Hard rock New Jersey natives Thursday are coming forth with their new album War All The Time which shows boundless growth without losing identity. From their heavier first single “Signals Over The Air,” which had already been receiving airplay on mainstream radio, to the piano driven ballad “This Song Brought To You By A Falling Bomb,” the album holds many layers of interest that take more than one listen to be peeled away. As the rock movement plows forth with renewed strength, Thursday is one among the few who contain such intelligence and depth. Lead singer Geoff Rickly, guitarists Steve Pedulla and Tom Keeley spoke about their most recent recording experience.
This is your first album with a major label, yet they let you continue to record the way you’ve always done it. Did that prevent you from feeling restricted at all by them?
Steve: I think most of our restrictions come from within. We’ll argue over what’s best for a song. But there definitely is more freedom because of the financial side of it. It’s not about getting the craziest gear, I’m sure that helps, having some awesome studio, but it’s really about having the time to take to do it right. After that, the songs are really hitting home with us and connecting with us because we are getting the best performances that we can. For me that’s definitely the biggest plus.
Geoff: I think it ended up being very good, but it was sort of a double-edged sword at one point. We were doing things that were kind of excessive, like cutting four different versions of every song just to see which one turned out the best. It was like, are we being completely counter-productive? But at the same time, we were writing while we were recording, so three of the songs if we hadn’t had the time, they wouldn’t have been on the record. ‘Division Street’ and ‘Signals Over The Air’ wouldn’t have been on the record if we weren’t writing and able to look past recording.
What was your label’s response to the finished product?
Tom: The first time that they heard it I really wasn’t sure what they were going to think. It’s interesting watching people’s reactions and for the most part it was a very positive thing. It was a very reassuring thing when people wanted to hear it over and over again a couple times in a row. I’m defin-itely confident that the people we are working with at that label are into making a new format. I’ve never been really nervous about trying to fit into a formula of what a successful band is supposed to be and everyone is really proactive about it and really creative about it.
Now your first single is ‘Signals Over The Air.’ Tell me a little about that song.
Geoff: Mostly it’s about being scared of sexuality. I’ve always kind of had issues with it where it always seemed very predatory to me. I’ve never really understood gender roles. I never understood seeing things like ‘The Man Show’ and felt like that’s supposed to be me. Am I really supposed to be like that? Am I supposed to think of women a certain way like the stereotypical hourglass underwear model? Am I supposed to be attracted to her? Things like that. And also sort of about how I think that love and sexuality should be together as something really sacred and special. Not how sexuality is just thrown out there as something really commercial and how it’s been made a commodity. Like having sex with someone without knowing who they are or what their life is like and who they have been with. Stuff like that. So, that’s pretty much what that song is about.
