Face Value - Sound In The Signals Interview
First off thanks for the interview
Thanks for having us! We're always down to chat about music... and politics and religion. Just kidding.
Your new EP, "Thick As Thieves", comes out June 03, 2016. Can you tell me a little about the recording and writing process of the EP?
We started writing the EP around the Fall of 2015. Parker and Grayson brought a good amount of riffs to the table that we built off of. Then, we finalized the structure of the songs with rhythm and bass. Lastly, I gave that last touch to the pocket by adding some beats to the instrumental side of things. All of us usually have a part in writing lyrics. Either someone will write a full song or two of us will sometimes bring two ideas together. Alec always puts that final touch on melodies to make what he's singing "his own" in order to keep it his style. After a little bit of scouting around, trying to find a good studio and producer to start the project with, we decided to seek out Paul Leavitt and scheduled some time with him. We began tracking this past January with about 95% of the album written. Tracking is one of my favorite parts about writing music. Starting with an empty track and making it into something that's alive and exciting is always a cool experience. It gets more and more pleasureful as the song comes to life; I lay down the drums, then we do guitars, then bass, and finally Alec goes to town. Recording with Paul was awesome, chilling in his studio as the contractors were working, petting his dog, going on trips to Home Depot. Recording is one of the best parts of being in a band, hands down.
You released the closing track, "EFF Sharp". Why did you decide to release the closing track first and can you tell me a little about the lyric and songwriting process of that song in particular?
We didn't decide which song would be the single until after we formed the order. We didn't really do it intentionally; "EFF Sharp" just had a great outro and it fit the closing track position perfectly. As one would say, "it leaves off on that note, it makes you want more, it feels like you're at the end of a cliff". It's also the title track (kind of); "Thick As Thieves" is a line in the second verse from the line, "I'll admit, we were as thick as thieves. I learned that nothing comes free...". We thought it was a clever line and it fits what the rest of the EP will be talking about. Fun fact: Before we had names to the songs, we referred to them by the keys the songs were in (in EFF Sharp's case, it's the first note of the song) and after a long joke of never naming the songs for a while, we decided to keep "F#" as "EFF Sharp".
I really like the EP artwork. It has a great vibe. Who came up with the concept for the artwork and why did you decide to choose it for your cover?
Ohhhh this is an interesting story. Parker came up with the idea to have a car speeding away from a robbery, with money flying out of the window or something of that nature. We happened to know a guy who collects bad ass muscle cars (16 of them, in fact) and he decided to let us use his 70 Torino. We searched around the local scene for a photographer and graphic designer who could help us turn this idea into a reality and we found a really talented/reliable chick named Nicole Fallek. We took the car out on the highway and back roads around Kingsville, MD getting killer shots of this car. Nicole even hung out of the window on the highway, following us, getting the attention of police cruisers in the process. Because of the title, Park and I wanted to go with a more darker themed picture (Alec describes it as "Blue's Brothers handing wads of 20,000$ to each other in the front seat of the car") but Alec and Jeb had a different idea. The current picture is what we compromised on, after weeks of back-and-forth discussion. That's the great thing about our band; we disagree on almost anything and everything from album artwork and merchandise ideas to the best toilet paper. In the end, it somehow works out for the better.
Do you have a favorite song off this new EP, or one you think you took some big chances on, that
you are excited for people to hear?
This whole EP was a big chance for us. Definitely a step in a new direction and we think that's apparent in every song. It's hard for us to pick favorites honestly, but the 2nd track, "Concrete Steps", is one that has a little different structure than the rest. The verses are big and in-your-face and the choruses are more chilled and laid back until closer to the end; that's when they come at you with more force and leave you nodding your head. Definitely one of our favorites that we've written!
You did a really good cover of Goo Goo Dolls "Slide". Why did you decide to choose that song to cover and how did your fans respond to it?
It all started after we finished recording the EP in January. We wanted to keep the energy going and have some more fun; luckily Gray had recording equipment he had been messing around with for years at his house and knew enough to record some raw tracks. We all have been fans of the Goos since we were young, nerdy 90's kids (who doesn't like a song from them?). Plus, we played "Slide" during our acoustic tour so it seemed fitting to record it as our first cover. We recorded it and send it to our guy, Will Beasley, in South Carolina for some editing and Ta-Da. We didn't really receive any type of reaction compared to releases of "Growing Up Young" or what's going on now with "Thick As Thieves", but we don't really care. It's about staying fresh, musically, and having fun. We did it for our own enjoyment and we plan to release some more soon so be on the lookout.
What do you guys have coming up this summer? Will you be touring in support of the EP?
As of right now, we don't have any long stretches lined up but we do have a couple out of town shows planned that we'll be talking about soon enough! We'll definitely be visiting some fellow east coast states.
I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have
anything else you would like to add?
Anytime! Thanks for having us! be sure to check us out on your favorite social media site (@WeAreFaceValue) and we've got a sick CD release show for this EP on June 4th here in our hometown of Baltimore, MD with a lot of sick local and touring acts! So stay tuned for that and come out and grab a physical copy of "Thick As Thieves"! We're Face Value, it's been real. Deuces
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