Most know Kellin Quinn for his work fronting Sleeping with Sirens, and some may know him for his features on songs by Maggie Lindemann, Loveless, Sophie Powers, or Machine Gun Kelly, but Quinn is making himself known as part of Haunted Mouths, a side project deserving of its name.
2025 is the year of Kellin Quinn. The musician just dropped his first album under the moniker Haunted Mouths. The debut record, called A Collection of Greetings, is available everywhere now, and it shows a frontman for a band taking charge in a side gig he developed in a solo sense (although he did work alongside Copeland’s Aaron Marsh). Not only is Haunted Mouths taking off as we speak, but Quinn is also set to play Madison Square Garden for the first time on May 20 as part of Sleeping with Sirens – his main band – who are opening for Pierce the Veil on their arena tour. Another venue he will be playing is the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater on June 19, which is a bucket list moment for many artists. Not only that, but Sleeping with Sirens is in the studio writing and recording some new material for these shows and more. Right now, there is something for everyone when it comes to Kellin Quinn. Truly anyone who has ever enjoyed Quinn’s voice, style, and perspective haas something to be excited about.
A Collection of Greetings is sonically different from anything Quinn has done before. This new album a soothing atmosphere that feels very light and freeing. While Kellin is a master of screaming and is certainly on the Metalcore Mount Rushmore, this project as Haunted Mouths helps us see a new side of him. We can really hear his talent and the passion he brings into every note, every second of this record. Aaron Marsh is also a key component on this project as he helped layer the synths and produce the entire album for Quinn. His influence is undeniable and really adds to the album – something we were excited to talk to Kellin Quinn about in the below conversation (which occurred on a special day… February 14).
Happy Release Day, Kellin! The new Haunted Mouths album is out today!
I feel good! It’s Valentine’s Day, too, so I’m a little bit busy. I had a hard time sleeping last night because I was anticipating the album being out. There was some nervous/excited energy. Then, today, reading through the comments, everything seems really positive that this is a ‘me’ album, so I’m glad other people like it. It’s something I needed to do, so I’m happy with what I created and put out in the world. I’m glad it’s reciprocated so nicely from the listeners.
I did want to ask, since this is your first solo album: how come you went under the moniker, Haunted Mouths and not just Kellin Quinn?
For that very reason! I didn’t want it to feel like a solo thing. I wanted it to feel like another project; I consider it more of a side project. I think it couldn’t have been made without Aaron. Aaron is 50% of it – he and I together. I wanted to give it a name. I feel like going by Kellin Quinn seems a little like an NSYNC member leaving to become a solo pop artist. It’s definitely got a band vibe to it and is something I think deserved a name.
I hear what you’re saying about the band vibe. Tracks like “Becoming Nameless” where it’s jazzy – it doesn’t feel like a solo singer/songwriter. It feels like a collaborative project.
Yeah! I didn’t know what to expect going into having Aaron as a producer. Obviously I know his work and [have] been a fan of what he’s created in his own world, but I had no idea what to expect with what he’d want to do with my voice. I remember calling my wife and being like, “I don’t know, this is not what I expected to do for a solo thing. I’m glad it’s not just me and my acoustic or pop-driven beats. I definitely didn’t think it would sound like that.” Her response was, “Let him do his thing,” [Laughs], so I just let him do his thing and we had an amazing experience! What came out of it was an awesome album.
I totally agree! I think this record is amazing. You’ve been screaming with Sleeping With Sirens for so long, was it tough to reel yourself back in?
It was definitely interesting to stay in the softer part of my register throughout the whole thing, be really delicate. I’m so used to being in this part of my range, so having to sing really soft and delicate was challenging but in a good way. I didn’t expect this to be so hard, but there’s a true art to doing that.
There’s a few moments I can hear vibrato in your voice. Textures like that are apparent in Sleeping With Sirens, but feel very different. It’s cool to see this new side of you vocally.
Thank you! We’re making a new Sirens record with Will Yip. Working with producers like Aaron and Will who don’t oversaturate everything on vocals, they leave something to be desired. They leave some of those nuances or those mistakes that somebody else might tune and fix. They leave them on there. I think that brings out more of the vibrato and that distinguished vocal thing you’re talking about.
Absolutely! Of course, we have to discuss how you’re performing at Madison Square Garden with Pierce the Veil. We’re right here in the area, so tell me what’s going through your mind.
I just want to play The Garden better than I did the last time. We played with All Time Low and we played the small room. I just feel like we weren’t firing on all cylinders. The band is the best they’ve ever been, especially in the live aspect, so this time around we’ll definitely bring it.
Especially with this huge arena! Something about the name Madison Square Garden has its own aura.
It’s definitely iconic! We played some pretty massive rooms with Rise Against in Europe; I’m assuming it will feel that way. When you play some of those bigger venues, there’s a disconnect from the crowd that’s different from playing a club show. That’s the challenge of making sure you can connect with people on a large scale. I think it comes down to production, the song choices, and how we put all the music together to really bring across a good experience for everyone. It needs to feel like everybody is a part of this thing. That’s what we’ll be working on now that this project is out [Haunted Mouths] and we have nine or 10 demos that we’re happy with for the new Sirens stuff. It’s time to put all that stuff aside and start focusing on getting the setlist together.
Are there going to be any Haunted Mouth solo shows?
I would love to! It just depends. Obviously, yes, there will be some when that happens, but I’m not sure. My schedule through this year and the next is pretty stacked with Sirens stuff. I would love to do a select few shows that cater to a specific venue. I want it to be something really intimate and beautiful.
You mentioned you have some Sleeping With Sirens demos. Do you feel this solo project has influenced the way you write in this new Sleeping With Sirens era?
Yeah, absolutely! It’s crazy, because the album I made with Aaron was very freeing and it didn’t feel like there were any constraints. That’s the biggest challenge with my band; the audience feels like it needs to sound a certain way, but they want it to be different as well. I think that’s why I chose to go to someone like Will Yipp. We are together in a room, again, just like we were making our second record with Kris Krummett. If it’s not right, if the guitar part is not right, if the drum part is not right, if, I don’t know, the harmony in my head but I don’t know the right run of what I’m going to do over the top of things, it doesn’t go in there. It’s one of those things where you really have to dig deep. I think that’s going to make it such a special album.
It’s tough to say, but will there be a Sleeping with Sirens record in 2025? Will it be the year after?
I’m not rushing it. That’s the one thing: we’re dead set on with this album. It’s album Number Eight for us. It’s got to be right. It’s got to be perfect. For us to put it out, it has to be perfect, even if it might not be perfect for everyone else. I think that we’ve made a lot of albums in two to three weeks, and I don’t want to do that again with Sleeping with Sirens.
I feel like there’s so much world-building into your music that adds texture to every song.
With Sirens, there are bands that I look to that influence me. As far as where I’d like to see our band, are the later Linkin Park albums, like Minutes to Midnight or Thirty Seconds To Mars’ This Is War album. Those albums to me are great all around rock records. Those are a lot of the production elements that I’m into. Especially with this new record, a lot of it being analog and not digitally recorded, there are going to be a lot of real strings and real parts and moments on it.
That’s so cool! Stuff like that helps make it an album, not a collection of songs.
Yeah! There’s something human about it. There are so many people in our world that do what they do so well. I’m not trying to step to that. It feels good. When we put out our first record we were trying to fit into this mold of what music was doing at the time. Then our second record was, “Let’s just be ourselves.” This new album feels very much like that, too. “Let’s just be ourselves. Let’s not worry about everyone else. Let’s do what we do.”
I think the last time we caught up with Sleeping with Sirens was 2014. As the band has evolved and grown, tell me about looking back in the last 11 years.
I’m grateful for who I am now. I’m grateful for having my health and my head and I’m doing pretty outstandingly well. The last two records were a question of who you are and who you are becoming. This one is about seeing the best version of myself. I think you’re still proving yourself, but more so to you. The hardest part about making more records and growing up in an industry with music is you’re terrified of becoming jaded. You don’t want to feel old. You’re battling yourself, really.
I think it’s Shane from Silverstein that says, “If you’re not excited about your new records, you’re doing it wrong.” Since we last talked, you’ve done a lot of features: Point North, As It Is, Machine Gun Kelly, etc. Tell me about when artists come to you and say, “We want Kellin on this track.”
Eventually my end-all-be-all is to be a producer and work with – bring the best version of them out. That’s the one thing I love about doing the features I’ve done. I get to be in their band for a section of a song and elevate it in the best way I can. I guess that’s the best thing about doing it. It’s taught me to be able to leave my mark on things and hopefully in the future more people are wanting to come to me to make records with them.
A follow up question: what is a life lesson you’ve learned after making so many records that you would teach other artists?
I think early on after the success of our second record, we got a little entitled and a little bit cocky. I think the best thing to happen to us was to have a couple albums that didn’t do as well as we thought they would. Maybe we were a little too arrogant and they fell a little bit flat; what that does is help you recalibrate and do something more genuine. I guess my advice is to not be afraid to take chances and to take your time and trust your instincts. If you’re burnt out, don’t make a record – wait until you’re inspired to make one. You have to make sure when you’re listening back to stuff you’re not going, “Is this good?” You can get the reaction from yourself and from others. If it’s not something that stands out, then it’s probably not the right thing.
Diving back into the new Haunted Mouths album, was the goal to make a full length album, or was it a song here and there?
I knew I wanted to make a record. I knew I wanted to make it with Aaron. I think once we got through our first round of writing, we had something cool. I didn’t know it was going to take shape and be so cohesive. After three or four songs, it kind of feels like a love record. “Let’s lean into that. Let’s cover all aspects of what being in love means; the ups, the downs, the middle, the all of it.” I think it covers relationships specifically, and in a good way.
FOR MORE KELLIN, CLICK HERE! FOR SLEEPING WITH SIRENS,CLICK HERE! A COLLECTION OF GREETINGS IS OUT NOW WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO/PURCHASE/STREAM MUSIC!
