Welcome to In Conversation, a special interview column on the site where we sit down with artists and dive deep into everything music. This week, Joe and Kath spoke with Brain Wille of Currents to discuss The Death We Seek, working with Chris Wiseman and his love for Holy Fawn.
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Kath: It’s a very busy week for you guys, and you’re just a few days out from the album release. How are you feeling?
Brian: I’m feeling pretty good and excited to get this album out to everyone and see what they think about it. Although half the records are already out, there’s still much more that people need to hear.
Kath: Are there any stops on this tour that you’re particularly excited for or any songs that you’re excited to debut live from the new record?
Brian: The first string of shows should all be crazy. We’re hoping to have the first week sold out, but we’re not sure yet. The Palladium is already sold out, and the Gramercy Theatre is going to be crazy because we never thought we would be headlining it, let alone having it sold out. Detroit, Tampa, Canada, and Denver are other places we’re excited to play in because we haven’t been there for a while or haven’t been able to headline and do our own show.
Kath: What was it like writing “Vengeance” and putting out such a heavy track in comparison to a lot of the more melodic moments on the album?
Brian: “Vengeance” was one of the only songs we fully wrote in the studio. Normally, Chris and I put things together over a year or two and then go to the studio with it almost entirely done, with just a few ideas we want to change. “Vengeance” was a demo we tried to put vocals on, and it just wasn’t working. We took the overall mood and tone of the demo and a few parts and tried to make a song out of that while keeping the same vibe of the intro. Ryan Leitru was helpful in teasing out ideas and input from Chris, and I left to write lyrics for other songs we had to finish up while they wrote the instrumental. When I came back and heard it, I thought it was awesome. I left again to go write the lyrics for “Vengeance“, which I finished in a coffee shop. I came back and recorded what I put together.
As far as intent goes, the song is about expelling negativity. I was dealing with a lot of negativity in my own brain, and there were habits I was starting to get into that I didn’t like. I felt like I was becoming a victim of them, which I had never thought I would end up dealing with. The song is about navigating that, realizing there’s an issue, and trying to move forward past it. But before doing that, dwelling in that deep, dark, lost kind of place. “Vengeance” was a perfect canvas for that because it was just meant to be. We hadn’t checked the box of a heavy banger yet. Ryan Leitru kind of instilled in us to check the boxes as far as what people like about our band, what people are hoping to hear, and things we like to do. We were missing the box of a straightforward, aggressive, angry track, and that’s how “Vengeance” manifested. We’re really proud that all the songs on the album are heavy throughout, with no song without a breakdown or heavy part, but we’re also happy we added something that was just that: a heavy banger.
Kath: How do you guys go about building a song? Does it usually happen in bits and pieces, like you previously said? Or do you ever just sit down with the full intent of cranking out a song?
So, Chris Wiseman is essentially our composer. He writes the instrumental songs, and there will be some input from us on what kind of song we should do. For the most part, whatever Chris puts together is what we work with. Then I will go in and write lyrics to the things that inspire me and the things that I really like to the best of my ability. Sometimes a song is special or has that single energy to it, and I hold off until I know the song is where it needs to be and is not going to change. If I feel confident that the song is good enough, then I will write all the lyrics to it and just commit. After that, we go to Chris’s house, record a final demo, and if we need to take things apart from there, it’s easy. We can just move things around, get rid of parts, or move them. By the time we get to the studio, a lot of the legwork is already done. This process goes on for about a year and a half to two years, where we’re tinkering back and forth with demos, Chris is writing stuff, and I’m writing lyrics to his stuff. Then we focus on the best of the best when we get to the studio to get it ready for release.
Kath: Are there any tracks on this upcoming record that you are particularly proud of or feel best represent your growth as a band?
Brian: I’m particularly proud of the last track, “Guide Us Home“. It’s one of my favorite songs ever, and it’s probably one of the most personal songs that I’ve written. There’s something intangible in it that feels special. Whether or not it becomes as popular as “Shattered” or “Better Days“, I’m really proud of it. “Living in Tragedy” is also a good song that goes places you wouldn’t expect. It’s a crazy track with so many different things happening that you can’t help but be impressed by what we did with it. Any track that is a diversion from our sound is interesting, but then there are also tracks like “Over and Over” or “Gone Astray” that feel more like current tracks and a natural progression of our sound. All in all, I think the whole album came out pretty tight, and I’m excited for people to hear it.
Kath: How do you think this album differs from your previous releases, both thematically and stylistically?
Brian: I think the process of making this album was really smooth. It was strange in a way because we had the same team as before, with me and Chris being the main people involved in writing the songs. Chris puts the instrumental tracks together and I write the lyrics. From there, it becomes a collaborative process of sharing ideas. Matt recorded the drums on this record, which was the first time he was able to do live drums and put his own spin on the songs. In previous releases, he acted more as a consultant, providing feedback on the drums. This time, he was able to record the songs and add his own flair to them. You can hear his personality in the way he played the drums, which was really exciting for me because he’s such a good drummer.
This was Matt’s debut in live tracking drums for our record, so that was exciting and a different thing for us. In terms of themes, we continued the story, so to speak. I didn’t intentionally try to do anything different there, but I did try to grow as a lyricist and do my best to do justice to every song. I wanted everything to be cohesive and consistent, and to orient the songs in a way that makes sense and has a progression, so you feel like you’re on a journey. The big differentiator between this album and our previous releases is that we’re always trying to grow and be better. That’s what we tried to do here, and I think it shows in the songwriting and how everything turned out. We accomplished what we set out to do, which is nice.
We felt comfortable with the team and everything was really consistent. We’ve been working with Ryan for years, since I Let The Devil In, and we have great synergy in the creative process. Ryan knows what we’re willing to do, and we know what he wants to bring to the table. We know the things he likes and he knows the things we like. It’s a really good, creative process where we don’t have to learn much about each other. We come in like family, ready to get it done and excited to see each other. Overall, it was a really cohesive project all the way through.
Kath: I wonder if you guys are intentionally building a narrative or trying to establish a larger cinematic universe? As someone who appreciates visual media, I find it super fascinating.
Brian: That’s the idea. It comes from the concept of a cinematic universe. Everyone wants to have that thing that they can always draw from, and universes, in general, are great for world-building. It’s easy to keep things fresh and to always have something to fall back on when there’s not much there. For me, having a story in my brain is helpful, and I can always fall back on it when I’m looking at my own life and don’t know how to express certain things. We’re not all about doing concept albums, but we’re working towards having an overarching concept that encapsulates everything. At least that’s what I’m working towards with the visual representation of everything and how the lyrics tie into it. It’s an ongoing process that’s going to keep going like that. I like to say that if anyone is a gamer here, or listening, I’m a fan of Dark Souls. The entire series is based on learning about the story from item descriptions, vague conversations, and your mission to relight the bonfire. It’s hours long, and you learn as much of it as you’re willing to. Having that level of excitement and not being intimidating is where we need to be. That’s kind of like the sweet spot for us.
Kath: Are there any sources of inspiration that people might be surprised by?
Brian: I’m a big fan of Thrice, Balance and Composure, Circa Survive, and stuff like that. Obviously, metal is my first love, and it’ll always be a part of my catalogue. I love how it’s such an evolving genre with endless fusions. There’s a broad respect for heavy music, even if it scares or intimidates people, and I think that’s really special. Heavy music can be aggressive, technical, emotional, happy, euphoric, depressing, or anything in between. Given my propensity for emotional music, I’m a big fan of bands like Acres, Holding Absence, Defeater, as well as alternative rock, post-rock, and post-metal. Some other inspirational bands for me are Oathbreaker, Holy Fawn, and Call It Home. I found Holy Fawn when they were on tour with Thrice and fell in love with them because they’re fantastic.
Kath: How are you hoping it’ll be received by both longtime fans and newcomers to your music?
Brian: I’m not sure. I hope they don’t hate it, but I don’t think they will. We didn’t do anything too crazy, you know what I mean? I don’t think there’s anything that we did that would make fans say “What have they done with this band?” If that’s the case, then I guess we’ll see. But as far as how I want people to perceive it, it’s not really up to me. It’s whatever people take from it, and whatever they pull out of it is what’s going to happen. That’s what’s so cool about music and what we do. Whatever I wrote the song about could mean absolutely nothing to the person that hears it for the first time. They may have their own completely different interpretation of it and their own meaning that they pull from it, or they find out what I wrote it about, and they’re like, “Oh my God, I feel the same way!“.
If there’s anything I want people to take out of it, I just want them to enjoy it and to be able to pull different things out of it every time they hear it. I know it’s a short album, only 10 songs, but I’d rather have 10 songs that people really like and can come back to over and over again than a record of 15 songs where they get bored after seven and don’t even give the other end a chance. I’d rather say, “Listen to these 10 songs, make a judgment from there. If you like it, keep listening to it. If not, that’s okay too“.
Kath: Can you walk me through the process of creating the final setlist for your upcoming tour?
Brian: Crafting the setlist is always a bit of a challenge because everyone in the band has a different opinion on how it should be structured. But for the most part, we were able to agree on what should be included and how the setlist should flow. There is always some pressure to include songs from the new album, both the singles and the fan favorites. We also take into account the streaming numbers and what songs people are talking about.
Ultimately, we know that we can’t make everyone happy with the setlist, but we try to strike a balance between the songs we want to play and the songs that our fans want to hear. With this new record, we want to leave people wanting more so that they come back for another experience. It’s better to have a setlist that people enjoy and want to come back to than to have an extravagant one-time show that they never want to see again.
Joe: What’s it like to get AOTY shouts already alongside Invent Animate?
Brian: Well, that record is fantastic. I love it. They’re friends of ours, and we have similar channels of things, so I got to hear a little bit of it before it was mixed. Even then, I was like, “Oh my god, this is just disgusting. It’s so good“. I love all those guys, and it’s really cool to see them getting the recognition they deserve. They worked so hard for so long, and no one really seemed to notice them. For that record to come out and get the reception that it has and for them to get the opportunities they’re getting is fantastic.
To answer your question fully about the external stuff, you do worry about meeting people’s expectations because you feel like if you don’t, the train ends, and it’s like, “Oh, this band couldn’t do more“. That’s super toxic, negative stuff that you put in your own brain. The internet is an evil thing because whatever insecurity you have, they always have a phrase to validate it. There’s that phrase, “You’re your own worst critic“, but I think that’s bullshit. You can be critical of yourself to some degree, but some of that stuff does not compare to the most insecure, validating shit that people will say about you on the internet, whether it’s on Twitter, Reddit, or whatever. There are times where you read a comment, and you’re like, “Damn, that guy cares enough to say that messed-up thing about what we’re doing“. That’s why we don’t really look at it and why we don’t care too much. For the most part, the responses are overwhelmingly positive, and that’s where we like to gravitate the attention.
We want the people who like us and appreciate what we’re doing to continue to do that. At the end of the day, we know that we’re being the most authentic versions of ourselves through our music that we can be. If you are doing that and know in your heart, mind, and soul that you are doing that, the other noise doesn’t really matter. People who are worth having around know that and understand that. For someone to be disappointed in us for not writing the record that they wanted us to this time, it is what it is, man. Hopefully, the next one will be what they want.
As far as stacking up with Album of the Year, we can’t really control that. It’s like movies where a really good movie where you killed it and played the role of your life can come out the same year that someone else did the same thing, and people just liked it a lot and voted it as the moment of the year. So it is what it is, and the accolades and stuff can’t really get too bogged down about it. The short answer is, yeah, whatever.
Kath: It seems like Chris is doing the chorus on “Gone Astray.” I’m curious how that came about and whether he has previously done vocals in the group before. How did that come about?
Brian: Yeah, he started his foray into singing with Shadow of Intent. Before that, in his old bands, he would have little vocals here and there. I knew he had it in him, so to speak, for a while. He has his own particular style that is really cool. There have been times where he has had a chorus idea, like in “This Is How I Fall Apart”. That chorus was his idea. He sent the demo to me with the chorus and said, “Okay, you’re gonna sing this“, and I was like, “Great“. Usually, I write all the melodies, lyrics, and vocal patterns, but that was a particular time where he had that chorus in mind. He sent me the song with the chorus already on the demo, to let me know what I thought. That was the first time he had really come forward with a full chorus idea. Usually, he just lets me do my thing and leaves it open, and I figure it out. For that song, he sent me that song with the chorus already on the demo, to let me know what I thought. I said, “That’s perfect”, and he asked, “Do you want to sing that?“. I said, “No, you should sing it, because that’s your voice. It sounds so good as you that there’s no way I’m not going to do it justice“. I do the harmony, but the main is him. So that is Mr. Chris Wiseman.
Kath: Oh yeah, I was going to ask about the reception you guys have received, including the significantly larger amount of singing and melodic moments in your music. I was happy to hear you mention “I Fall Apart” because that’s personally one of my favorite songs by you guys. What I really admire are your big anthemic choruses. They always feel so massive and tap into this emotional well. I appreciate that aspect about them.
Brian: Thank you. Yeah, I’ve always loved a big chorus. I’m a big fan of them. Growing over time, I’ve gotten more in touch with what makes those choruses the way they are and how to do them. A lot of times, it’s just going with your first impression. I think the reception of how those have gone has brought a lot more people in. That was the band’s initial goal when I joined. I had only really screamed on stuff and never really sang much. Singing was a stipulation to join the band, and it’s been a learning process to become that guy who can write a chorus, write a hook, and so on. It’s all been a touch and go process, learning from Chris’s input, trusting him to tell me if something is not in key. Overall, it’s brought a lot more people in and has been a catalyst for the larger numbers we’ve been seeing. There are always people who have different tastes and will say they prefer the old vocals or only like certain songs, and that’s natural. I don’t worry about it too much because I know that the overall reception is that most people are about the singing.
Kath: Yeah, I think having more melodic moments in your music certainly makes things more accessible for a wider audience, I think you guys balance it really well.
Brian: Yeah, balance is key. Chris also has that in mind too. Everything has to flow together. If we’re going to go this far in one direction, we have to go similarly far in the other direction. That can get scary at times, but we trust ourselves and our consistency. We have our own style and sound, so as long as we keep things in a consistent pace and in the realm of what the band is, we can’t really go wrong. As long as we’re happy with it and can look at it and say, “Yeah, this is tight“, then who cares? That’s all that should matter. At the end of the day, music should just be something you like, and if you don’t like your own music, then what’s the point?
Many thanks to Brian for sitting down and answering our questions about the new album, which you can pre-order here. For a full review of Death We Seek and everything Currents, keep an eye on Boolin Tunes.