- Committed to the Ground is one of my favorite heavy records, possibly because it's the first thing I heard from Torch Runner, but you seem to have really found a distinct sound with Endless Nothing. Do you feel like Torch Runner has grown to be more than the sum of its influences?
You know, honestly I would have a hard time even telling you what our influences might be. We obviously listen to and love a lot of bands within and outside of our genre, but I don't know that we've ever consciously set out to do something because of something else that we've heard. There has been a definite progression through each one of our 5 releases, but I feel like every single song we write is a continual progression of the song before it. We are constantly trying to write good songs that progress and flow well, and in our minds that is probably the only definite goal we have when writing... Just please don't say we sound like Converge. That is a comparison we seem to get stuck with that I will never understand.
- Some incredible records have come out of Legitimate Business. Can you describe what working with Kris is like?
We've had the opportunity to know and work with Kris, and watch him and his studio grow, almost the whole time he has been recording bands. He is a goddamn work horse, and every penny he makes gets funneled right back into Legit Biz. He, his equipment, and his facility are constantly getting better. He has great taste, he knows what he's talking about, and he has a passion for what he does. Ideally we will make every record we ever do with him. I've never had a better experience with anyone else or in any other studio. And, obviously, the records he has been producing speak for themselves.
- What kind of influence do you think recording at Legitimate Business has on your sound?
Kris not only knows and understands heavy music, he knows how to record it to make it sound how you want it to sound. He's always done an awesome job of figuring out amp configuration/mic placement/all the other shit I don't know about to get the record to come out exactly (and in some ways better than) how we want it to be. Working with Kris at Legit Biz makes the initial process of, "tell me some records you like so I can get an idea of how you want to sound" unnecessary because he just gets it. For that reason, we're able to easily create the sound that we want.
- How long has your current lineup been active?
Well, the three of us have been playing together since November of 2007. Josh and Scott were playing together for a few months before that, and then I tried out for vocals on the same night that our friend Matt tried out for bass. At the time the four of us didn't know each other. Matt played bass with us through early 2009, and was eventually replaced by our friend Chuck who played bass (and guitar, toward the end) until early 2012... We had a couple fill-in second guitar player's for a while but eventually decided to stick it out as a three piece and it's been smooth sailing since then.
- Was Locust Swarm recorded as a three- or four-piece?
Locust Swarm was recorded as a four piece, but we only had one guitar player (Scott) at the time. Shortly after the recording of Locust Swarm, I started playing bass and doing vocals so that the band wasn't completely at the mercy of our old bass player's rigorous touring schedule.
Haha... The honest truth is that I can't play with a pick to save my life. I started playing bass when I was about 13 years old and a dude who I thought was super-cool-punk-rock-god told me to "drop the pick, it's making your bass sound twangy" and I haven't picked it up since. When I started playing bass in Torch Runner, I started with a pick but had so much trouble trying to do it I eventually just said fuck it, what's the point in learning now. I definitely think that playing with a pick sounds better, but it's just made me be super anal and find a bass rig and tone that still sounds good.
- Your lyrics have a distinct style that seems to fit Torch Runner's music perfectly. Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? Do you usually bring lyrics to a song, or write to a song after it's written?
My process for writing lyrics always starts with me sitting down, clearing my head, and just writing whatever comes to mind... basically stream of consciousness. When I feel like I hit a wall, I go back through and read it all and try to pull out common themes. Any thoughts/lines/etc that seem to match all get pulled out, and that's the skeleton for a song. From there, I go back through and try to rewrite what I have as one complete thought with a beginning, middle, and end. I really like to have anywhere from 5-10 potential sets of lyrics when I start trying to find a song to work them into. After a song is written, we will usually try to do scratch recordings of them. I take the scratch recordings and try to read the lyrics I have written along with the song to see if they will roughly fit. Whichever ones I feel like match, feel right, and at least somewhat work from the beginning then finally get reworked one more time to fit the song
-What is it like being on/working with Southern Lord, alongside legendary bands like Black Breath, High On Fire, Sunn O)))?
Being on Southern Lord is great. It is our first experience with a bigger record label, and Greg runs it just like a small record label. He hasn't asked us to do anything differently than what we've always done, and he is just genuinely stoked on heavy music. Being on Southern Lord hasn't really changed anything for us, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't simply make everything we try to do a little bit easier. It's super hard to be in a band and try to start touring. Nobody wants to give you shows because nobody knows who you are, but no one is ever going to know who you are if you don't tour... That's not a problem we really run into as much anymore, which takes a lot of the stress of touring away.
-What do you attribute your success as a band to, as far as you measure success?
I don't know that I would really classify what we've done as success, but only because those are terms we've never really considered. The band/playing shows/touring has first and foremost always been an enjoyable way for us to be together as friends and do what we love. Any measure of success that we've experienced has come to us because we put it as a top priority in our lives for the past 8 years. 7 years ago we all quit school, sold our cars, bought a van, and just fucking tried. Scott moved to Greensboro and we shared a bedroom for about 6 months. We left home for our very first tour with $65 of band money that we immediately put into the gas tank before leaving town. We had no guarantees, no idea what any shows were going to be like, but to us there was absolutely no other option. If you aren't willing to take risks with your life and your band, you can't reasonably expect anything to happen for you. We've spent years touring and trying as hard as we can, and when you put in the time and effort things just eventually get easier- Whether that's because of a record label taking notice, or simply making friends that hook you up with shows the next time you come through. There are definitely bands that get "big" or popular without putting in the work... But fuck that bullshit. It's cheating, and what fun is the internet?
- Any advice to bands just starting out, e.g. what to do/what not to do?
I guess that last question really covers my feelings on it. You just have to fucking put yourself out there. No matter what your goals are- Whether they are to get on a big record label, get to tour with bigger bands, or whatever... No one is going to work for you if they haven't already seen you work hard as shit for yourself. Also, I've always been of the mindset that I'd rather try and fail then not try at all. Luckily, Scott and Josh are, too. There's nothing more annoying to me than people talking about what they used to do or almost did.
- Any touring plans through the rest of 2015?
We have one more show this year, which is on Saturday Nov. 28th in Greensboro. It is a record release show for a fucking sick band called Ivadell. If you haven't listened to them yet, you definitely should. Up to then and after that we decided to not play any more shows this year so that we can focus on writing. We have about 7-8 songs that are all partially written, and it's definitely time to start getting to work on them.
- When can we expect a new record?
There are no concrete plans as of right now, but we really hope to have one written by the end of the year. Our goal is to do at least 1-2 more solid tours on Endless Nothing early next year, and then start setting our sights on recording again. That's about as far as we've gotten in the process.
