Interview by Kris Peters
Preparing for a debut album - for any band - is an arduous task. Once you make that firm decision and commit to laying down your tracks for others to digest, it seems like, in many respects, everything is violently taken from your control and placed at the mercy of others.
As such, it would be easy - and almost forgivable - to take the easier path, whatever that may be. Safe songs, safe structure, proven methods and carefully mapped out schedules, but at what cost?
You only get one chance to release a debut album, and in many ways that one album can define the rest of your musical career.
Which is why a large number of bands take the safe passage. Or at least their version of it, which invariably leads to a more polished and socially acceptable offering of music from the lyrics all the way down to presentation.
But every once in a while you come across a band who throw caution to the wind and leave themselves and their music exposed as they let their fledgling work of art loose on the world. A band who are unashamed to leave large chunks of their own DNA splattered throughout the release, thus laying bare their innermost emotions and thoughts.
It is a brave and increasingly fading approach, but has also become so much more noticeable in what is fast becoming a saturated market where different often equates to good.
So it is with Melbourne-based post-punk, Midwest emo outfit Gypsy Road who have laid their souls on open display with their debut album Letters To A Friend, From Interstate which is released on May 24. An exhaustive and confronting collection of eight songs highlighting the emotional struggles confronted by the band throughout the entire process, Letters To A Friend, From Interstate captures a band unafraid to admit not having the answers and honest enough to concede defeat.
It is an eclectic and refreshing journey through a myriad of genres that are woven together in a sonic tapestry that drips with vulnerability yet exudes an air of confidence that suggests a strong future.
HEAVY caught up with frontman Alex Centofanti to find out more, asking if he is nervous, excited, anxious or all three together as Friday's release date approaches.
"All of the above," he laughed. "For so many multiple reasons. The last three singles we have released - which actually have been our first ever singles because before that we released three EP's - has been a new experience for me and pretty nerve-wracking. Those songs have actually done the best for any releases we have done. That's why it's also anxious, nervous and excited. I'm hoping that it translates to the album. It's one of those things where you get worried that when you release a couple of songs people aren't going to listen to the full album, so I'm hoping they make it through the whole thing because I think it's pretty good (laughs)."
We press Alex on the musical side of the album and what Gypsy Road were going for sonically.
"I was going for quite a few things," he measured. "I was going for a heavier sound than I've ever done before. I was going for a lot more… I wouldn't say a darker sound, but I was definitely going for that melancholy vibe. I was really just trying to make it sound how I felt at the time."
In the full interview, Alex talks more about the musicality on Letters To A Friend, From Interstate, what sorts of things they did as a band in preparation for their debut offering, how they will gauge the success of the album, the emotional side of the music and committing that to paper, some of the themes and lyrical content covered, future planning in terms of musical growth, upcoming gigs and more.
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