Post hardcore rockers Staring At Shipwrecks are from Castle Rock, Colorado and have unleashed their debut EP "From Within" with a whole lot more in-store with writing and recording and even playing some showcases the future never looked brighter for them. In fact, the entire band got together to discuss their EP and those future plans!
1. Can I get a backstory on the band/ band biography?
Last summer a few of us (TJ, Alex, Jeremy) got together to just hang out and jam on different music that we were all into, it came down to Alex needing some guest vocalists on a track he was producing - TJ doing screams and Jeremy doing clean vocals. After those few sessions the track was released and there was a lot of positive response from people on Facebook, and we decided to try and get a project going under the name Staring at Shipwrecks. The band started as Alex on guitar, Jeremy singing, and TJ doing screams. Eli actually started as the second guitarist, but had to leave due to some issues with his other band, Aspens. PJ came into the mix to replace Eli on guitar, and - fortunately for us - Eli came back on bass. PJ had known Josh for a while and we auditioned him for drums after we had a majority of our songs done in pre-production. We brought him on board a bit before our EP release and then we had a full line up, and here we are.
2. How did you guys come up with your band name?
Staring at Shipwrecks is a metaphor for some of the biggest problems in the world today. A lot of people know about something going wrong, or can see it happening to others, but they almost turn a blind eye to it. Ignorance is bliss for a majority of the world, kind of like staring at shipwreck. That's how we see it, and we thought it was good name for our band, with our kind of vision.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We are all from Castle Rock, Colorado, but the real music "scene" is in Denver. The sad part about Denver is that there is a lot of great talent and opportunity for bands to get noticed, but they all sort of fall apart right as they are getting to where they set out to be. We have all seen some really great bands fall apart over time, and it's definitely a bummer. We just played a show at the Summit Music Hall with Novus Folium, and they are always great. Here Lies The Difference is playing their last show November 2nd, and Eli has known them for a while, they are really solid musicians. As far as other notable groups, Random Hero has been at it for a while and they have a really solid show. Forty Fathoms are always good. Victory Heights have been growing for a while, and everyone should have their eyes on them. Everyone check out Aspens, Eli's other band. Their live show is always crazy.
4. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
We are all really about picking people up. There isn't anyone that should feel like the world is against them, but there are a lot of negative people, bands, movies out there. We really want to be the band that pushes back on those kinds of things. Bringing people together with our music is huge. On our EP, 'From Within', we all went really personal with the lyric writing. Everyone in the band has had some serious relationship issues in the past and it's about the time that we started writing the EP that Alex, TJ, and Jeremy had just gotten out of some really dark periods as far as relationships. TJ and Alex co-wrote Ms. Understandings, and between both of their lyrical backgrounds, they wrote some very dark stuff that's almost hidden under the typical break up song sound. Jeremy brought together the lyrics for Wipe That Smile Off Your Face, You Smug Bastard. That track is less of a break up song and more of a question. When two things come together in your life, can you choose between them? Can you face the consequences? It's really interesting lyrically. Memphis Whiskey's lyrics were written by Alex, with Jeremy co-writing the chorus. That is a song that on the surface looks like the typical hardcore backlash towards someone that has hurt or angered you, but the message we wanted to push behind that was that it's time for people to start believing in something. It's an ocean of apathy out there, and we want people to start thinking for themselves and believing in the power they have to shape the world.
5. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?
We were all brought together by a love of bands like Broadway, Ice Nine Kills, a little Sleeping With Sirens, although we won't ever admit to that The range of influences are pretty broad. Musically, we try to take from a lot of southern influences. Think MMF's album 'Sleepwalking'. There is a strong Ice Nine Kills sound in the mix, and Broadway's music has impacted our writing musically a lot. It's really up to the listener to decide. We might have tried something, but landed on something totally different, and that's up to whoever listens to it. We have been told we sound like Atreyu, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Still Remains, Emery. We take all of that as a compliment.
6. Is there any story or concept behind the From Within title?
The EP name 'From Within' is really just the truth. Lyrically, it's edgy, but from a mature standpoint, or so we hope. It is everything that the members of this band have put into 5 tracks on a disk. We take our experiences and our differences and put that into our writing, recording, and performance. That's the most we can ask of each other, and that's why we saw that as a really fitting EP name, especially as our first real release.
7. Who produced From Within and what was it like working with them?
Alex produced the EP in his home studio, and hopefully you can't tell it's different working on a band members time rather than a huge studio producer's time. The record, only containing 4 whole songs, took almost 6 months to record. Take that as you will. There is less sense of urgency, which creates a more natural flow, but it does detract from the accountability aspect of making a record, with a 6 person band.
8. Who did the cover art for From Within and how much input did you have on it?
That's a long story that we want to put behind us as much as possible, simply because it was such a headache. We had hired a professional graphic designer to do the artwork originally, and he does some really great stuff. The only problem with that was that it took more than two months to even get a rough idea of what we were looking for. With the release date coming up quick at that point, we decided to put something together ourselves. The first draft of our EP artwork we had ran into some copyright issues, so we revisited a simpler design, which is what you see on it now. There is secondary artwork that we put on albums for a select couple of people that really helped us make the record, so you might see that as well.
9. Do you guys have any new music in the works as far as a follow-up release?
We have a couple songs in the arrangement process right now, so be on the lookout for that in the next few months.
10. Will you be shooting a video for any of the songs off the EP?
We have talked about it and we are looking into shooting a music video this Winter, but we don't have anything super concrete at the moment. That would be a great experience though, so hopefully it pans out.
11. What are your upcoming touring/show plans?
We are always looking to book shows. We are in the middle of getting on the bill for a Halloween show with The Fulfillment, which is really exciting for us. Past that, we are still looking.
12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Our band's EP can be found on our BandCamp (www.staringatshipwrecks.bandcamp.com), iTunes, and Spotify. It's only 5 bucks, so go pick it up!
13. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
We are here for you. This band is very personal, and we will sit down and talk to you anytime about our music or our message. We got a message a while ago after we released the single version of Ms. Understandings from a girl that had heard it and she was just really honest with us - not mentioning names. She had been in a rough spot in her life, and she had a whole conversation with PJ about how our song really impacted her, and she was able to take our lyrics and make them a real thing in her life that helped her through some bad stuff. That is life changing. It's all fun and games in your friends basement making music until someone tells you that your song saved their life. Then, it's almost your responsibility. We are here for every single person that needs somewhere to go or needs someone to talk to them, whether that's in person, over something like Facebook, or in our songs.14. What can the fans expect to see from you in the future?
More shows. We are all about performing live, and in the next few months we will be announcing some more show dates and - hopefully - a new single. You can see all that info on our Facebook, where we are most active - facebook.com/staringatshipwrecks
15. Any final words of wisdom?
Keep listening to music. Keep it metal. Thank you to anyone that has picked up our EP, and supported us at any point, we can't explain how much we appreciate it.
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