Did you have any specific goals or plans in mind for the record when you started writing?
Ekstrom: I don’t think there was really much of a direction. I know I sat down with Colin one time, and I said, ‘Do you think we need to think about where we’re going with this, or are we going to let it happen?’ He said to just let it happen, and I let go of any idea of trying to think of where we were going to end up or go with it.
Frangicetto: The only thing that seemed deliberate was that we were trying different writing processes. Trying combinations of different ways to write a song and even what would be considered writing for the album. The first album there was a very definite process that came into play, and this time it was just like, ‘Let’s just let it happen.’ I think we’re going to keep expanding on that. I think after this record our roles in the band don’t need to be so defined. We want to be a unit always, but we don’t need to be stuck in these roles. We’re really excited to move into that mentality.
Clifford: That’s something we’ve always talked about.
Ekstrom: I think we talked about a lot of things we wanted to do and didn’t even scratch the surface this time. I think there’s a whole new area to be explored in the future.
Clifford: We also took all this time off and weren’t touring, so we didn’t have a lot of money. But we wanted to buy all these sweet instruments to mess with, so I think it would be cool to do that in future too.
Frangicetto: For the first time in my life I saw and understood how bands could actually spend two years or more writing a record. I could easily understand that at this point. Just being completely absorbed and writing three or four albums’ worth of material before you actually sat down and committed it. It’s good that we didn’t do that because this is a fast moving part of our career, but hopefully we can do that once we’ve established this more.
Did you write anything that surprised you or that you weren’t expecting to show up in a Circa Survive song?
Frangicetto: There definitely are a few tracks that when I listen to them now I’m like, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect to hear that on the album,’ but nothing that’s super shocking just because we all know each other’s style so well now. We know those things that are itching to come out that are probably going to come out even more. Some of the tunes on the record are definitely dancing in between lines of ‘What the hell is this?’ and ‘How would you even classify this?’ Which is what we want to do so it’s not that shocking, but I suppose it may surprise other people.
Ekstrom: I don’t know how crazy any of it is as far as pushing the envelope of what people can do or anything, but we really tapped into a lot of different sounds. There’s a lot of really heavy, fast stuff that goes right up against some really mellow shit. If anything was at all surprising it was probably some of the vocal stuff being so absolutely raw.
Do you think that even though Anthony writes the lyrics, the topics and ideas in the songs are representative of all of you?
Ekstrom: Even the first songs we put together. That’s what really attracted me to the band, is that I felt like he was always talking about us.
Frangicetto: Or speaking for us.
Ekstrom: Whatever was going on he was talking about. He’s definitely our voice.
Frangicetto: I think that’s what attracts a lot of people to him. A lot of the phrases that he puts in his songs immediately make some neuron fire in your brain and you think of something that relates to you in your life. It doesn’t have to beat you over the head with it. You associate experience with these songs. That’s why Anthony has always been attractive to most people in the way he writes and the way he sings. You’re always thinking, ‘Oh, he’s talking about me.’
Clifford: Sometimes he is actually talking about us.
On Letting Go is available now. For more on Circa Surivive, visit circasurvive.com
