Interview // AGAINST THE CURRENT
Ahead of the release of their sophomore album Past Lives this week, Against The Current reflect on their journey as a band in our latest Q&A.
Currently in the midst of their UK & EU tour, we hit Chrissy with some questions about life on the road, inner fears and what we can expect from their upcoming new album Past Lives.
How does it feel to be back on the road again?
It’s really awesome, we weren’t really off the road for that long, but it feels like ages. For us, this is what we consider our normal. So it’s nice to get back to the schedule that we’re used to.
Do you have any special memories from the UK?
So many. Our first headline tour ever in the UK was one of the most special experiences, we were playing some of the smallest venues, some of the stages were practically on the floor. The fact that people even showed up and wanted to see us was one of the most special feelings in the world and I think that I always will carry that with me when we come back to the UK; that feeling of support from the get-go.
What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you when touring?
I think one of the strangest experiences was when we were in Thailand and this man rode up to us on one of those pedal-kart things and offered to take us to see a very explicit show. What he said just completely shocked me, I said “that’s not a real thing, is it?” and he said “yes it is, and I’ll take you on my Tuk-Tuk.” I’ll always remember that!
Do you have any pre-show rituals?
I warm up, personally. We don’t really have a chant or anything like that. We’re all kind of in our own mental space and preparing by psyching ourselves up. I do all my vocal warmups, do some stretches. I do some jumping jacks, so that I don’t just run up on stage and have a heart attack & die.
Who’s the messiest on tour?
It’s a tough question; because Dan is technically the messiest person, but I have the most stuff. Like I have so much stuff that it just invades everyone’s space, I’m not not-neat, Dan’s messy, but I’m just like a plant – my vines are just growing everywhere. So it’s probably a tie between us…depending on who you ask.
What are the main themes/feelings captured on Past Lives?
The record is really introspective, so it’s not necessarily about what is happening, but how I react to it, how I let it define me or not. That to me was the most important thing, because the songs are about all these different experiences, whether it’s breakups, or just feeling like you were in a bad state of mind; whether it’s thinking you aren’t good enough, whether it’s wondering what everyone is doing at all times. Instead of worrying about what the world was doing, it was more about what I am doing about it, how am I letting it control me, or saying that it can’t control me.
In what way do you think you’ve evolved since In Our Bones was released, and what was the biggest challenge when working on the new record?
I think, sonically, we wanted a lot more what served the song, and not so much what we thought we had to do. So there wasn’t any more of this “we have to fit this formula, because that’s the kind of band we are”, it was more “what sounds best for this song?”, which opened so many doors for us that we didn’t open for ourselves while making In Our Bones and I think the most challenging thing of it was the amount the things that we could do with each song; we had to kind of hone things and finesse things a lot more, because we could go on all day adding and adding parts, and then it would just get way too complicated. Sometimes the best song is written whilst holding yourself back, not putting everything on that you could and letting the parts that are there stand out and speak for themselves.
What’s your favourite lyric on the new album?
I really like the “I scream at your ghost when I miss you the most”, because I think that was the first time that I truly understood how I was experiencing the grieving process, where I was getting angry while I was the most hurt and that’s how I was disguising my hurt and trying to put that on anybody else but me. So I think that was one of those lyrics that, when I wrote it, I was like; “well that’s it isn’t it”, it wasn’t just something that I had already understood, I had to write it down to understand what I was experiencing.
Name one thing you’re scared of.
I sound like such a crazy person, but Tsunamis. I’m terrified of the idea of a tsunami. I don’t know why, cause I’ve never grown up in a place where tsunamis were like a thing, but I’m so unbelievably terrified that there will be a tsunami, it’s the scariest natural disaster. I’m so afraid of it and afraid of water for that reason.
If Past Lives was a soundtrack to a movie, what movie (and what title) would it be?
I’m feeling like an indie/coming of age movie maybe, or like ‘Lost In Translation,’ where it makes you feel happy & sad, hopeful & empty at the same time. That’s kind of like what all the emotions on Past Lives were like; I was excited and upset and empty and fulfilled all at the same time and I don’t even know how that’s possible. It makes me think of the movie ‘Lost In Translation’, because the first time I watched it I was like “I understand this, I know how you can feel all this”.
What can we expect from these upcoming UK shows?
A very different set than we’ve ever played before. The set is way more crafted, instead of “this is the song that we always close with” and “this is the song that we always open with”, it’s more about the set running as a whole, and less about trying to hit ‘the slow part of the set’ and ‘this is the emotional part’ and ‘this is the up-tempo part’, we want the whole set to be taken on a journey; it goes up a lot and then down a lot, then up a little bit more.
Past Lives is due out on September 28th via Fueled By Ramen.
Catch the band on their remaining UK tour dates.
September
25 – Glasgow, Garage
27 – Newcastle, Riverside
29 – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town
