Simply a few years in the past, the way forward for Fingers 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 have been confronted with a call. Spending over a decade carving out a singular area within the various scene – their gritty post-hardcore roots regularly evolving right into a masterclass in hovering melodies and anthemic choruses – each their careers and identities have been out of the blue thrown into query. Uncertain of something besides the easy, indisputable fact that they wished to proceed making music collectively – they started trying to find their lacking piece.
Collaborating with musicians and buddies 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 inventive roadblocks mendacity of their path.
Changing into the catalyst for Fingers Like Homes’ subsequent chapter, what began as an experiment shortly grew to become a reinvention, resulting in their most formidable 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 special layer of the Earth’s ambiance – it captures their rebirth in actual time, unburdened by exterior pressures and cherishing the surprise of inventive freedom.
Navigating their newfound standing as impartial artists and rediscovering their love for music, as Fingers 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 Fingers Like Homes…
MATT COOPER: “It’s positively been a wierd time for us. By means of COVID, like numerous artists, we didn’t know if we might play reveals 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’s loopy. Josh is the explanation we’re right here although, and the primary tune that we wrote with him was the catalyst of us getting up to now. It’s fairly surreal, and it’s been a journey to get right here.
It took place as a result of we had all of this music within the financial institution, and we wished to maintain working. We’ve made buddies with some unimaginable musicians over time, so we have been writing music and sending it out to them. One of many individuals we despatched one thing to was Josh, and we bought along with our producer Cal [Orr] in Melbourne. Right away, being within the room collectively felt good. From there, the album grew to become this playground for us to muck round with and discover.”
JOEL TYRRELL: “Through the prior 5 or 6 years of the band, we actually struggled to write down music. It was powerful, and we had a couple of 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 strategy to make it enjoyable once more. We wished to get pleasure from it, and when Josh got here in, he introduced this power into us. It felt like we have been making our first report once more, and we have 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 might, therefore the 16-track double album. Within the area 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 throughout the report is that it removes the necessity for complete cohesion. You’ll be able to mess around with completely different sides of your sound, and there’s no want for each tune to take a seat comfortably alongside one another. Approaching it in that means, did it really feel as if there was much less strain on you?
MATT COOPER: “I believe that changing into an impartial band is what set us as much as even entertain having that state of mind. It was far more kind of chill by way of how the concepts grew to become 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 special world with The Faim, I virtually didn’t know what to do with myself for the primary couple of months. Each time I mentioned, ‘I can’t do that’ although, it was met with ‘Nah, it’s okay’. Nothing was off limits, and we have been all simply making an attempt to make it work. Normally, it’s far more condensed and intense, however when that strain is lifted it turns into an awesome surroundings for creativity. To be given the liberty to discover your personal infantile emotions with creativity, as an alternative of it simply feeling prefer it’s one thing it’s important to do… That’s so helpful. When you could have a burning need to do one thing, slightly than figuring out you might want to do it due to what a label, supervisor or reserving agent says, that’s when the good things occurs.”
ROCK SOUND: That’s necessary, as a result of at a sure level in any profession – however particularly in music – you possibly can lose the magic of it. That straightforward spark of making for the love of it, and never worrying an excessive amount of concerning the end result, can subside. Have been you capable of rediscover that slightly?
JOEL TYRRELL: “There was an enormous aspect 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 performed numerous issues, so we’re not right here making an attempt to chase these bucket checklist gadgets. It was extra about going again to the drafting board and figuring out how we might make creating and doing one thing that we love pleasurable once more. Not having the strain of a label saying we’d like an album delivered by a sure date, that eliminated just about the entire stress that used to come back with the recording expertise. We have been capable of simply go in and create, and if we didn’t like one thing, we might simply bin it. It took away the necessity to come out with a outcome, and that relaxed us. That’s how we have 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 modifications have been simply us doing what we wished to do with it, and that doesn’t occur with a label. Normally, you’ve bought eight different individuals making an attempt to get their level throughout, however this time we did every little thing ourselves. We’re making the selections, it’s all deliberate, and that makes it a lot extra relaxed.”
ROCK SOUND: Let’s discuss slightly bit concerning the theming of the report, and the way the songs are put collectively. Every quantity is called after a layer of the ambiance, 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 ambiance was only a place for us to complete music throughout a specific cut-off date. Up to now, we’ve struggled with getting actually excited a couple of tune 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 manner, we have been capable of deal with every layer of the ambiance at a time. We’d have 4 songs that outlined that session and that time frame 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 performed in a interval, then would break for slightly bit, then come collectively for one more couple of weeks to get the following batch performed. At the beginning, we didn’t deliberately got down to have 4 layers every with 4 tracks, but it surely allowed us to place out music nearer to the time during which we’d created it. We have been capable of present individuals the journey, and the way we restarted this chapter with Josh. You’ll be able to see the evolution of that all through the report, and if you get to the again finish you possibly can see how we’ve explored what’s doable with this lineup. It’s simply the beginning of what it seems to be like for us creatively.”
JOSH RAVEN: “As a result of the songs have been written so near once they have been launched, we’re bringing individuals into our current second. That’s why there’s numerous completely different flavours, feelings and emotions all through the report, and I’m fairly certain we wrote most of it elsewhere from a bodily perspective too. We’re bringing individuals into these completely different areas, and I believe it’s necessary. It highlights the place we started and the place we’ve ended up, and that endpoint is tremendous thrilling.”
ROCK SOUND: You’ll be able to see that journey within the first quantity of the album, as a result of there are such a lot of completely 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 firstly of the method?
JOEL TYRRELL: “Funnily sufficient, that course of began from us simply making an attempt to write down music. Once 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 have been simply going to write down songs with our buddies. We began writing with Emmy and Philip from Normandie, then we wrote a tune with Josh. That was the turning level for us, as a result of we realised that we weren’t simply writing a tune with a pal. 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 performed an entire lot of collaborations like that in our profession, and numerous them are artists that we’ve toured with over time. 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 have been writing, as a result of we knew that folks have 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 virtually 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 reside reveals. 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 probably the greatest reveals 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, but it surely couldn’t have gone significantly better. I knew that the writing course of had been superior, and my relationship with the fellows was superior, so the final piece of the puzzle was seeing the way it went reside. I didn’t know if individuals would really like me or hate me, but it surely ended up being so heat and comforting. Followers have been capable of acknowledge the previous but additionally be excited for the long run.
That introduced extra gasoline into every little thing 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 bought 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 have been being peeled off. There are increasingly items which are beginning to shed, and you’ll solely get into these deeper elements with time. We’re hitting that time now, and particularly on the finish of this report you possibly can hear it. By the final couple of songs, it appears like we’ve opened up and shed the armour far more. It’s been a means of studying and progress, and the entire cause why we’re doing it’s as a result of it feels good. After all, there are at all times going to individuals who aren’t into it, however there could be no problem with none negativity or criticism. If every little thing was good, I’d be very involved.”
ROCK SOUND: Having the ability to strategy making music from a perspective of following what feels good, slightly than being confined to a sure sound or model, has that given you a renewed religion in what the long run holds for Fingers Like Homes?
JOSH RAVEN: “100 per cent, as a result of we don’t actually know what we are able to’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 attention-grabbing 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 would like now, and that’s enjoyable.”
JOEL TYRRELL: “It appears like this report has been a sort of honeymoon interval. All the things’s nice, and now the doorways are open, and we are able to go anyplace. We are able to go wherever we would like with it, and that’s most likely probably the most thrilling factor. We’re pumped to have this 16-track album popping out, however we’re most likely extra enthusiastic about the truth that we’re nonetheless writing. We’ve bought extra stuff coming, and it feels good. We have to have a good time this album, however we’re so buzzed to be writing music collectively.”
JOSH RAVEN: “Who is aware of? Possibly after 5 weeks in an RV collectively, we’d change that perspective. The subsequent album may very well be all about lengthy drives, winding roads and cyclones!”
‘ATMOSPHERICS’ is out on February 14 by way of Civillians.