CASSETTA On the Making Of “Swallow the Sun”
What was the creative process like for this particular single "Swallow the Sun”?
Kevin had written a few songs that he didn’t think fit well with what Pressure Cracks is doing. He first sent me “Swallow The Sun” back in February of this year with the intent of starting a heavy project along the lines of Martyr Ad and a taste of some of the newer heavier bands today like End and Jesus Piece. When we first wrote the song we didn’t have a drummer yet so we primarily relied on ProTools to send each other different ideas and as soon as I had lyrics done we were able to round out the rest of the band and start recording. I knew the song was going to need another voice on it when I mapped out the lyrics so we thought it would be cool to hit up our long-time friend Cameron Miller to lend his vocals and I think it came out killer.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for this single?
I’d say the biggest challenge was learning how to make the band work without having been in the same room together to hash out our ideas in real-time. The new way of making music today with recording software was something I personally wasn’t used to. I traditionally was in bands that would get together and rehearse the songs as we wrote. Being able to use ProTools to keep our ideas flowing has been a huge help in making the band possible since we’re pretty much all in other bands and or have full-time jobs.
Were there any specific recording techniques or equipment used to achieve the desired sound?
Thankfully we have some pretty awesome friends that have been able to help us throughout the recording process. Our good friend Ryan Doria was happy to lend us his recording studio Nothing But A Nightmare in Garden Grove and help with the engineering process with Kevin. The raw tracks before they were ever sent to Jeff Dunne already sounded amazing so we knew once he put his touch on it that it was going to sound huge.
What impact do you hope this single will have on your audience or the music industry?
I just hope that there are some kids out there that find some sort of connection to the song the same way that I latched onto music when I was young and needed it the most. I think it’s the reason why most musicians do what they do, kind of like a “giving back” to something that helped us at some point. Being a kid growing up watching bands in the Southern California hardcore scene, all I ever wanted to do was play shows that connected people and made them feel like there was something more going on than just making some songs sound “cool” and selling them on the internet. The hardcore scene really had a huge hand in shaping the person I am today and to be able to stay involved and pass that down to other kids who feel the same way is very special to all of us.
Could you share some of your musical influences and how they have shaped your sound?
I pretty much had the traditional path to hardcore that most Southern California kids have growing up. Starting mainly with warped tour-style bands as a preteen I quickly was introduced to some of the harder and more metallic sides of hardcore around the time I turned 13. I was always fascinated by bands whose lyrics were raw and emotional. Bands like Poison The Well and Bleeding Through were really big inspirations for me when I first started writing lyrics and singing in bands. I think those two influences have always stuck with me throughout my time as a vocalist. Anything honest and vulnerable will usually hook me in so I try to keep that same feeling when I write.