Northbound - Sound In The Signals Interview + Trigger Relief Track By Track
You just released your new EP Trigger Relief. I'm really enjoying it. Can you tell me a little about the recording process of the EP and how these songs came together?
Well thank you so much! I wrote all three songs in separate times over the last 6 months. To be completely honest, I wasn't in love with any of the songs when I decided to record them. I was on an extended stay in the Metro-Detroit area of Michigan and I saw that Mat (Kerekis) was home. I texted him on impulse, and was in his studio two days later. I didn't even know what songs I was recording until I got there. It was extremely spur of the moment, and I think that added a lot to the vulnerability that this release has. The recording process was extremely laid back. We tried a lot that I've never done before. I've never had an electric guitar or drums on an acoustic song. I've also never recorded guitar and vocals at the same time before. It was a cool learning experience and I'm really glad I had Mat to contribute ideas and perform on it.
"Nice Boy" is the first song on the new EP and in my opinion is probably in my top 5 favorite Northbound songs. Can you tell me a little about the song writing process for that song in particular and what inspired you to write the song?
The writing process for that song is something I can't even explain. I was sitting on my bedroom floor and I just started playing. It was as quick as vomiting. It just happened. It's about something an at the time close friend did and lied about doing with someone I once held dear to my heart. It's also about feeling like you have no power, like your words hold no weight, and your feelings mean nothing to someone who should be looking out for your best interest. It's not a song about getting cheated on, it's a song about being lied to. I was nervous to release this song at first because it's pretty graphic, but I've never written a song with as much metaphorical content as this one and I'm really satisfied with it.
I kind of feel like, to me at least, that Trigger Relief in a way feels like the companion piece to Death Of A Slug. With the similar artwork and working with Mat Kerekes on both releases. How do the two projects relate to each other if at all?
I think in a way I wanted Trigger Relief to be the little brother to DOAS. I definitely made the artwork similar to link them in that way. Mat worked on both because he doesn't cost a fortune, he's a friend of mine, and I enjoy what the work he does. Aside from that, I personally don't see many ways in which they relate to each other. In terms of the actual songwriting, I see Trigger Relief as a step in a more focused and mature direction.
You've had the opportunity to premiere music with larger music sites like AbsolutePunk. For an up and coming artists like yourself how does getting your music featured on sites like that help you as an artist? Do you see a lot of impact as far as music purchases or sudden interest when your music stream on a site like AP.net?
It definitely helps in terms of promotion, buzz, exposure, and even though being published on a site like that isn't too difficult, people have a tendency to take you a lot more seriously when you are. Whenever I have any sort of PR I notice a spike in sales, streams, twitter followers, and Facebook likes. Those things don't make or break my self esteem but it's absolutely rewarding to see people enjoying what you do.
In my opinion Death Of A Slug is one of the best, if not the best, album I've heard this year. What went into writing that album and why did you decide to split it half full band with electric guitars and the second half acoustic based?
Wow, that's a bold statement so I appreciate that a whole lot. A lot of time, effort, heartbreak, and money went into writing and recording that CD, haha. I've never been more proud of anything in my life. I split it in half because maintaining the integrity of Northbound being an acoustic project was very important to me. I think it's a cool idea to do a 50/50 record, but in retrospect I don't know if I would do the same if I had a time machine. I think NB has a place for both acoustic and full band music. They both are extremely important to me, but future releases will be either one or the other.
You had the chance to play Fest this year. What was the experience like and what was the most memorable part of playing it?
It was very surreal and pretty intimidating to be honest. I definitely felt like a little fish in a big pond. Especially because I missed registration and had to show up to my venue and just kind of be like: "Hey uh..I'm playing here later today, what do I do?" But once I got my packet and talked to the stage manager I was feeling really comfortable. The whole staff at FEST is amazing. As cheesy as it as, being handed an artist packet with a schedule, a band parking pass, meal tickets, FEST passes ect. was the coolest part. Playing felt like any other Northbound show with a good turn out. The most memorable thing to me was playing the same festival as a lot of bands I look up to and being treated by the staff, FEST goers, and other bands as an 'artist' and not just a spectator. That was fucking cool.
You did a series of neat shirts that were inspired by bands. You had various ones some were inspired by Alkaline Trio and Youth Of Today. How did you come up with the idea to do your shirts like that and what has the response been to them?
The response has been pretty cool. Some people just laugh at it, but a lot of Alkaline Trio fans get SO stoked when they see it. As for the Youth Of Today, Go Vegetarian shirt, it was an idea that Cody (bass in the full band) had. I'm vegetarian and he's vegan so it kind made sense. Plus, all the proceeds of that shirt go to a no kill animal shelter in Michigan where Cody is from. I feel like a lot of NB fans are younger and have no idea that it's a Youth Of Today shirt, so it's a win/win with people who like them, and who just don't eat meat.
I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have any closing comments you'd like to make?
I just want people to know that not a single person on this earth has zero problems. If you feel like something is wrong with you, or like things will never get better, you deserve to know that everything will be okay. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I promise it will all be fine at some point. Just don't give up. Move forward in any way you can. Write lyrics, make art, knit, write poetry, write a script for a movie, or play video games. Take a baseball bat and break things if you have to. Whatever you do, do not bottle it up and do not let the world make you jaded and guarded. Take the negativity out of your body through expression. Everything will be okay one day.
Trigger Relief Track by track:
1) Nice Boy
Like, I said above, this is not a song about getting cheated on, it's about being lied to by someone who should have protected you. I think this song definitely sticks out from the EP and the rest of my entire discography in a really cool way. I've never sat down and put a ton of thought into my lyrics before this song. Typically my writing is very straight forward with not much thought in between. But, on this song I definitely had a different approach. I tried to take what I was feeling and explain it in a way that you had to actually think about. At first I was hesitant because it's definitely the most graphic song I've ever written, but I am too proud of how everything came out to not show it to people.
2) Piano Hands
Piano Hands is a song about the feelings that come with a person you love wanting to exit your life. It's a very difficult feeling to cope with. When I wrote this song I was the most upset I've ever been and I had no clue on how I was going to move forward. It's a song about missing someone so badly that your heart actually aches in pain. It's about what it feels like to lose everything in one day. That's all I can say about this one, it's a too personal to go in depth.
3) I Want To Hate The World
This is an acoustic demo of what will eventually become a full band Northbound song. It's really really angry / to the point and it's about the same person 'Nice Boy' is about, except this time I didn't go for metaphors and just stuck with the: "I hate you." mentality, haha. One day I finally just snapped and realized that I sincerely feel awful about everything when I think of this human being. Shortly after that thought, this song just kind flung out of my head. I just started singing it and the rest happened extremely easily. Kind of like word vomit, but song vomit. I was listening to a lot of Third Eye Blind when I wrote this one and I think that shows in the vocals a lot.
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