via http://www.atcofficial.com/
Against The Current is a Poughkeepsie, NY based pop rock band that formed in 2011 and quickly gained quite a following through YouTube. In 2014, they self-released their first EP Infinity followed by Gravity in 2015. With the growing success, they eventually signed to Fueled By Ramen later that year.
More recently, the band released their first full-length album In Our Bones. To promote the album, Against The Current have been on their “In Our Bones” tour since September, starting all the way in Asia and stopping here a few short weeks ago. Right before the band’s show at L’Astral, I sat down with the trio and discussed YouTube, their album and had them draw what represents themselves. Check out what they had to say!
CONFRONT: Let’s start with a history 101 of the band; when you formed 5 years ago, you started posting covers on YouTube. What prompted you to do that at the beginning?
CHRISSY: We started about 5 years ago and we were just writing our own music and playing local shows. We finally had a song that we wanted to release as a recorded version. We were wondering how we were going to get people who have never listened to us to listen to this song. So we decided the day we released our first recorded original, we also released our first cover. That way, people would hopefully watch the cover and be interested enough to come back and listen to our original music.
CONFRONT: Since YouTube grew so much these past few years, I can’t seem to remember if it was already big back.
DAN: I think it was getting big but there was a devoted community.
CHRISSY: Yeah there was a very specific group of top YouTube artists. Now it’s huge.
CONFRONT: Oh I see! And which has been your favorite cover that you did as a band?
WILL: Probably “Chocolate” or “I Wanna Get Better”. They were really cool.
CHRISSY: Yeah I agree with those two.
CONFRONT: And which one took the most time to adapt and perfect?
DAN: We worked on “Chocolate” for a while. That’s because we recorded it ourselves. It was the first one we actually did all ourselves.
WILL: “Red” also took a while.
CONFRONT: And when you stumble upon your older videos now, since you have evolved a lot in the past few years, what thoughts go through your mind?
DAN: I think they are definitely a good stepping stone.
WILL: I definitely think they are worse than they are. I’ll go back and watch and think “it’s not as bad as I remembered”.
CONFRONT: Well that’s good! And this year being your 5 year anniversary, what do you think has been the biggest milestone you’ve hit since your beginnings.
DAN: I think playing the arenas with All Time Low or playing the arena in Tokyo were pretty special.
CHRISSY: Shepherd’s Bush. Playing this big venue in London and see that we were able to bring that many kids into one room.
WILL: I would agree with both of those!
CHRISSY: Also the record.
WILL: The last time we played Tokyo was pretty crazy. It was one of my favorite shows!
CONFRONT: Now, you released your debut album a few months ago, how has the response been?
CHRISSY: It’s been awesome!
WILL: We’ve been touring it all over the place so it’s been cool to actually play everything live.
CONFRONT: Speaking of touring, last year you guys had you first world tour; what was your favorite place to play?
CHRISSY: Maybe Tokyo because it was our first time there but it was also incredible.
CONFRONT: I often hear that fans in Asia are usually pretty intense; what did you think?
CHRISSY: Every country is different. I think in Japan, they are very passionate but they are also very polite and respectful so they are not in your face. But in the Philippines, they will literally tackle you. It’s just different! Taiwan is similar to Japan but they are more laid back. Singapore is kind of in the middle of them all; they are very polite but they are also very excited and will swarm you a little bit. Everywhere is different!
CONFRONT: And where do you think Montreal fits in all that? What are Montreal fans like?
CHRISSY: We haven’t been here in a long time!
WILL: We don’t know them well enough to gage them yet!
DAN: Canadians are usually very grateful.
WILL: Toronto in the beginnings of the band was one of the fastest growing places. We would go there and it would be the biggest show of the tour; it was crazy! But we look forward to getting to know Montreal a little better.
CONFRONT: Cool! Going back to the album now, I’m going to ask a few “which track” questions. First, which track means the most to you?
CHRISSY: Probably “Roses”.
DAN: “Roses”.
CHRISSY: It’s a very emotional song and it’s something different from anything we’ve ever written before. It’s not a breakup song; it’s a song about true loss.
WILL: My answer is “Wild Things”. School has always been hard for me because I always wanted to be doing this and I could never concentrate when I was in school. That song is about feeling constrained by something; it could be anything. And just wanting to break free and do what you love.
CONFRONT: Your sound varies throughout the album so I know this might be a tough one, but which track would you want someone to listen to if they had never heard anything from your band? Which track represents your sound the best off the record?
CHRISSY: I think “Runaway”.
DAN: “Runaway” or “Wasteland” would probably be pretty safe.
CHRISSY: “Wasteland”, I love that song but I think it’s very different from everything else.
DAN: We’ll go with “Runaway” then!
WILL: I feel like any of them would do a good job.
CONFRONT: I asked earlier which cover took the most time to create, now I want to know which track on the album took the most time to perfect?
CHRISSY: “Forget Me Now” for sure. It started out completely different; it was minor and weird, not in a bad way but just totally different. And then we started slowly transitioning it into what it is now. It took time in order to get there.
CONFRONT: And which track is your favorite to play live?
CHRISSY & DAN: “Wasteland”.
CHRISSY: I like the vibe of it. It’s dark, it has those slow parts but also has those heavier breakdown parts so it’s very fun live. It’s a whole adventure!
DAN: I like the guitar parts.
WILL: I’ll say “Chasing Ghosts”. It’s super groovy, laid back and I kind of like that!
Related: Against The Current covers “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
CONFRONT: Having recorded two EPs before this album, what is one thing you’ve learned in the past that you feel was invaluable for making this album?
WILL: Probably not so much from Infinity but Gravity was pretty similar to the way we did the record. We worked with the same producer and a few other friends of ours who are writers.
CHRISSY: Yeah I think learning about collaborating. Infinity, we wrote a few songs, went into the studio and it was so much of a collaborative process. Whereas Gravity was very much our producer and other writers who were very involved in helping us build the songs into what they could possibly be. I think learning from Gravity about collaboration and how to work with other people. Carry out your ideas but also listen to other people’s ideas. That was very helpful in the writing process of the record.
CONFRONT: And what was one big lesson you learned during the making of this record that you think is important and that you will carry on in the future?
CHRISSY: For me, it’s about not being afraid to step out of your comfort zone because maybe when you’re writing it, it won’t be the song that will make it on the record but that’s ok. But you completely close yourself to the possibility of something great happening that you didn’t expect to happen if you don’t try for it at all.
CONFRONT: Very true! And what was the story behind the album art for the album?
CHRISSY: It was to represent and bring a visual aspect to the title itself. It was all about In Our Bones being about what we are doing with this and feeling like all of this feels very natural, like something that was born into us and embedded into our bones. We wanted to show that with all the colors bursting through the ribcage and all of that was in us; all the passion that’s bursting out. We want fans to feel like they have that in them; these electric neon colors that represent whatever it is that they are passionate about.
CONFRONT: Now, I’m going to ask you to draw something that represents yourself.
CHRISSY: I’m a lion. I’m a Leo so I just feel very connected to lions.
DAN: I’m Dan the dinosaur.
CHRISSY: Why does he only have three legs?
DAN: It’s got two legs and a tail!
WILL: I drew a line at first because it’s infinite and I thought it was interesting. But I ended up drawing a mallard. Can a duck fly? Does it have wings?
DAN: Yeah! They fly south.
CHRISSY: That’s our thing. He’s mallard, he’s a dinosaur and I’m a lion.
