Relenter Interview
Q: Can you talk about the band’s history? I’m especially interested in how the band formed after a long hiatus.
A: We did have a long hiatus, but we really never disbanded. We're all passionate about music and we're pretty good friends outside of Relenter, so it really came down to making this new album a priority. We formed in the early 2000's and have never been out of touch the entire time. Eventually we started writing new material and we liked where it was heading, so we gained momentum after that.
Q: How did things feel creatively when the band re-formed?
A: It felt great. Honestly it felt like no time had passed at all. We felt we learned a lot about songwriting, arranging, and production from our first album and wanted a higher quality album the second time around. As we started to write songs, we experimented a lot and didn't really have too much trouble agreeing on the end result. Of course there's always an exception and for this album that was “Water's Edge.” We had some difficulty agreeing on the creative direction of that song and we had to make some compromises to reach a result we were all satisfied with.
Q: Your most recent release Comfort of My Dreams is quite an epic undertaking. Can you talk about some of the themes and topics?
A: I think it's a darker, moodier album then I remember thinking it was when we created it. Creating the album was very satisfying and enjoyable. We took the project seriously because we want the listener to get our best effort, but we're really not serious people. The album is mostly about life, loss and personal struggles, but I think those themes are easier to write about because we all have those in our lives, and writing about them is therapeutic in a way. We don't really have to write about being happy because when you're happy you don't really need to cope with that. But when things are hard, writing about them helps you cope, and I think everybody can relate to that in one way or another. But I still think the songs have an element of hope in them.
Q: Can you talk about the band’s history? I’m especially interested in how the band formed after a long hiatus.
A: We did have a long hiatus, but we really never disbanded. We're all passionate about music and we're pretty good friends outside of Relenter, so it really came down to making this new album a priority. We formed in the early 2000's and have never been out of touch the entire time. Eventually we started writing new material and we liked where it was heading, so we gained momentum after that.
Q: How did things feel creatively when the band re-formed?
A: It felt great. Honestly it felt like no time had passed at all. We felt we learned a lot about songwriting, arranging, and production from our first album and wanted a higher quality album the second time around. As we started to write songs, we experimented a lot and didn't really have too much trouble agreeing on the end result. Of course there's always an exception and for this album that was “Water's Edge.” We had some difficulty agreeing on the creative direction of that song and we had to make some compromises to reach a result we were all satisfied with.
Q: Your most recent release Comfort of My Dreams is quite an epic undertaking. Can you talk about some of the themes and topics?
A: I think it's a darker, moodier album then I remember thinking it was when we created it. Creating the album was very satisfying and enjoyable. We took the project seriously because we want the listener to get our best effort, but we're really not serious people. The album is mostly about life, loss and personal struggles, but I think those themes are easier to write about because we all have those in our lives, and writing about them is therapeutic in a way. We don't really have to write about being happy because when you're happy you don't really need to cope with that. But when things are hard, writing about them helps you cope, and I think everybody can relate to that in one way or another. But I still think the songs have an element of hope in them.
Q: Can you talk a little about how you approached the album? Was there a lot of discussion about what you wanted to create in pre-production or did it just come about while jamming in the studio?
A: We try not to have too many rules about songs and let them develop naturally. Sometimes that results in some disjointed genres, but we're influenced by so many types of music that it all makes its way into our songwriting. We didn't discuss much in advance, nor did we write by jamming. We wrote songs like “Time Slipped Away" on piano, “Crash and Burn” on guitar, and our passion for Moogs and other synths comes out in “Faded Lines,” “Scarred” and the title track “Comfort of My Dreams.” We also wrote on acoustic guitar, the result being “The Answer” and “Water's Edge.” The end result is a combination of synth pop elements, raw rock n’ roll, and organic acoustic and piano. And while the genres may not entirely be consistent, it's all part of who we are, so to do it this way is being true to ourselves.
Q: Are you currently playing live? Can you tell us a little bit about how that is going?
A: We recently played our first show in over 10 years in support of our new album and we really didn't have to shake off much rust to get there. We are currently booking more shows in the Midwest, but we are also focusing a lot of attention on our YouTube channel so we can expand our outreach. We also recently added a fourth bandmate which was great because we're able to play live and fill out our sound a bit better.
Q: What else should we know about Relenter?
A: Our website, https://www.relenter.com and our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/relenter are great ways to stay tuned to what Relenter is doing. There is more to come!
A: We try not to have too many rules about songs and let them develop naturally. Sometimes that results in some disjointed genres, but we're influenced by so many types of music that it all makes its way into our songwriting. We didn't discuss much in advance, nor did we write by jamming. We wrote songs like “Time Slipped Away" on piano, “Crash and Burn” on guitar, and our passion for Moogs and other synths comes out in “Faded Lines,” “Scarred” and the title track “Comfort of My Dreams.” We also wrote on acoustic guitar, the result being “The Answer” and “Water's Edge.” The end result is a combination of synth pop elements, raw rock n’ roll, and organic acoustic and piano. And while the genres may not entirely be consistent, it's all part of who we are, so to do it this way is being true to ourselves.
Q: Are you currently playing live? Can you tell us a little bit about how that is going?
A: We recently played our first show in over 10 years in support of our new album and we really didn't have to shake off much rust to get there. We are currently booking more shows in the Midwest, but we are also focusing a lot of attention on our YouTube channel so we can expand our outreach. We also recently added a fourth bandmate which was great because we're able to play live and fill out our sound a bit better.
Q: What else should we know about Relenter?
A: Our website, https://www.relenter.com and our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/relenter are great ways to stay tuned to what Relenter is doing. There is more to come!