Simply a few years in the past, the way forward for Arms Like Home was unsure.
The unprecedented chaos of a world pandemic adopted by the departure of founding vocalist Trenton Woodley in 2023, the band’s 4 remaining members had been confronted with a call. Spending over a decade carving out a singular house within the various scene – their gritty post-hardcore roots steadily evolving right into a masterclass in hovering melodies and anthemic choruses – each their careers and identities had been all of a sudden thrown into query. Uncertain of something besides the easy, indisputable fact that they wished to proceed making music collectively – they started looking for their lacking piece.
Collaborating with musicians and mates from all corners of their scene as they explored their choices, former The Faim frontman Josh Raven slotted seamlessly into the image. A vocalist greater than able to nailing their signature stability of depth and emotion, he understood the band’s mission from the get-go, pummelling down the artistic roadblocks mendacity of their path.
Turning into the catalyst for Arms Like Homes’ subsequent chapter, what began as an experiment shortly turned a reinvention, resulting in their most bold undertaking but. A sprawling 16-track double album, ‘ATMOSPHERICS’ is a reintroduction to the Aussie band like no different. Divided into 4 volumes – every impressed by a distinct layer of the Earth’s environment – it captures their rebirth in actual time, unburdened by exterior pressures and cherishing the surprise of artistic freedom.
Navigating their newfound standing as unbiased artists and rediscovering their love for music, as Arms Like Homes step into a brand new period, they’re embracing the limitless potentialities that now lie forward. With ‘ATMOSPHERICS’ set to drop on February 14, we sat down with the band to dive into the journey that has led them to their boldest chapter but.
ROCK SOUND: After a transitional interval, this very a lot appears like a brand new starting for Arms Like Homes…
MATT COOPER: “It’s undoubtedly been an odd time for us. Via COVID, like numerous artists, we didn’t know if we’d play exhibits anymore. We didn’t know if we’d even be a band anymore, so the truth that we’re releasing a 16-track album now could be loopy. Josh is the rationale we’re right here although, and the primary music that we wrote with him was the catalyst of us getting thus far. It’s fairly surreal, and it’s been a journey to get right here.
It happened as a result of we had all of this music within the financial institution, and we wished to maintain working. We’ve made mates with some unimaginable musicians through the years, so we had been writing music and sending it out to them. One of many individuals we despatched one thing to was Josh, and we received along with our producer Cal [Orr] in Melbourne. Right away, being within the room collectively felt good. From there, the album turned this playground for us to muck round with and discover.”
JOEL TYRRELL: “Throughout the prior 5 – 6 years of the band, we actually struggled to write down music. It was powerful, and we had just a few scars from recording experiences that hadn’t gone so nicely. We sat down and talked about how all of us nonetheless wished to do that, however we wanted to discover a approach to make it enjoyable once more. We wished to get pleasure from it, and when Josh got here in, he introduced this vitality into us. It felt like we had been making our first report once more, and we had been writing so many concepts. There wasn’t a lot resistance, there weren’t numerous clashes, and it was purely individuals turning up and dealing collectively. We had much more concepts than we thought we’d, therefore the 16-track double album. Within the house of six months working with Josh, we wrote and completed extra songs than we had within the earlier six years.”
ROCK SOUND: The perk of getting so many various layers inside the report is that it removes the necessity for whole cohesion. You possibly can mess around with totally different sides of your sound, and there’s no want for each music to take a seat comfortably alongside one another. Approaching it in that means, did it really feel as if there was much less stress on you?
MATT COOPER: “I believe that changing into an unbiased band is what set us as much as even entertain having that way of thinking. It was far more form of chill when it comes to how the concepts turned the ultimate songs, and it was a lot extra streamlined with out different individuals’s involvement. With simply us working collectively alongside our producer, the method was a lot faster. It’s the primary time that we’ve actually had that have.”
JOSH RAVEN: “Coming from a distinct world with The Faim, I nearly didn’t know what to do with myself for the primary couple of months. Each time I stated, ‘I can’t do that’ although, it was met with ‘Nah, it’s okay’. Nothing was off limits, and we had been all simply making an attempt to make it work. Often, it’s rather more condensed and intense, however when that stress is lifted it turns into an incredible surroundings for creativity. To be given the liberty to discover your personal infantile emotions with creativity, as a substitute of it simply feeling prefer it’s one thing you need to do… That’s so worthwhile. When you’ve a burning need to do one thing, reasonably than figuring out it’s essential do it due to what a label, supervisor or reserving agent says, that’s when the good things occurs.”
ROCK SOUND: That’s vital, as a result of at a sure level in any profession – however particularly in music – you’ll be able to lose the magic of it. That easy spark of making for the love of it, and never worrying an excessive amount of concerning the final result, can subside. Had been you capable of rediscover that a bit?
JOEL TYRRELL: “There was an enormous ingredient of that. We’ve been very lucky to have these careers which have allowed us to go on dream excursions and put out data. We’ve carried out numerous issues, so we’re not right here making an attempt to chase these bucket listing gadgets. It was extra about going again to the drafting board and understanding how we might make creating and doing one thing that we love fulfilling once more. Not having the stress of a label saying we’d like an album delivered by a sure date, that eliminated just about the entire stress that used to return with the recording expertise. We had been capable of simply go in and create, and if we didn’t like one thing, we’d simply bin it. It took away the necessity to come out with a consequence, and that relaxed us. That’s how we had been capable of provide you with the songs that we did.”
MATT COOPER: “Even with the construction of the discharge, issues modified a bit over time. These adjustments had been simply us doing what we wished to do with it, and that doesn’t occur with a label. Often, you’ve received eight different individuals making an attempt to get their level throughout, however this time we did every part ourselves. We’re making the choices, it’s all deliberate, and that makes it a lot extra relaxed.”
ROCK SOUND: Let’s speak a bit bit concerning the theming of the report, and the way the songs are put collectively. Every quantity is called after a layer of the environment, and every has its personal distinctive really feel to it. The place did that concept come from?
JOEL TYRRELL: “Initially, the concept of getting these layers of the environment was only a place for us to complete music throughout a specific time limit. Up to now, we’ve struggled with getting actually excited a couple of music that we’re writing however figuring out that it’s going to be one other two years till it comes out. By doing it this fashion, we had been capable of concentrate on every layer of the environment at a time. We’d have 4 songs that outlined that session and that time period collectively, after which we might transfer on to the following factor. The best way that it naturally ended up working was the 4 songs would get carried out in a interval, then would break for a bit bit, then come collectively for one more couple of weeks to get the following batch carried out. In the beginning, we didn’t deliberately got down to have 4 layers every with 4 tracks, however it allowed us to place out music nearer to the time during which we’d created it. We had been capable of present individuals the journey, and the way we restarted this chapter with Josh. You possibly can see the evolution of that all through the report, and while you get to the again finish you’ll be able to see how we’ve explored what’s doable with this lineup. It’s simply the beginning of what it appears like for us creatively.”
JOSH RAVEN: “As a result of the songs had been written so near after they had been launched, we’re bringing individuals into our current second. That’s why there’s numerous totally different flavours, feelings and emotions all through the report, and I’m fairly positive we wrote most of it elsewhere from a bodily perspective too. We’re bringing individuals into these totally different areas, and I believe it’s vital. It highlights the place we started and the place we’ve ended up, and that endpoint is tremendous thrilling.”
ROCK SOUND: You possibly can see that journey within the first quantity of the album, as a result of there are such a lot of totally different collaborators placing their very own spin on issues. How did working with the likes of Underøath’s Aaron Gillespie and RedHook’s Emmy Mack bolster your creativity at first of the method?
JOEL TYRRELL: “Funnily sufficient, that course of began from us simply making an attempt to write down music. After we parted methods with our previous singer, the 4 of us wished to maintain making music, however the query was – how can we do it? To start with, we thought we’d attempt to be a DJ rock band. We weren’t going to have a singer; we had been simply going to write down songs with our mates. We began writing with Emmy and Philip from Normandie, then we wrote a music with Josh. That was the turning level for us, as a result of we realised that we weren’t simply writing a music with a buddy. It felt like the following sound of the band. It was nice for us to be pushed in several instructions by singers throughout that course of, and to be challenged like that. We haven’t carried out a complete lot of collaborations like that in our profession, and numerous them are artists that we’ve toured with through the years. It was nice to have that assist from individuals who wished to work with us and wished to again us. It made us really feel excited concerning the songs we had been writing, as a result of we knew that folks had been excited to work on them with us.”
ROCK SOUND: One thing that’s been distinctive concerning the launch of this report is that followers have heard a big portion of those songs already by way of the EPs. It’s been nearly a yr now for the reason that first quantity dropped, so how has it been to see the response at every stage?
JOSH RAVEN: “It’s been superior, particularly in relation to the stay exhibits. Being completely clear, the primary present was fairly nerve-wracking… I used to be shitting my pants. I wrote all these notes on my setlist, and I misplaced it proper earlier than the present. I had no notes, and I used to be completely crapping my pants. It ended up being among the best exhibits of the tour although. It was rowdy, it was enjoyable, and everybody after the present was tremendous good to me. It’s a bizarre place to be in as a brand new singer coming right into a band, so I used to be nervous, however it couldn’t have gone a lot better. I knew that the writing course of had been superior, and my relationship with the blokes was superior, so the final piece of the puzzle was seeing the way it went stay. I didn’t know if individuals would love me or hate me, however it ended up being so heat and comforting. Followers had been capable of acknowledge the previous but additionally be excited for the longer term.
That introduced extra gasoline into every part as a result of we realised that it was changing into one thing actual. That modified it for me, and because the report progressed, we additionally received to know one another extra as writers and as individuals. We’re studying extra about our previous and our tales, and that’s deepened our reference to one another. Because the songs went on, extra layers had been being peeled off. There are an increasing number of items which are beginning to shed, and you may solely get into these deeper components with time. We’re hitting that time now, and particularly on the finish of this report you’ll be able to hear it. By the final couple of songs, it appears like we’ve opened up and shed the armour rather more. It’s been a technique of studying and development, and the entire motive why we’re doing it’s as a result of it feels good. In fact, there are all the time going to individuals who aren’t into it, however there can be no problem with none negativity or criticism. If every part was excellent, I’d be very involved.”
ROCK SOUND: Having the ability to method making music from a perspective of following what feels good, reasonably than being confined to a sure sound or fashion, has that given you a renewed religion in what the longer term holds for Arms Like Homes?
JOSH RAVEN: “100 per cent, as a result of we don’t actually know what we will’t do at this level. It appears like all doorways are open, and if something, it’s infinite. Nothing is out of the query, and that’s the thrilling half.”
MATT COOPER: “It’s simply far more fascinating to be making music like this. As artists, to have a undertaking that permits such a factor is so refreshing. We are able to do regardless of the hell we wish now, and that’s enjoyable.”
JOEL TYRRELL: “It appears like this report has been a type of honeymoon interval. All the things’s nice, and now the doorways are open, and we will go anyplace. We are able to go wherever we wish with it, and that’s in all probability essentially the most thrilling factor. We’re pumped to have this 16-track album popping out, however we’re in all probability extra enthusiastic about the truth that we’re nonetheless writing. We’ve received extra stuff coming, and it feels good. We have to rejoice this album, however we’re so buzzed to be writing music collectively.”
JOSH RAVEN: “Who is aware of? Perhaps after 5 weeks in an RV collectively, we’d change that perspective. The subsequent album could possibly be all about lengthy drives, winding roads and cyclones!”
‘ATMOSPHERICS’ is out on February 14 by way of Civillians.
