as a kid. So there’s nothing really ruled out as far as what we listen to.

Brendan Bagwell: I think that really opens it up for us. Most of us are open to pretty much anything. I know a lot of my other friends have a very specific music taste and they’re not willing to expand to anything else, like country. Like “Metal is so non-country! Screw that!” But I feel this band is open to anything which honestly does open up for a lot more open mindedness for what we come up with in the future.

AP: Music is music, regardless of what genre it is. We can appreciate it regardless of what style.

Luke Meyers from My Last Years: Genre just makes it easier to find similar artists. I don’t think it needs to be a barrier.

K: How would you say the Savannah hardcore and metalcore scene is different from other similar scenes across the country?

ES: I think I’m the only one in this band that has witnessed the hardcore scene. There is a very good hardcore scene. When I first came down here 2 years ago, it was kind of being brought back up. There was a very small scene.

AP: The venues were shutting down and stuff and people have to resort to house shows and junk.

ES: Seeing the people that go to the local shows and stuff, there is a very good following for the local music, especially in the hardcore genre. People will come from at least 20 or 30 minutes just to come to Savannah house shows. It’s a very welcoming community.

Luke Meyers: Speaking of those house shows, I’m never going to forget those house shows I went to all of last year. People were willing to destroy their homes for beautiful venues for punk shows. It was just incredible.

AP: It’s a surprise to me. I’m from Tennessee and other there we have a decent hardcore scene but they suck at promotion and stuff. Down here, it’s really pushed and people here are interested.

BB: Especially with Timothy (Walls, Coast Rock Productions). Timothy has done a great job with everything Coastal Rock. He’s went out of his way to go out and print fliers for us. There were lineup changes for this show, and he made a whole new flier and printed them out and handed them out as well. So his dedication helps a lot for promotion down here.

K: So do you guys have any hobbies outside of music that you’d say work to influence your music?

AP: Video games.

ES: Video games.

AP: Jalen and I, we both love theater.

JR: I incorporate that so much into what I do, especially on stage.

AP: All through high school, I took drama classes. I did plays and stuff. So, I’m very involved with crowds. I’m used to being out there and I’m pushing to be a better frontman. I try my best to give the people a show because that’s what they’re here to see. They’re not here to hear a record. They didn’t pay for that. Anyone can just go on YouTube and just listen to music. Going to a concert is different. You’re paying money to see a show and that’s exactly what we try to put on.

K: What is the songwriting process for you guys like? Is there anything in particular that you guys do in the studio to make sure your music sounds exactly how you want it to?

AP: It’s different. We mainly write everything while we record. We record demos. It’s easier for us to construct a song, but it’s kind of spread out. I’ll write lyrics to a song that we don’t have music for and then we’ll write music for a song we don’t have lyrics for and we’ll just see. We’ll match it up and see what it sounds like.

LM: As far as the music goes, we’ll start with guitar, then add drums, and bass is usually last for us.

BB: I will say that the writing process has gotten a lot better in my time with the band. I actually started by doing merch for the band like 2 and a half years ago. After a few members left they offered me the position to play guitar.

ES: We needed anyone who could play guitar and he fit the role perfectly.

BB: But everyone in the band before lived in north Georgia, so it was a lot easier for the writing process. I have to say that it’s been a little bit more difficult.

ES: Very much so. We are very spread out. Jalen and I live down here. Andy and Luke live in Tennessee.

LM: Despite how separated we are, we get a lot done. More than I think most bands would be able to.

BB: When we meet up, we are very good at pumping stuff out.

AP: We are very productive and we try our best not to waste time.

JR: If I was going to describe a formula for our songwriting, it’s mostly just listening to (Brendan) f–k around on guitar for a little while and saying “I like that.” And then I’ll write a drum track to it. And then everything else comes after.

AP: If I like a track that’s just music, I’ll sometimes go in and just write to that. But a lot of times, I’ll have a melody in my head and I’ll like that melody and construct it how I like it and then add lyrics based on that. The lyrics range from pretty much anything. In this genre, a lot of listeners will go to music to just escape from life and have someone they know that understands what they’re talking about and we try to write lyrics to help them through whatever they’re going through.

K: Your last single, “Dimensions,” was super great. So I have to ask, what’s next for My Last Years?

AP: We’re trying to work on an EP. It was originally supposed to be a full length but because of how everything is spread out and also money, we decided to keep it around 7 songs and release an EP. We’re leaning towards the fall at this point. We’ve just gotta take our time and write the rest of our songs and record.

ES: Once we record it, we’re planning on big things. We’re going to be playing a lot more shows and be getting together a lot more.

BB: Australian world tour. [laughs]

ES: Hopefully we can get a lot more exposure, especially in Savannah.

AP: We’re actually going to be going on tour with 2 bands from 2 different states.

K: What can we expect from this upcoming EP?

AP: Each song has its own flavor to it. We try to not write the same song over and over again.

ES: We have songs that you can sing to. We have songs that you can punch people in the face to. And sometimes both in the same song.

BB: What I think is cool though — and this is one of the great things about being in a small band — is that of course we’re not signed to any label right now, so there’s no time crunch. There’s no “Hey, get this done within a year and a half or else.” So my biggest hope for when we start releasing full lengths and EPs is that each song is a really great song that we put our energy into. We’re not going to have filler songs to just fill up the album. Right now, I definitely want to take advantage of the time that we have.

ES: We can take as much time as we need to on each song and make each song special.

What are your goals with My Last Years going forward?

JR: One of our goals is definitely merch. We don’t have any merch at the moment.

ES: Merch is definitely a short term goal for sure.

AP: Long term I guess — we want to put all our energy into the EP right now and hopefully it will get a lot of publicity. Our goal is — of course we would love to be signed to a label. That would help a lot with funding for an album. If that’s not in our future, that’s okay. We’re perfectly okay being a DIY band.

K: Which tours Australia.

Collectively: [laughs]

LM: One of my long term goals is definitely to make a living with the band. I don’t want to have to work a day job.

AP: As Luke said, being able to play in a band full time and not work a day job would be awesome.

LM: Also, never have our s–t stolen.

AP: True. Keep an eye on your trailer.

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For more interviews, be sure to visit scadradio.org

The post Interviewing My Last Years appeared first on SCAD Radio.

The Valdosta band is born of the ashes of Beware the Neverending and is playing some crushing hardcore music. The band has been growing very quickly and played in Savannah following a tour with Born a New and ahead of regional performances with Chelsea Grin and the Make Florida Mosh Again festival supported their first album, Casket.

Here’s a look at our interview with all of Second Death.

Kush with SCAD Radio: So for someone looking to get into your band’s music, what would you say is a good introduction to the music of Second Death?

Bobby Stratton from Second Death: Probably our first single. It’s called “Claim Culture”.

Giovanni Casanova from Second Death: I’d probably say “Foundation” because it has that intro, it has blast beats in it, it has the ending breakdown which is heavy, it has a little bit of everything.

Bobby Stratton: You know, that kind of reminds me of “Claim Culture”.  

Clark Gargan from Second Death: So, we’ll just say “Foundation” and “Claim Culture”.

Kush: I know lots of people might be familiar with your old project, Beware the Neverending. What would you say are the biggest differences between that and Second Death?

Clark Gargan: We’ve grown. It’s more mature.

BS: Beware sucked.

Giovanni Casanova: I wasn’t a part of The Next Level, so I actually kind of liked it.

BS: That’s actually kind of weird because Clark and I were in the band when The Next Level came out. You were listening to it. Randy and Christian were listening to it too.

GC: I liked it but the moment I joined, everything just kind of went to s–t. [laughs] We have to agree there.

BS: With Second Death, honestly I feel that it’s a lot more professional. It just feels a lot more well done. Better. Smarter. When we started Beware, I think we all thought we knew what we were doing, but we definitely did not know what we were doing. Second Death was like, “Here’s the game plan. Let’s do it the right way. Let’s be smart about it.” We’re actually taking it like a job now, like a career. There’s a huge difference between being serious and not being serious about a band. I think now everyone in the band is a lot more serious. The biggest difference is professionalism and commitment.

K: I know you guys just released a new album, and I really love it, but I have to ask what lies in the near future for Second Death?

CG: More music.

BS: We’re already working on new music. Lots more merch.

GC: Music wise, I think it’ll definitely go in a better direction. Adding Randy to the band is definitely helpful. We already had grooviness.

BS: I’m just old and decrepit. It’s just time for me to never write again. I think it’d be cool having young people write, compared to the old guys. We’re still stuck in the Beware days a little bit.

CG: Our plans are just to write, record, and tour to support this record as much as possible.

BS: I know we’re taking a few months off to play regional shows with bands like Chelsea Grin and in festivals, but definitely more touring. Lots of touring.

GC: Should be recording a single pretty soon.

BS: At least a single. Also might be doing a compilation pretty soon with some tri-state bands. It’s about being nerdy and playing stupid songs that you know you’re going to get ratted on for listening to.

Christian Snow from Second Death: It’s like a guilty pleasure cover compilation.

CG: It won’t be any heavy music or anything, it’ll be something out of left field.

K: Was there anything that was very different in recording this newest album as opposed to your work in the past?

Collectively: Yes

CG: New vocalist. We were also sitting on the music forever.

GC: We didn’t go to a person who actually records music.

BS: We didn’t go to an “industry man”. We actually just went to a friend. He had never recorded a band before. He had never done any of that. You can kind of tell that in the recording, but we needed time to do it ourselves instead of the pressure of having to have it done. It was very organic in how we would record. It was done in my house for the most part or at their house. It felt a lot less stressful this time around musically. The vocals were a little bit more stressful as we have never recorded our own vocals before. Less stressful and more stressful in different ways. I think it made more sense for us.

K: So you guys put on really, really great shows and I’m very excited to see you tonight. What do you guys do in order to retain the high energy and brutal nature of your music to the live performance?

GC: I got this from the lead singer of Dark Sermon, Johnny Crowder. We played a show with him in Jacksonville, and we had done it but we had never done it to that level. We started doing it lately and I kind of have to remind the band. Because even if you’re playing to 2 or 3 people — Johnny Crowder and his band always went all out. If it’s 2 or 3 people or hundreds of people, they always put on the same show because those people paid to see that show. It doesn’t matter how many people came, somebody came to watch you play. Once he told me that, it made a lot of sense. Sometimes we might play a show and there’s not that many people there as opposed to a show where this is a s–tton of people at, but you can’t just give up and half-a– your performance. Because that’s what they will remember.

BS: But where it’s an intimate setting where there’s only a couple people, that’s almost better in my opinion. Those 3 people are definitely getting one hundred percent of your energy and attention. You have to be able to give your all no matter what. If it weren’t for the rest of the band, it definitely wouldn’t feel the same way. We definitely feed off of each other really well on stage.

K: I know you guys play all over the country and you guys have been in Savannah a few times. How would you say playing in Savannah is different from all the other places that you have you played?

BS: The Tri-State Area (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) is the hardest, most terrifying, receptive, fun, energetic, just monstrous group of people in the whole freaking world.

Christian Snow: If every scene was how the Tri-State was, it would be a much more booming business.

CG: People take public transportation to shows. People will drive a few hours to go to shows. Down here, even though it’s the same amount of time, people don’t take the effort. We have friends that will drive many hours, but it’s not like that for every show. Mixed genre shows down here don’t do well, compared to up north. We played a sold out show in Philadelphia on this tour, and there was an emo band that opened up, two hardcore bands, and three metal ones. And everybody stayed around for every single band.

GC: Every single band got love.

CG: The Tri-State Area is one where if they know you’re putting in your hardest work, they’ll put on for you. It’s the most rewarding place to play.

CS: They also go to shows just to go to shows. If you go back to 2012, the music scene down here was booming. The kids actually came out, kids supported everything. Sweet Melissa’s stopped booking shows and it destroyed the Savannah scene. It killed it.

BS: Savannah used to be our honeypot. Some of our best shows were in Savannah. Still one of our biggest shows — period — was in Savannah. It’s harder now in Savannah. Time’s changed, music tastes have changed a lot. But that’s the lesson that can be learned from Savannah. It’s not all about playing metal. Like, when I’m listening to music I’m listening to like Halsey or Biggie or something old. That’s what the Southeast can learn. It’s not all about metal or hardcore. Bands are putting in time and effort and money into playing in front of music and most of the time it’s small shows and you’re playing in front of small crowds. But the Tri-State really respects that.

GC: Savannah’s still good.

BS: Yeah, we’re not putting anything against that. It’s just they could learn a lot from Tri-State.

K: What are your goals with Second Death going forward?

BS: To tour as much as possible.

GC: I think the biggest goal for anybody in a band is to get as big as the biggest band out there. Why wouldn’t you want to be as big as Bring Me the Horizon? Why wouldn’t you want to be as big as Metallica?

Randy from Second Death: I understand that a band that screams like we do will ever be as big as Metallica, but the whole thing is just to get big.

GC: Yeah, like why not?

BS: Why would you do this s–t if you don’t want to do it.

GC: And I mean, I’m not saying we don’t enjoy it. I mean the moment I joined this band and went on tour and played a couple shows I told myself, “That’s it. That’s all I want.” I’ve already made it in life. The money’s not there, but I’m happy. And now that’s starting to happen. The money is starting to come in.

BS: For me, it’s also about putting a message out there. I’m new to being a vocalist, so for me it’s about saying something. Now I can do it with my music. I can say what I feel and try to get points across. I’m at a point where I want to make a living out of it or even just where I can still have money even when I’m not at my job at home. We’ve been lucky. The last 3 or 4 tours we got paid while on tour, and that’s ridiculous that we’re making money on tour.

GC: Back in the Beware days, I’d come back from tour and I’d be like, “Crap, my next paycheck is going to be $10.” I’d have to go through my phone and call people and be like, “Mom, I won’t have this for you this month. Next month I’ll pay you double.” But I don’t do that anymore. Now I pay 2 months ahead!

BS: That’s called success! It’s nice for me too, because I’ll get off tour and be like, “Nice! I’m getting a paycheck.” It’s different for me because I grew up in a poor, poor, poor, dirt poor family. My mom and dad might make $2000 together — if that. So none of us ever had that much money. But now that I’m 32, it’s like, “Wow I’m making money touring.” Like how nice is that? I guess that sounds kinda cocky, but it’s nice to support yourself doing music.

GC: I can’t wait until it’s full time.

BS: What if we tour 6 months of the year and make so much money that we can sit at home and play Rocket League the rest of the year? [laughs]

Stay tuned to scadradio.org for more interviews and music news.

The post Second Death talks new album, Savannah hardcore scene with SCAD Radio appeared first on SCAD Radio.

SCAD Radio had the pleasure of attending Second Death’s show at The Space Station at Starlandia Supply on March 11th. A total of 5 bands played, but we were only able to hit the last 3 of the night. However, these three were well worth the price of admission in their own right.

First up was My Last Years, some hometown heroes from right here in Savannah. Their tight instrumentals and impassioned vocals really helped to warm up the pit for the rest of the night, and they were a ton of fun to see.

Following this was After Me, The Flood, a 5 piece outfit from Atlanta that proved to be one of the most pleasant surprises of the night. Thundering vocals combined with bassy, rhythmic, guitar to create some tracks that you couldn’t help but jam to. I hadn’t heard of them prior to this, but it’s safe to say they’ve made a new fan of me. Hopefully they’ll come back to Savannah soon.

Last, but by no means least, was the headliner of the night, Second Death. The band hails from Valdosta, Georgia but the band was sure to share some love with their band members’ roots. Some of the members of the outfit come from the tri-state area and that community was clearly something the entire band was really passionate about. In between songs, there were heartfelt speeches about the creation of a local musical foundation and the importance of playing music for yourself. This passion was matched in their playing, which bore all the fury we’ve come to expect from hardcore bands from the tri-state. It was clear they were giving it their all, making for a truly spectacular finale.

Stay tuned to scadradio.org for more music news.

The post Second Death at The Space Station 3/10/2017 appeared first on SCAD Radio.

SCAD Radio recently had the opportunity to chat with Microwave after their performance at 2017 A.U.R.A. Fest in Savannah, Georgia.

Microwave is one is most prolific up and comers in the pop punk and post hardcore scene. The band sings about some of the most personal material in a way that never feels corny whilst simultaneously crafting some of the catchiest music to ever hit the genre. Coming off of a tour with A Will Away and Tiny Moving Parts and ahead of a European tour, Microwave took the stage in Savannah, returning for the first time since a show at Sweet Melissa’s.

Here’s a look at our interview with Microwave.

Kush at SCAD Radio: For someone who has never listened to Microwave before, what would you say is a good entry point into your material?

Tyler Hill from Microwave: I’m just going to go ahead and say “Vomit”, because that was the first single off the new record. We thought it would be a good, all-encompassing jam. [laughs]

Nathan Hardy from Microwave: Definitely “Vomit” or “Drown”.

Kush: You guys are often considered one of the up and coming bands in the current emo revival. Do you guys take any influence from bands that might be considered midwest emo or even skramz?

Nathan Hardy: That’s seriously weird to me, because I never think of Microwave, especially with Much Love, as emo or releasing emo records. I’d say we are more indie rock or alternative rock.

Timothy “Tito” Pittard from Microwave: Some hard rock and soft rock in there as well.

NH: Medium rock. [laughs]

Tyler Hill: I will say that I’ve heard that we’ve gotten more emo in the last 6 months, because of Much Love, I guess.

Nathan Hardy: I guess musically, it doesn’t really make sense. I guess people are talking about lyrical things being more emo. But I mean, Radiohead was kind of depressing and sad, but people don’t go around calling Radiohead an emo band. I don’t know. I’m not sure what I think of when I think of emo. I think of Bright Eyes, honestly.

K: Are there any current bands in the emo revival scene that you guys are really into?

NH: I think Brand New is a really big influence for us. They’re kind of seen as forefathers of that whole scene. I bet they wouldn’t really consider themselves an emo band either, though. Because, if you listen to OK Computer by Radiohead, there’s a lot of similar elements between that and the last two Brand New records. I have a theory that Jesse Lacey really likes Radiohead.

TH: You had five seconds to ask him at Riot Fest, and you blew it. [laughs] You said, “Hey man, nice set.” Not even, “Hey man, do you like Radiohead?” [laughs]

NH: I got to say I talked to Jesse Lacey though. It was the best set of a band I’ve ever seen in my life.

TP: It was really awesome. It was a great set.

NH: They’re a great band.

TH: I don’t know if Citizen is part of that category, but Matt Kerekes’ solo record is f–king awesome. I’ve been waiting for it, and it’s super dope.

K: But that’s what other people have to say about you guys. What would you guys call your own music, in regards to a genre?

NH: I would just say indie or alternative rock. Hard rock, soft rock.

TP: The rocks.

TH: Medium well, rock.

NH: [laughs] It’s like a rock sandwich.

TP: Firm enough, but still bleeding. [laughs]

NH: You know, maybe we’re just not self aware. But I feel like this new album has a pretty good spread of different vibes. Some of them will be pretty hard to call a certain genre.

TH: I think when you can’t fully decide, that’s a good thing. You’ve got diversity.

NH: I think it’s that there are so many bands that you like and you’re like, “I want to do something like that!” and like having a short attention span with all these different bands. I mean, we love Converge and Chariot and bands like that. Like, I want to do heavy stuff and then bands like Radiohead and Portugal. The Man and Queens of the Stone Age and stuff make their way in. Queens of the Stone Age is one of my favorite bands. That’s why I don’t know if I’d ever want to be thought of as just a straight up emo band. We’re not trying to do something — like I know there’s the whole sadboy movement. Like it becomes a point of being particularly emo or sad and that’s not us. Maybe some of the s–t is lyrically somewhat sad or whatever, but you know. Life is just bad. Everyone just dies. [laughs]

K: Microwave writes some deeply personal lyrics but they never come off as corny, and are instead rather poetic. Is there anything you guys do to have lyrics like that?

NH: Be obsessive compulsive.

TP: Rewrites and rewrites.

NH: Hate yourself and listen to the things you write and think that they sound corny. And then rewrite them. [laughs] Heavily. [laughs]

TH: Probably, that’s the key right there.

NH: Probably, because I’ll write something and then I’ll be “This sounds f–king corny”. I don’t know. I’ve never been big on the whole magical write on a napkin in the middle of the night storytelling/songwriting sort of thing. I don’t know, I always overthink things. It’s never a poetic moment or whatever.

K: Is there anything you guys do outside of music, like a hobby, that contributes to the band musically in a way?

NH: Tito’s really into paintballing.

TH: I am really stressed out by my job.

NH: Tyler programs HVAC units for…

TH: Commercial equipment. It’s incredibly stressful. You want a temperature adjustment? I got it. Differential pressure? Come on, I’ll get it sorted out.

NH: He takes tech support calls in the van. He’ll hop onto his computer, and while we’re on tour he’ll be taking tech support calls.

TH: It stresses me. So much.

NH: But aside from that…Uh, you know. Making love. [laughs] You know, to our beautiful woman.

Collectively: [laughs]

NH: WomEn. More than one. I get corrected on my plural pronunciation all the time. Wemen. [laughs] You have to say “we” first. Wemen.

TH: We-Man!

TP: I don’t know. I mean, we all drink. [laughs]

NH: Heavily.  

TP: I read. I like reading. I work occasionally. I work at Flying Biscuit.

TH: We’re really boring. [laughs]

K: What’s the most “rock star” thing you guys have ever done?

TP: Touring with Motion City Soundtrack. That’s pretty up there.

TH: Riot Fest Chicago. That was super, super awesome.

NH: I injured myself a bunch last year from…stage things. I dislocated my shoulder onstage while playing at Wrecking Ball. And then at Riot Fest, I strained my neck. I gave myself whiplash, from headbanging too hard. [laughs] And then on the All Get Out tour, I smashed my knee into the ground doing like an Elvis Presley slide. And it’s been 3 months, and I just got an MRI on it last week. [laughs] It still hurts. I’m okay, I just have a bone bruise.  

K: What was different for you guys when you were writing and recording Much Love, as opposed to working on your older material like the split with Head North or Stovall?

TH: Stovall was written over 2 years. Much Love was a lot more condensed. In terms of the whole band being together and working on it, that was different.

TP: We did demos, though. I feel like that was the difference. For a month, we kept changing the songs.

TH: We practiced a lot.

NH: I think a big thing is after Stovall, we got a lot of Manchester Orchestra comparisons. I kind of learned how to sing in high school by singing Manchester Orchestra songs and covering them. So, it kinda bugged me. So, I was like “Oh s–t, I’m just a worse version of a band I like.” So, one of the big things was I wanted it to sound as little like Manchester Orchestra as possible. [laughs] They’re a great band, but I wanted to do something that sounded more personal or something.

I know it’s now late in the day, but who are guys most excited to see at AURA Fest today?

NH: Definitely Oh, Sleeper and Unearth. Probably Zao too. I’m pretty bummed I missed Vatican, honestly. Yashira sounds cool too.

Be sure to visit SCADRadio.org for all the latest on 2017 A.U.R.A. Fest and much more!

The post A.U.R.A. Fest 2017: Microwave Q&A appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Tides of Man’s first release was a self-titled EP way back in 2008, followed up by a full-length release known as ‘Empire Theory’ in 2009. The band transitioned to the post-rock outfit we see today around 2010, after the release of the album ‘Dreamhouse’. The band continued releasing singles for some time, up until their latest full length, ‘Young and Courageous’ dropped in 2014. A busy tour schedule keeps them occupied, but with musicians this hardworking, new music is assuredly on the way soon.

We sat down with Alan Jaye (Bass), Josh Gould (Drums), Spencer Gill (Lead Guitar), and Dan Miller (Rhythm Guitar) to talk about Savannah and their lives as musicians.

_

Kush as SCAD Radio: So Savannah is supposedly the most haunted city in America (so they say, anyway)-

Spencer Gill of Tides of Man: Oh, is it? We’re f—ed. [laughs]

Kush: Is there something that scares you half to death, for like, no reason?

Spencer: Oh, yeah! I’ve got a thing. Have you ever seen The Ring? That movie scared me, f—ing, half to death. I could not sleep for a week. I mean, obviously I was a kid at the time, so I was sleeping at my parents house and had a walk-in closet. Every night I’d try to go to sleep and just stare at the closet, thinking that the girl was just gonna come out.

Dan Miller of Tides of Man: For me it was the Chucky movies, that doll was super creepy.

Alan Jaye of Tides of Man: Poltergeist was, like, the worst thing forever. I couldn’t stand in front of mirrors at night, like, at all.

Spencer: Alan showing his age over here. [laughs] So I guess we’re basically scared by movies.

Kush: Turning it back to music. You guys are really underrated, in my opinion anyways. For people who haven’t heard of you, what would you say is a good song to serve as an entry point into Tides of Man?

S: Off of our instrumental record? I’d say either “Mountain House” or “We Were Only Dreaming”. They’re a good starting point for anyone who wants to hear our sound.

Dan Miller: “Mountain House” definitely has a little bit of everything, so I think that’s a good pick.

SG: It’s hard and soft. It’s tight, concise, and it gets the point across.

Alan Jaye: Agreed. [laughs]

K: Outside of music itself, do any of you have a hobby or anything that influences you musically?

AJ: Well, I’m a photographer, so my life is really about art all the time.

Josh Gould: Well, uh, I like swimming. In the ocean. So….Tides of Man? [laughs]

DM: I mean, we like visual art a lot. Like, design work and graphic design stuff. I mean, we definitely utilize that a lot with shirt designs and flyer designs and all that.

SG: Or even just conceptually, we often try to sort of visualize how the song is going to feel or convey the feeling of the band.

Ashton at SCAD Radio: Who are some of your guys’ favorite graphic designers?

DM: Charlie Wagers does really dope work. LAND design really does all sorts of stuff that I love. I really love Pentagram Design too.

K: Awesome, so what has been the biggest change, either as a band or personally, in transitioning from post-hardcore to this new post-rock style of music?

AJ: I think it really goes back to what we were originally. Like, even before Tides of Man, we were mostly instrumental, so it’s really just going back to what we love.

DM: I think the transition from, like, the ‘Dreamhouse’ era into ‘Young and Courageous’ was a gradual change. We initially, had meant for a lot of what’s on ‘Young and Courageous’ to become songs with singers. We had tried to find a singer for like a year or two and nothing worked out. We all dug instrumental music, so we just said “f— it let’s go play a show” and it all sort of grew out from there.

SG: I think that the hardest change, musically speaking, is trying to fill out a song without vocals. Creating a melody line to keep our audience, or even ourselves, interested is pretty tough and we overthink it almost all the time.

DM: It’s definitely less riff oriented and more focused on the melodies and making the feelings sort of flow into each other.

K: Are there any major differences in songwriting, like besides the vocal stuff, between the old style and the newer instrumental music?

SG: I mean, we definitely play around with effects a lot more. I think we also don’t get the luxury of writing a song that’s just verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, with some transitions thrown in there. It’s like, when we were writing before we had a formula that we’d kinda stick with and now we’re in a sort of open field. You start and then you end, ad in between something happens. So that’s probably the biggest change for us in terms of songwriting. With regards to the rhythm section, we’re kind of taking a small step back to really let Josh and Alan guide the song to the next place too.

DM: We really opened our boundaries a lot, so it can be hard to know if a song is on the right track with so much freedom. There’s definitely a lot less rules for what were ‘supposed’ to do.

You know what I mean?

Josh Gould: It’s really a process. We go back and forth on everything. It’s almost more of a marriage. You really have to agree and make everything work perfectly.

K: Do you think the emotional content of your more instrumental work different than the emotional content in your older, vocal, work?

JG: With instrumental music, it relies a lot more on the listener. When they listen to it, they’re gonna imagine whatever it means to them. With the old stuff, there’s a story in the lyrics for the listener, there’s room for interpretation, but your already being guided. Instrumental stuff really means whatever the listener wants it to mean.

K: So where would you say Tides of Man is headed in the near future?

AJ: I mean, we wanna get more rhythmic, more atmospheric. In terms of what we wanna do? We wanna play festivals.

SG: Like this one! [laughs]

AJ: See that? We’ve already achieved our goal. [laughs]

SG: We’d really love to do TV placement or movie scores work as well.

JG: Really, I think we just want to collaborate with other creative people and do cool things, visually speaking. I mean, also I think we’d all really to push what we do to another level, just try and get better and play out more.

K: Fantastic. To wrap it all up, who would you guys say you are looking forward to seeing here at A.U.R.A. Fest?

SG: Oh, Sleeper. We toured with them in 2010. Watching them play really made me want to get better. Shane kills it on stage. Microwave was really cool too, we just saw them play. The second band, Attalus, was pretty cool too.

JG: I think Zao and Unearth will be insane. Old school stuff for sure.

K: Great guys, thanks so much for your time.

AJ: Of course. Thank you dude.

SG: Thanks, yeah, anytime.

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