The band’s new album, Hail to the Dogs, draws heavily from Orwell’s Animal Farm and explores themes of control and disillusionment. What sparked the connection between that story and what you’re seeing or feeling in the world today?
It just lined up. The story of power shifting hands but never actually changing is an age old story and in this case felt very close to home. Hail to the Dogs is about the illusion of freedom and what it costs to wake up to that.
You’ve described the album as “meant to feel raw and dirty, but also beautiful.” Reflective of life’s fragility and messiness. How did you strike that emotional balance sonically in the studio and during the songwriting process?
The studio was less about precision and more about capturing a state of mind. When something felt emotionally real, even if it was imperfect, we kept it because it was real and hopefully listeners can feel that. We leaned into the messiness and rawness because that’s life, so the music had to reflect it.
The lead single and album opener “Good Boy” touches on the desire to escape materialism within a punchy, angsty rock ardor — invigorating with the punk and grunge elements. Its lyrics yearn for a “place to be alone.” How did you decide on this stellar track to be both the lead single and album opener?
I got a lot of push back for making “Good Boy” the lead single and album opener because it’s not a typical lead single. It’s short and ends abruptly. For me, “Good Boy” felt like the clearest entry point into the world of the album. It sets the tone and introduces themes that run throughout the album – frustration, questioning and urgency.
The track “Break” has been reimagined from The Spaceman EP. What made you revisit it, and how does its new version reflect your evolution as a band, both creatively and personally?
The one from the EP was very DIY. I recorded all the instruments myself in my basement and recorded it on GarageBand. It’s a song that meant a lot to me and was one of my most personal songs. We started playing it live and turned it into the song that’s on this record. I just loved the way we played it and felt like it should be re-done. We were able to keep the reversed looped guitars you hear in the original one in the one we used for this record, so it still kept some of that DIY sound.
There’s a noticeable 1990s and early ’00s alt-rock spirit woven through the album. What artists or records from that era influenced you most while making Hail to the Dogs?
Definitely bands that I felt were a bit of disruptors from those eras. I was heavily influenced by bands like Pavement, Built to Spill, and Merchant Ships because I felt they had that rawness and unique sound that I really wanted to have on the album. Early Interpol, Alex G, and Modest Mouse were also big influences on this album. The way they built tension without having huge arrangements. That restraint really influenced us a lot.
This album feels like a portrait of a generation wrestling with purpose and identity. What do you hope listeners walk away with after hearing Hail to the Dogs from start to finish?
I hope that it gives people permission to feel what they are already feeling and that it’s okay to not know who you are or where you are going. There’s room for uncertainty in the music and was something I was feeling when making the album.
What’s your favorite venue to perform at?
It has to be Jammin Java in Vienna, Virginia. I took my first ever guitar lessons at that venue when I was 11 years old and it was always a goal of mine to play there. We’ve headlined there twice and it was such an amazing feeling seeing people I didn’t know singing the words to our songs. It felt so surreal and just a feeling and memory I’ll always have.
Do you have a specific process or ritual when creating new music?
Not really. Sometimes I’ll hear a song and that’ll inspire me or I’ll just be plucking my guitar and I’ll start humming something that sounds good to me. I think for me with songwriting I always need to have the melody first before words. I’m not someone who can write a song and then put music to it. With me the music always comes first.
