0:00
Uh, The Neighbourhood at Apple Music Studio is the brand new album um called Ultral Sound. Much to talk about.
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0:05
It's nice to see you all. How we doing? Nice to see you. Yeah, man. Good to see you, man.
0:08
Yeah, it's been a long time. >> a long time. >> Yeah.
0:11
So, it's obviously really important to you that, you know, you're showing up in all of these things, the five of you together as a band.
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And I just want to sort of get a general feeling about um how it's felt the last couple of weeks since you guys have come back and started to tell people you're back and how it feels that.
0:22
Um yeah, it's definitely a mixed bag.
0:26
Um you know, it's exciting, but, you know, obviously there's uh yeah, you know, a lot of things in the ethos.
0:35
Yeah, and they're hovering over us right now.
0:37
Look, I mean, there's five of you here. Brandon is here.
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3 years ago, that was not the case.
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Brandon was not in the band at that moment in time.
0:45
And there isn't a uh there's another situation going on here where I'm talking to the four of you with a new drum.
0:49
And at some point, I'm sure that was a that was a reality.
0:51
But Brandon is here sitting here with the band. Why is that?
0:55
Um I think from our perspective, um we've seen genuine growth and change in the last few years with Brandon.
1:07
And yeah, you know, bringing him back wasn't a snap decision, I think, for us.
1:10
Um we definitely knew the type of reaction we were going to receive.
1:17
Um but yeah, but from our perspective, we've seen genuine change.
1:23
And although that doesn't excuse anything, um we still believe that he deserves a second chance and an opportunity that, you know, he's he's better.
1:34
When you hit rock bottom like I did, you know, and something happens like that, there is like kind of like a crossroads where like you're at a point where you could either keep going deeper and find like a deeper bottom or you can try to climb your way out of it.
1:48
And, you know, luckily through like support of friends and family and these guys, I was able to kind of put my head down and just get into the work of, you know, bettering myself and showing everyone that I'm not the person that that type of event kind of like defined me as, you know, what I mean?
2:08
And yeah, being back here with the guys and even making the record was such like uh therapeutic way of thing for me but all of us of like, you know, dealing with this and trying to climb our way out of it and start like a new chapter.
2:21
And I I feel really, really strong about it.
2:24
You know, it's it That's that speaks to the five of you and to the friendship that you all have and the commitment that you've made to each other, right?
2:32
Um for the people that don't understand the decision, you know, that don't understand right now really what prompted you guys to stay together as five of you um and to welcome Brandon back into the band.
2:42
Um it it it This is a chance for you, I guess, to to to to speak to that.
2:46
It's it's challenging and it's it's so deep, you know, I um I grew up without a parent because of uh alcoholism and it's just something that I've always really uh fought against in my life and really had like uh you know, um beef with, you know, just the whole idea of it.
3:11
And um kind of similar what Zach said, it's not an excuse, but I do believe it's a big part of the reason of why everything happened the way it did.
3:19
From I know my how I feel about things, it just feels like this whole situation is the thing that um we just have to live with.
3:27
And um you know, similarly similarly to what Zach said, like Brandon has has uh I mean, I've known him since I'm I was 15 years old and uh I met him in biology class.
3:43
And um you know, this is the it's my favorite version of Brandon that I've ever known.
3:50
And um you know, I think the the reason we're all here today together, too, and the reason we're doing the band again is because um it's something that we could really all believe in.
4:02
And I feel like it's it's really uh hard to to keep hope and belief in general right now.
4:08
belief in general right now. And uh when we're with each other, I know it's it's real and I know that, you know, these guys are uh this this is just this is what we have and and we love each other and we're going to um we're going to stand by each other no matter what, you
4:25
know, we Brandon has went through what he's went through, but like we've all went through a lot in the past couple of years and that's not maybe known or things aren't out there, but, you know, relationships have ended, uh family members have gotten ill, uh and dealt with their drug and addiction problems. So, you know, this is kind of
4:44
So, you know, this is kind of this is kind of it's one of those real life-changing moments that we, you know, what whether we like it or not, we're in it together.
4:54
So, like it just you know, like these are these are like my my people.
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These are my these are my family.
5:01
So, you know, I understand why anybody would would read or see the things that they've seen and be like, that, I'm off it. I get it.
5:08
I probably would do that, too, you know, I think.
5:12
We're really, really lucky at the end of the day that we get to, you know, if it wasn't for the outpour and the the volume of love that we've felt over the past few years we've been on a hiatus.
5:24
on a hiatus. And, you know, I don't I don't know if I don't know if what we would have done if we would have come back, but I think the love for us has been a lot louder than um you know, I don't even want to know if I want to call it hate because it's just
5:38
like I understand the opinion of of why anybody would feel the way they feel and you know, that's we we we know what we know and we feel the way that that we feel and we feel like we're we're moving forward in a way that that we believe at the end of the day. When you guys
5:51
When you guys decided to walk away, was it was it the big unknown?
5:56
What were the what were the terms that you decided to stop being The Neighbourhood even just for a hiatus?
6:00
What were the terms you established for yourselves in order to feel good about that decision?
6:04
Well, I mean, I think, you know, depending on who you ask, you know, you might get a different answer.
6:08
Um but yeah, I think at the time for me, at least, um you know, cuz we spent like the last 10 years just Neighbourhood.
6:16
You know, that was our lives.
6:16
And the uncertainty of not doing it and the change, you know, cuz The Neighbourhood was a part of our just everyday life. Yeah.
6:27
And >> young when you started out.
6:28
I mean, it's We were young.
6:29
You know, it was You're literally finding yourselves in in in in a group like in front of the your fans, in front of the world.
6:34
Yeah, um so, yeah, for me at the time, I was against it just because maybe I was fearful of the unknown.
6:45
Um but in hindsight, I think it was something that we all really needed.
6:48
Can I ask you what you learned about yourself given that you were one of the people who was not so so pro the idea of taking a break.
6:55
So, how that actually benefited or impacted you now looking back on on on the break?
6:59
Well, I think the band for so long, you know, cuz yeah, it was through our 20s, like such transformative years of growing up and, you know, becoming an an adult.
7:08
And I think for me, yeah, it was just there was things that maybe the band in a really good way, but, you know, it was a distraction from dealing with stuff maybe internally and emotionally.
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And when the band stopped, I had to confront those things.
7:26
And I think because that I confronted those things, uh I know myself more better now.
7:32
And you know, and I don't know if we'd be able to do it this time if I didn't do take those steps.
7:43
>> It's why it's my favorite Neighbourhood record is because the playing is different.
7:46
The writing is different.
7:48
It's the same band in the sense that I hear The Neighbourhood.
7:50
What is it like undeniably unique to the five of you playing music together.
7:55
Like Mikey, even on the song we were playing when you guys walked in, a little old me, just hearing the way you're playing it like the like the way that you're you're adjusting that the very mood of the song just with, you know, with with your instrument.
8:06
Um Obviously, you can do that in any one of your songs, but it seems to have a different purpose on a song like that right now.
8:13
>> Yeah, I will say uh I actually didn't play bass on that but uh but I appreciate that. That was Jeremy. Yeah, I think.
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Which is probably why it does have a different tonal quality. >> it to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a it's a good line.
8:27
>> are also my uh ADHD drums on there.
8:30
>> Yeah, Jesse's playing drums on that track, too. >> out of here. What are you guys doing?
8:34
We we we switch it up sometimes.
8:34
You guys are making it very tough for me right now.
8:36
I had a very I had a line this whole line down.
8:39
Like Jesus Christ, which one are you singing on? Like what are you doing? Uh great drumming.
8:47
You know, I'm I'm Jesse's a fire drummer.
8:48
He's he's he's a he's a rocker.
8:50
>> There's a looseness to it. Yeah.
8:50
When I met Jesse, we actually went to our friend's house.
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We were in high school and we like got brought to like a room.
8:58
We were like hanging out and like Jesse got on the kit and I don't think he even knew I played drums yet.
9:00
And I saw him play drums for the first time and I was like, oh, this guy's really good.
9:03
And then >> And then I saw him get on drums and I was like, oh, yeah, yeah.
9:06
Yeah, I'm never going to do that again.
9:08
Did you guys connect in high school because you were like tapping on the desk?
9:13
>> Yeah, we were like I used to like as on a desk like this, I'd always like, you know, ADD just be like sitting there like teacher like jamming and then I think I was jamming and then like Jesse picked up what I was like throwing out and then he like joined in and then we kind of like looked at each other and like >> you guys were like Tony Thompson and Phil Collins. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. In biology class.
9:29
From what I remember, I was sitting in the front. >> Yeah.
9:33
And I thought I was playing a beat and then when I stopped, you you gave me like a four-bar fill from the back of the classroom.
9:40
Never seen this guy and I literally go Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that. I love that. >> So funny.
9:47
>> Um I always feel like you're kind of running from yourselves in a strange way.
9:51
I don't know if that makes sense to you, but like every record feel to me feels like a bit of a reaction to the last one of like, no, we can't be that band.
9:57
We don't want to be that band. Where are we going? What's going on?"
10:00
Does that It's a bit loose, but does that speak to Does that make sense? Yeah, for sure. Um until this one. I think Really? Yeah.
10:05
I think even the hiatus is obviously not a record, but it's like a Well, it's a response to Chip.
10:13
So, I think we were tired of being The Neighbourhood for a little while.
10:20
Um and we needed that hiatus to come back and to create Ultra Sound is like it feels the most uh pure to what The Neighbourhood is.
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It's like a callback to all of our records in a way.
10:33
Like the best parts of everything. So.
10:35
>> What it should be, right?
10:35
Like you learn and then you apply the things you've learned and maybe let go of a couple things on the way.
10:40
I think every record is like that for any artist, right? Um yeah.
10:45
I feel like this one was kind of like I know for me when I came when we came back together, I was like I I was such a fan of the band, like actually.
10:53
And How did you get there?
10:53
I'm going to and jump in there because that requires you to at least the way I take that is that the spell is broken of like, "I'm in the band.
11:06
So, I'm dealing with all of the the machinery of the band and the stuff I like and don't like and this and that."
11:12
For you to be a fan is like you have to kind of had of a moment you where you go, "Oh I hear it. I see it. I love it." I get it, I think. Did that happen? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
11:23
Kind of when-ish or what-ish or how-ish?
11:26
Well, I think the Well, the break for me part of it obviously was me making music on my own and making the record that we sat down and talked about which was like really important for me as like like the little boy the little Jesse was like that was that was a thing that he kind of needed to do.
11:51
Um to understand that the thing that he really wanted was what he already had.
11:56
You must have been a relieved in a way he did that, too, because I've seen Neighbourhood shows where he breaks out in the middle and does songs on his own and there must be times when you're thinking like, "Just do it."
12:06
I mean, they've known me for so long.
12:06
I It's not I It's not like I haven't done that since the beginning of the band.
12:11
The whole band was like it was a secondary idea to me doing my thing and it turned into a quick like "Ooh, that's kind of cool. Maybe we do this."
12:22
And then, you know, it took off.
12:24
So, I just always had this thing in my head like and then I didn't and then I felt so, you know, uh like committed and and responsible to to be part of the band and, you know, with our our our relationships and our contracts and all that kind of stuff.
12:44
So, when when the the contract part was over and I knew we were doing all okay enough to where nobody was going to like, you know, go hungry.
12:54
I was kind of like, "Hold Okay, hold on a second before I dedicate another decade of my life to this.
13:00
Like I got to like take a second away."
13:03
And I didn't I really was kind of entering the unknown more than anything, but also I make music no matter what.
13:09
So, I knew that was going to happen, but to really get back to your question, I feel like uh that playing live and getting off stage helped me really be like "Oh my god, I just want my friends so bad."
13:22
Because like you could have a good show, you could have a bad show, but nobody was there to share it with you.
13:26
So, you get off and you're just kind of like "Okay, I guess I'll watch the social media videos back now and see how people felt about it."
13:34
Which don't want to do that either.
13:36
Like you know what I mean?
13:37
So, I think that was a big part of it for me.
13:39
And just like there's a magic here.
13:41
I don't know you know, like when we all come together, it's hard, but it also feels so much better when we make it work, you know what I'm saying? So.
13:50
There's a really healthy amount of noise on this album.
13:54
But but it never distracts from the core of what of what this band is about, which are these really brilliant songs.
14:00
Like So, walking that line, I mean, you didn't break it entirely, but you certainly cracked the veneers of these really beautiful pop songs and deep pop songs.
14:10
Let's just talk about how you did that cuz I know that you're all really producers in your own space.
14:14
You all are heavily involved in the production of it, but you came back together with Justin again, which is going to make fans really happy.
14:20
And we'll touch on Wiped Out a little bit later on, but there is some relationship in a weird way to Wiped Out on this record a little bit, right?
14:28
Yeah, we went with the same producers who did Wiped Out with us.
14:33
And yeah, I was just like even when we started making the record, we we started at um Conway Studios.
14:39
And we were there for a month and, you know, it was cool, but It's a studio.
14:43
It's a studio studio and we're kind of just like, you know, didn't really like what we were hearing back.
14:47
And you know, so we decided to change it up and we went to this place called The Beehive, which is just basically a rehearsal space.
14:55
And it was just amps set up with mics on it and it kind of felt like the beginning again.
15:02
So, it felt like you know, it felt like The Neighbourhood.
15:06
And um yeah, and we just got the results that we wanted.
15:11
>> And that's when Johnno Not to interrupt, but that's when Johnno stepped in with us, too, who who did also did Wiped Out did and he did the majority of this album as well.
15:20
And and once we were all in there, it just kind of felt like, yeah, we're just throwing a mic next to an amp and like make just running around the room recording things.
15:29
Did it feel different to Wiped Out?
15:31
We I mean, you must be reflecting a little bit cuz we're 10 years in now.
15:33
You've just celebrated this anniversary.
15:34
It's kind of one of those rare situations we have a new album coming out at the same time as celebrating an old album.
15:38
So, it's like this is Yeah, you wiped out. Keep it moving. Exactly.
15:43
We tried to do an Ultra Sound sandwich around Wiped Out to be like But really this one, but also this one.
15:46
But then But I remember when we I think you guys came around to my house I was renting at the time in LA and we listened to Wiped Out for the very first time and I remember you guys seemed kind of bummed out.
15:55
>> Just to be real about it, you were tired.
15:56
It was It was It was Yeah.
15:56
Well, I mean, it's it's called Wiped Out for a reason. Yeah.
15:59
Cuz you know, that's how you know, it was a It was sick.
16:03
Yeah, it was just uh you need bomb control.
16:06
It's a clearly emotionally exhausting Yeah.
16:07
um to make that record, um but so many good memories though along the way making it.
16:16
Also, we got to give you props because uh What did I do?
16:18
Well, you called Daddy Issues before the label didn't call that song before the fans knew knew it.
16:23
Like that was the one where you looked at us and you were like, "Boys, I think this might be the one."
16:28
Yeah, it was only me and you. Yeah, yeah, it's true.
16:32
>> If I remember correctly, part of that was because I was worried.
16:35
I I just felt like your energy you guys were so burnt out.
16:37
I was like, "You're just getting started."
16:40
Like you haven't even put this record out.
16:42
You look like you're at the end of a 2-year tour.
16:43
Like Like even like mixing that record cuz like kind of the parallels that Zach was talking about of this record and Wiped Out is like in Wiped Out we had the mansion in Malibu. We had it set up.
16:54
We were like, "All right, let's go to this big house, record a record."
16:56
I think we ended up using like a song from that house, maybe two or three.
17:00
And then we finished most of Wiped Out what you hear is like from Zach's mom's house. Yeah, my mom's house. >> Valley. Like that's amazing.
17:06
On a ping pong table with the drums set up in the living room.
17:09
And you know, when you hear songs like Pray or something like that that sound is so weird, it's because we were recording it in a house that was not like in It wasn't like prop wasn't a good studio, but like you know, it ended up sounding the way it did.
17:20
And then for this record, you know, we had the nice studio and then we ended up in a room with the laptop set up and everything miked again. You know what I mean? >> Yeah, yeah.
17:27
But that's why here like I mean, that's why I love this album so much is because it hasn't It has You haven't regressed creatively either.
17:33
It's not like you went back to a small room and tried to recapture or even instinctively recaptured any of that.
17:37
Like there's there's lots of territory you're really pushing you haven't pushed before.
17:40
So, I talked the noise side of it.
17:42
What What was the first song?
17:43
Uh the first song actually didn't even make the record.
17:46
But uh A sacrificial one. Yeah. Uh Beach Plum.
17:51
>> Oh, we shouldn't even say that. Oh, okay. We can't say that.
17:54
Well, well, uh Okay, well, then the next song was Planet. Planet.
17:56
You know I'm going to Why don't you want to talk about Beach Plum?
17:59
No, because if if it's mentioned, then anybody the our wonderful fans are going to say, "What what the hell?
18:06
Where Yeah, so and so do that.
18:07
Ask them to put it out at some point.
18:08
Honestly, we're still working on it.
18:10
We're trying to get it to That's a good answer.
18:12
That's cuz it's not ready yet. It's not ready.
18:14
>> like the hook seems pretty fire, but the verses we've always been figuring out how to make it.
18:18
But Planet Planet ended up being Planet was Yeah, it was kind of like Johnno who, you know, produced Wiped Out with us.
18:29
Haven't talked to Johnno for years at this point.
18:30
Get a random text from him from him and he's like, "Dude, let's just make music."
18:35
And I was just like, "Yeah, dude, I love making music with you."
18:40
And and and and he just like came over and, you know, and then Jess kind of got word of it and then I know Jess is kind of like, "Well, I want to be there."
18:49
And uh yeah, and then, you know, Planet just kind of happened and >> Was that one of the first like beats you guys made? Uh no.
18:58
>> Cuz I came over months after you guys had already been rocking out. >> Yeah, that No.
19:01
I think we made that together, right? Or no? I was there? >> We had that before. Oh, good point.
19:07
But you were working for you were working for a while before before you even got involved. So, hang on.
19:12
What Were you thinking Neighbourhood? Of course. Yeah. I know I mean, I Yeah.
19:16
I knew I was like, "Okay, I'll get this ball rolling."
19:20
Even though, you know, nobody really knows about it yet.
19:21
You know, I know Jesse he'll want to be involved.
19:26
>> They know me well enough.
19:26
And then I'm like, "Yeah, where he's going to be like, 'Well, that sounds fun.
19:29
Like I want to be there.'"
19:31
Um You give Jesse a hot track and then there's That's all it takes.
19:34
And then I was, you know, whether it was Beach Plum or Planet, I could tell when we were, you know, when we brought Jesse in, you know, it we had those moments of like "Oh my god, this yes.
19:46
This is this this is how what supposed to feel."
19:51
And that kind of was like, I think maybe the catalyst of just getting it back all together again. Yeah.
19:58
When I heard what him and Jono were working on, it was such a like instant dose of nostalgia that like I think I really like needed or like I really wanted, you know, I wanted to Things were so uncertain at that point, obviously, like as we discussed like what the hiatus like led on and I was just like so free-floating that like felt nice to have something that reminded me of like home per se, you know?
20:24
And I was I just like it just I remember when I first did the hook on on not playing it this other song, but I just remember like when I first sang that just being like and driving home just being like, "Oh my god."
20:39
Like it it was just the most amazing feeling just The hook is undeniable. Pretty good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we didn't use it.
20:45
Yeah, you guys are building it up. This is bad. You can't I know.
20:47
We were going to That song nobody's even heard. This is stupid.
20:51
There's 15 of them on this record.
20:53
>> Undeniable hook and we haven't heard it.
20:54
It's not because it's a bad song.
20:54
It's just that It's not done.
20:56
Sometimes well, it might not be done, but also Might have been too nostalgic.
21:00
I just think it it wasn't right for this record.
21:03
>> But at some point you put it out as a loosey in 12 months, it's going to be like the biggest It could be the 10-year Ultrasound anniversary.
21:09
We're playing the long game.
21:12
Uh Brandon, is there any reality at this moment in time while things are happening in the studio that you even think there's a role for you in this band anymore?
21:17
No, I mean like, you know, during the hiatus and when I stepped away, we were all in contact as like friends, you know, like the guys were there for me the whole time, you know, it wasn't a band thing.
21:28
It was just like we said before, I've known these guys forever.
21:31
I've known Jesse forever.
21:31
We were just like hang out, meet up, you know, and just checking on each other and then as the music started pouring in, it really was like I would think I got sent a couple things that I know we were working on. I was like, "Cool."
21:43
But then, you know, it took like a couple years before we actually decided to make the record that, you know, we all kind of met up or were like, "Yo, I think we're going to do this again and, you know, let's start making some music and see how it feels and kind of go from there."
21:54
Was there a part of you that was worried about coming back Mhm.
21:59
just because of um the lifestyle of it, what it represented to you as as a human being having having come out of that world and gone gone, I need to take a look around me at my life. Yeah.
22:08
And you know, Absolutely.
22:10
Um even now, like, you know, still getting back in the swing of things.
22:14
Like like I said before, I I kept my head down and just like got into the work of getting better and that was a I put myself in a very tiny world, you know, not many people talking to you, just like a small group of people in like recovery and stuff and doing that.
22:27
And then once the band stuff started trickling in, the process was slow.
22:30
It wasn't like we dove in and just started doing it.
22:33
I think out of respect to me and just to everyone, we kind of just like slowly started the process, kind of like what we're talking about in Like I said before in the beginning like making this record was therapeutic, just like getting into the room and, you know, the conversations we got to have and just like seeing the growth not only in myself, but in everyone, kind of what Jesse said.
22:51
We all went through a lot during that break and I felt almost like we got to like get to know each other again.
22:57
Cuz we we're all so young.
22:57
I met Mike when he was like 17.
22:59
He's guys like 30 now and seeing like 30-year-old Mike. You're 30? 32. Oof.
23:05
I turned 30 Holy five years there. whole thing about it.
23:06
Yeah, don't age me like that.
23:08
Um I don't know, but I resonate with what Brandon's saying as well because for me, I I wasn't sure if I was going to rejoin the band.
23:15
I was I was pretty interested in my self-discovery and where I was at outside of the band.
23:20
You know, it's like going to visit your parents back home or something and all those emotions come running back when you were a kid.
23:26
Like rejoining this band was like, "Oh, that's that's 18-year-old Mike, you know?"
23:31
And now I feel like I'm enjoying learning about 30-year-old Mike, you know?
23:36
Um And so it was pretty we Zach, Jesse and I had dinner and they're pretty much like, "Nah, like we need you."
23:43
And I think that that friendship felt great for lack of a better word.
23:48
It felt really um bold statement, too. We need you.
23:52
Think about that for a second when someone's having second thoughts about whether or not they want to do something and you know them really well and you lay it out like that, you get one shot at that.
24:02
You know, the there's other ways to do that.
24:04
You can position it over a period of time, right?
24:08
We need you, you know, that's it could have gone either way. Mhm, sure. Someone's moved on.
24:12
It's like, "I I don't give a what you need." You know what I mean? Pretty much.
24:17
Totally like, you know, it could go the other way. Yeah.
24:20
Like Jess said, I think during the hiatus, we um there was a lot to learn and there was a lot to grow.
24:25
There was a lot of things I was going through in my personal life that it just uh yeah, it it almost felt like going back to the neighborhood would would be going backwards in ways and I think what's special about this record is we all were able to grow and meet our evolved selves.
24:43
I think that comes across in the music as well. Yeah, totally.
24:46
Like I said at the beginning of the conversation, the playing on this is different. Mhm.
24:49
I recognize it, but I don't recognize the I don't know if I don't recognize you who you are until I hear this record, right?
24:54
So I'm like, "Oh yeah, that's the what?"
24:57
Um let's talk about the writing.
24:57
It's called Ultrasound for a reason.
24:59
I mean, you know, behind the behind the speaker stack is infinite space.
25:02
Um the space that you have created for yourself to write about feels liminal.
25:07
A lot of times is like flow state. Mhm.
25:13
And a lot of like the drumming on Little Old Me a lot of the playing for me, like I didn't write anything and I just improvised everything.
25:19
Well, he's kind of king of flow state. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
25:23
Yeah, so you're listening to your inner voice at all times.
25:25
You're literally sitting there listening to it and it's like if something just goes do do do do do do do, you go, "Okay, that's where I'm going to go then."
25:33
And luckily I had Jono who just gave me the longest leash.
25:38
Like you just press record and leave me alone for 2 hours and I'd just be on loop.
25:42
Yeah, he didn't even know like what parts probably made the songs. No.
25:44
Yeah, Jono just kind of was like, "Okay, this is dope."
25:47
Uh 15 minutes in, that was dope.
25:49
You know, 20 minutes in, that's dope.
25:51
That's how Chemical Brothers make their music or at least they used to is if they would they would sit Yeah, I was listening to them while we were making this. That's funny.
25:56
>> They would record everything.
25:56
They'd sit up there at whatever the slowest record portal they could, ADAT.
26:02
Record the most amount of the you know, and they're just recording and then they would just like around and then at some point it would just go, you know, ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba, they go, "That."
26:13
And then they'd build off that and la la la, but it's like literally out of a jam session with with with synths and tapes and Yeah, sometimes you just It's like, "Oh, but that that you know, what you just did was cool."
26:22
And you're like, "I don't even know what I just did."
26:24
And if you think about the way things are going in terms of technology, maybe subconsciously we're actually thinking about like, "Okay, what makes us unique?" Mhm.
26:30
The voice, the hands, the things, the tactility of it all.
26:32
There are loops on this, but I also feel like there's a looseness on this record which you were able to honor.
26:36
On Little Old Me, I hear my bad harmony every time and it kills me, but I love that it's there. No, that's the thing.
26:42
I hear yours, but I hear my all the time like, "God, how do we keep that?"
26:45
Like Yeah, and like yeah, it's human. Yeah.
26:47
And it's like we're trusting of each other.
26:49
Like you trust yourselves and you trust each other and it's good enough. Don't fix it.
26:55
Yeah, it's tough though, isn't it?
26:57
Cuz it's so the creative and the human, that's that's the wrestle.
27:02
Most of it's beautiful if you find the harmonious space, but the wrestle is like, "Ah, but I just I got to fix that."
27:07
And it's like, "But is it human to do that?"
27:09
Yeah, I mean, I think it's like even, you know, when we talk about like Wiped Out, like we recorded that record in my mom's living room and it like didn't sound good, but we had to make it work.
27:19
And you know, I think with this it's like you know, just having to make it work.
27:25
So funny cuz that record defined a big part of the sound that's followed you ever since.
27:29
This idea that you could be in a band and make something that feels um imperfect. Yeah.
27:33
The drum loop on Wiped Out.
27:36
I'd never used Ableton before.
27:37
Justin, our producer, taught me how to use Ableton and I was like messing around drum loops and the drum loop on Wiped Out, I didn't know how to like put things in the grid or like uh quantize.
27:46
So the loop on Wiped Out is actually completely Janky and that turnaround every time I hear it, I'm like, "All I had to do was command you."
27:54
Do you know who changed the game for all of us was RZA?
27:55
Because he would take his his the imperfection of his loops was was was everything. Yeah.
28:00
You know, you would hear things skipping half a beat or or grace note be lost there or even sometimes you catch the the the the the first little bit of the first beat on the next loop that he didn't cut and be Yeah.
28:10
What the Little clips in the right places.
28:12
Yeah, we're all trying to make Pete Rock perfection and he's just like, "Nah, nah, nah, loop put out that a make it all good."
28:18
The realness of it, it's hard to replicate, you know, you can be a cover band and do everything perfectly, but like doing everything like in the human with the human aspect of it. How's it flow?
28:28
But you're really good now.
28:29
You can all play really well now.
28:31
So I mean, with with the exception of Jeremy who obviously is like, you know, in flow state.
28:34
I mean, how do you how do you reject those impulses?
28:38
How do you how do you reject those impulses to to be as good as you are now, right?
28:42
At the end of the day, you want to be great, but also you want the record to to retain some of that imperfection that makes your band your band.
28:48
Yeah, I mean, I think the imperfection is what makes us distinct. Yeah.
28:52
Yeah, at the end of the day.
28:54
Yeah, I would I wouldn't say I mean, I appreciate the compliment.
28:55
I wouldn't say that I feel good, you know, or like better now as a musician.
29:02
I think it's the um being okay with the imperfections and being okay with that and showing the vulnerability that that comes with is a different step that I don't think any of us really wanted to take the first time around.
29:16
Like to Zach's point, we we had to finish Wiped Out because we were under contract.
29:20
Like we did not have to make this record.
29:21
And you pay for yourself, right? Or self-financed?
29:25
So okay, let's talk about the mentality of of being captains of your own destiny in that situation and not necessarily deciding to to make a creative side step because the label and you and and the audience you feel you're out of sync.
29:35
Okay, hi, I'm Chip Chrome.
29:37
Great decision in hindsight, at the time reactionary.
29:41
Nothing to react to here except the desire to be in the room together. Mhm. You're on the clock.
29:45
You're aware of your budget.
29:46
you know what you've got to spend. Right? That's about it, right?
29:49
The rest of it is make it up as you go along.
29:52
Well, Am I simplifying it too much?
29:55
>> to me the main like prompt was really like with how much bigger we've become in the past in the years that we were gone and how many more songs have emerged.
30:06
Uh, it was kind of just like I remember sitting with the guys earlier and being like, "Yo, it's really pretty pretty simple."
30:11
Like, "Here's our top 15 songs.
30:13
We're going to probably go play venues that probably going to be about this size and be like this.
30:18
Let's just fill in the blanks.
30:20
What would you put between these songs that we know we're going to play?"
30:22
And we It's not like we strategically sat there and was like, "Okay, so between Daddy Issues and Reflections, we're going to What would you" It wasn't like that methodical, but it was just a broad thing to be to make it like, you know, that's all we're doing.
30:34
>> I've never heard that come out of it.
30:34
In fact, if anything, I got a sense if I haven't made a reference from one album to one previously, you'd immediately almost start flooring it, you know? Yeah.
30:43
Yeah, we probably would have back in the day. Yeah. I I love it all now.
30:48
>> Did the acceptance of your music in the time that you were away, the fact that you're sitting down with, you you know, a buddy and he's like, "Guys, you're not going to believe this shit." Mhm.
30:57
Like, the streams are like three-Xing on this, five-Xing on that.
31:02
You guys have got platinum albums now.
31:04
This is all facts, by the way. I'm only speaking facts.
31:05
Um, how much did like real talk, acknowledging that, how much did that make a difference towards you being okay like Yeah. It helped a lot.
31:15
I mean, it just >> Because because you were just to finish my thought, for the longest time, you know, I've I've said this to you before and I always felt bad saying it because I but I said it was said as a friend.
31:23
I'd always be like, "Man, it's like you guys don't get enough credit for starting something and particularly out here on the West Coast, I feel.
31:29
It's a shitty thing to have to say to a band.
31:33
You'd rather you'd rather say, "Hey, man, you're killing it."
31:34
Rather than you don't get the credit.
31:36
That's shitty, like the underrated tag sucks.
31:40
So, it must have been nice to be rated.
31:42
Yeah, I think it took the pressure off, too, you know? >> Yeah.
31:44
Like especially going into this record, Jesse said we didn't have to make the record and then going into this record, you know, we had the success, we had the hits.
31:50
We could have done a reunion tour and played those 15 songs and, you know, called it a day.
31:53
But I felt like we wanted to make new music just because that's just like who we are. We're creative people.
31:59
We wanted to put something else out there.
32:01
And I think while we were making it, you know, we're like, "Oh, we got the we got the hits.
32:05
Let's just make a Neighborhood record."
32:06
There wasn't like, "Still don't have a hit since Sweater Weather or something.
32:09
Let's try to get another one."
32:10
>> That's what I'm asking.
32:10
Like, can you acknowledge now that it was really important that you felt like you'd had hit songs and people actually appreciate your band at scale? Totally. Definitely feels good. Yeah.
32:18
I think a maturity, like being older kind of like enabled to be mature and like look back at it and finally be like, "Oh, you know, we could tap tap ourselves on the back."
32:24
When you're younger, you're like, "Oh, it's not good enough." Like, whatever.
32:27
>> Also, these things that we didn't think were good enough turned out to be great enough for a lot of people.
32:32
So, it makes you look back like Softcore, bro?
32:33
Like, don't get me wrong. I love Softcore.
32:36
I got my little autotune on there.
32:38
I'm doing my whole thing.
32:39
But like that song was not a song that anybody would have ever been like, "I'm putting the money on that one." You know what I mean? >> B-side in my head.
32:48
>> So, yeah, you know what I mean?
32:48
So, it was like to have that happen was just like, "We don't know anything." Like, "Okay, surrender. All right."
32:54
That song was the last song we wrote for that record.
32:58
It was like 3 days before we were done in the studio. >> is physical.
33:02
We don't see it unless it's in our hand.
33:05
That's why we hold vinyl so precious cuz it's the closest thing to perfect manif- physical manifestation of music.
33:12
You know, it feels like perfect sound. >> Yeah. Yeah.
33:14
Oh, cool, and you can do with it.
33:17
But we've just kind of created an invisible space for music to move at a really fast pace, billions of ideas all the time.
33:23
But all of them have a physical presence just like a plant does or anything else that's like this does or whatever, like finding people all the time. Mhm. Yeah.
33:32
I want to talk about Love Bomb.
33:35
Can you tell us the story about making Love Bomb?
33:36
I really wanted Jesse to vibe with it and I don't know if it clicked with you right out the gate.
33:43
>> That that one was pretty quick. Oh, was it? >> quick.
33:45
I remember listening to that beat a lot in my car and like writing like I think I wrote like four different versions of that before it actually ended up being what we used, yeah.
33:54
And leaning into that theme that I think a lot of people have kind of connected with in your music over the years and and there are great artists who write in this space, you know, this idea of obsession, you know, this idea of like uh you know, being unable to sort of like reclaim your sense of sanity and then, you know what I mean? Yeah.
34:11
Yeah, definitely definitely some of that in there.
34:14
Let's talk about you as a writer of of words and a capturer of feelings and emotions and obviously the idea is to not know yourself too well.
34:21
Uh, but but do you know what makes your voice unique now?
34:27
Do you have a good relationship with, you know, the the the voice that that comes out in your writing?
34:34
Yeah, I could only just put it the only when you ask that, all I'm thinking is in context of what the four of these guys do to to surround my voice or to lift it up or to bury it at times, you know, for me to have to yell over them, you know, or sing over them.
34:52
It's like, you know, we all grew up in garages playing music where if you were the singer in the band, you couldn't you couldn't hear So, like, you know, there there's always it always kind of comes back to that sometimes, but like I just know my voice and like what I have to offer in context to what all of these guys have to offer makes this makes makes me the most special I can be, you know?
35:12
Like I I just think it it takes these other ingredients for my for my voice and my um you know, my opinions and ideas to to come through because like I look back at like old records and like, you know, you mentioned before like we were running away from our last thing all the time.
35:33
Like I think a lot of that for me was just like experimenting and and and running, for sure, but just like feeling free, feeling free to experiment, really, and trying to prove things, you know?
35:44
Every time it would be like somebody would like one type of song, I'd I'd want to be like, "Yeah, but you know I could do this, too."
35:48
It was like that kind of a thing.
35:49
Um, and uh I think, you know, I I I think of a song like Scary Love, which I was so excited about because it was pop 10,000.
36:02
It was just like as poppy as and and that's what I was really really interested in.
36:06
That's what I was like really going for.
36:08
You remember early on I was like, "We're not a we're not a rock band. We're like a boy band." You know what I mean?
36:12
Like that's what this is. It's not rock music. It's pop music.
36:16
Which I still believe, but regardless, we're rocking.
36:20
Um, but yeah, like I now I like when I when I like even like a song like Little Old Me that like I'm like so chill and you know, but it's still like it's still me. It still cuts through.
36:36
Like I could just kind of relax.
36:39
>> You can't help it, bro.
36:39
I mean, you >> It's just going to be that way.
36:42
>> to be a moment in that song as much as, you know, it maybe wants to wrestle you into a dark place, but you can't help but drag it back into the light at times.
36:50
I just think it's that's a big part of what makes you also unique.
36:56
>> I really I don't know if you remember this.
36:57
I really remember it cuz it meant a lot that you looked at us after you spoke on this already that Wipe Out was a struggle for us.
37:03
We were all exhausted and you're like, "Boys, if the fact you made it through this like means that you'll make it through." Yeah.
37:10
And and it speaks to where we're at now, even with the hiatus, even with the uncertainty of being, you know, back together, I think uh that just meant a lot and and I've thought about that like statement for for years.
37:25
It's really it's been great to hear this album and and feel the energy of the band pushing. Like pushing.
37:36
It's not like Not looking back.
37:39
Yeah, or we'll meet you where we were and go from there.
37:43
>> Yeah, I always say it's like we've been on the same path, but we're just further down it. Yeah. Kind of thing.
37:48
>> There might there might have been a plan, you know, like Jesse's a big planner. Yeah.
37:51
And there might have been a plan just to like, "Let's just do this again. Like it worked so well." Yeah.
37:58
And that didn't last very long.
38:00
And we just kind of landed where we're at now where it's just like, "Let's just be ourselves."
38:04
>> Well, in a weird way, it's like yeah, if you'd kept making if you'd done two albums in between Chip Chrome and this one, I feel like you'd have landed in the same place. Definitely.
38:12
>> strange way, you would have you would have got here anyway, pushing yourselves anyway.
38:15
Not the same album, but in terms of like just better, man. Just a better band. Thanks.
38:22
Yeah, I just think we know know ourselves more. No. >> Yeah, yeah. Definitely. I think that helped. Know each other more. Yeah.