Concert Crap: When you wrote the songs, how did they develop? Did you music first or lyrics first?
Elijah Pagan: When we wrote the songs, Pat started with pre-production tracks of recorded guitar/bass and sampled drums to create the necessary atmospheres. From there, lyrics and melodies were written in by Nick as a placeholder for when we worked with our producer. As soon as we got together with Ricky Armellino, we went over the pre-production tracks and as we recorded them, made small changes and fixed portions of the lyrics to make sure the message would be well understood. The music for the Deathwish EP came before the lyrics were written.
CC: All of the songs on your recently released EP deal with really big issues. Did you know going into it that you wanted to write about issues like addiction and abuse?
EP: When we first started writing the songs, we had just started working with a manager who spoke to us about vision and branding and asked us what we wanted to do with the music. We all wanted to make a difference and make an impact overall so the choice was unanimous to focus on issues in our society that don’t get enough attention and in respect to addiction specifically, something we have seen in our home state of New Jersey, is a heroin epidemic; we wanted to speak to the problems we truly come face to face with. We really didn’t know right away that we were going to be writing about such serious issues, but we all felt that it was the best choice because it was something we all felt deeply about.
CC: What’s something you wouldn’t notice on the EP after listening to it just once?
EP: On the first listen through, most people will probably be very focused on the vocals and the guitar parts that truly cut through. After a few listens through, it’s much easier to pick up on all the extra guitar parts layered underneath for ambient effect etc. It’s also not very obvious that there are times when synth is filling in the background to give depth and a bigger array of sound to the music. Without them, it would feel like certain parts were too open and not filled out with chord tones.
CC: What kind of impact do you hope your music leaves?
EP: We truly hope to show others that we are all facing difficulties, tragedies, and tribulations in our journeys through life. We want people to feel a sense of comfort in knowing that we know how they feel or felt previously.
CC: What’s next now that you’ve released the EP?
EP: We are working on new music behind the scenes and trying to play out a good deal in new areas where we can effectively market ourselves for the next musical release!
CC: Is there anything else you’d like to add to this interview?
EP: We just would like to say that no matter what your struggling with, we all feel deeply the emotions and pains of others. We empathize and understand the difficulties facing people in our world currently and we will continue striving with the purpose of trying to help everyone understand that we are in it together.
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Post and interview by Karen Shalev
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