Alexisonfire: Sweet Dreams Of Otherness
When bands split up, they cause splinters in their scene. When ALEXISONFIRE downed tools in 2011, with several members swanning off to other projects, post-hardcore suddenly lost some of its soul. Having played a pivotal part in shaping the genre’s mid-noughties evolution, they left a gaping void longing to be filled.
Thankfully, ALEXISONFIRE found themselves drawn together again like star-crossed lovers, reuniting in 2015. Since then, they’ve stuck faithfully to their hits and reached higher heights than before with headline shows at Alexandra Palace – but they’ve not made a new body of work in thirteen years. Until now, until it was absolutely necessary.
“We came back for the first time after a while and did Reading & Leeds and it was great, there was a hunger for it, and sure, we’ve been playing our older catalogue, which is a great experience for everyone,” muses bassist Chris Steele, stealing some shade away backstage from Slam Dunk’s surprise sunshine ahead of their headline set on the Jägermeister Stage. “But moving forward, we want to be a progressive band that’s still current with new music, we don’t want to rely on old tunes.”
It turns out that Steele, along with drummer Jordan Hastings, guitarists Dallas Green and Wade MacNeil, and vocalist George Pettit, felt like their seven years of ‘playing the hits’ had taken its toll. They had too much to say, and too much music to make to keep it all in. “We love playing the old tunes, but some of the most genuinely impactful things we have as a band is being in a room together, figuring out a melody and gluing it together.”
Beyond being in a room together, the bridge between their reunion shows and their new music is undeniably their fans desire. “There’s this pulse from our fans that is so strong it builds layers of courage that influences when we get into a room, motivates us to do more,” Chris beams, clearly buoyed by the intensity of their connection with their fans. “If it weren’t for people showing up and being excited abut things, I hope we’d still write music, because I love doing that, but it’s another incentive that there’s still a hungry universe out there excited about our band.”
Of course, with or without fans, had a global pandemic not put paid to their touring plans, ALEXISONFIRE might never have made their first album in 13 years, Otherness, as Steele suggests. “A lot of us are workaholics, we don’t know how to stop and if we weren’t forced to stop, I honestly don’t think it would’ve happened so I’m going to take that silver lining for what it is.”
Otherness is unlike anything they’ve ever done. Churning up 13 years of influences, they’ve brewed up a post-hardcore coffee pot doused in shoegaze, progressive rock, and punk-flavoured syrups. Although, it draws it’s structures from demos they dug out from 2009’s Old Crows/Young Cardinals sessions.
“A lot of the ideas were melodies and guitar riffs that were floating around for a few years, like the intro to Reverse The Curse – Dallas has been playing that riff for 14 years, it essentially became Young Cardinals, and now we have a different purpose for that riff. There’re variations of that, there’s old soundcheck riffs from forever ago that were shelved that we’ve revisited and shaped differently.”
Whether the ideas have come from a decade ago or days before recording, six weeks’ worth of bunkering down at the Dine Alone Records clubhouse bought them 10 songs and a single week of recording. For them, it wasn’t just about feeling a moment, but creating one.
“I’m a bit obsessive, and I’m a perfectionist, so as far as like mood and flow and dynamics, we all really leaned into that. It’s evident as we were writing the record, we just had a collection, like we went into the studio with 10 songs and no more,” he explains, reflection coursing through his eyes. “We gave ourselves a week to capture lightning in a bottle; we wanted to capture us living and breathing, like a record from the 90s where we don’t overanalyse things, and there’s imperfections that are beautifully where they should be.”
Capturing lightning in a bottle isn’t easy, and imperfections can only show when there’s blood, sweat, and tears soaked into its bedsheets. And for the first time in 15 years, ALEXISONFIRE aired their dirty laundry and cleared the air to summon the raw emotion Otherness thrives on. And like all good friendships, it started with some good old fashioned grub.
“We all went up to Dallas’ and it was great; we didn’t play music, we just ate some food and had a big open talk, we haven’t done that in 15 years,” he smiles, clearly moved by the progress they’ve made collectively. “The records in the past have been what they were at that time, and I’m proud of everything we’ve done but doing this record in the middle of a winter storm, being locked up in a studio for a short amount of time, was very special and it all stemmed from that spark of having more open, honest discussions – no lurking in the shadows, no sidestepping, no awkwardness.”
Without anyone standing in the shadows, Otherness has benefited from ALEXISONFIRE changing the way they write together. Their honest conversations crept into their process, with everyone writing lyrics for each other to sing for the first time in the band’s history. It even meant giving a voice to those in the band who’ve felt too shy to step forward.
“In the past I felt unworthy, or like there were too many chefs in the kitchen, so I’ve stayed out of the way. But for a number of years, there’s been another creative outlet for me of journalism, short storytelling and poetry; Blue Spade was not for a song, I was in a difficult time in my life, a kind of grey area of feeling misguided and questioning things,” Chris pauses, his eyes betraying his cool as it’s clear this experience has touched him. “When we got jamming, it dawned on me to share with the guys that I’ve been writing, and it’s been more inclusive, more so than it has in the past, and I was welcomed with open arms. It was a powerful moment for me to be in the studio in Southern Ontario, having Dallas with his powerful angelic voice singing my lyrics that are very personal to me, seeing what those lyrics mean to Dallas.”
Much like the meaning of life, the meaning of ALEXISONFIRE lyrics are always open for interpretation. So much so, that with Otherness, it’s those quiet post-gig conversations with fans to come that he craves the most. It’s partly what pushed them into being so vulnerable this time round.
“When you’re on tour going from A to B, there’s a lot of time in between where you get wrapped up in a Groundhog Day of an itinerary that’s similar to the day before, and sometimes you can lose sight as to the power of what’s happening,” he explains, highlighting how they lost their way, and their connection, for a while. “When I get to play a show and afterwards talk to a fan, one on one, it’s these moments that gives me goosebumps; the power of what music can do and how I can relate to that in my own life.”
For Chris, the impact of his music on the lives of complete strangers finally hit home at a show in Atlanta only weeks ago, where a fan confessed “if it weren’t for the album Crisis, I don’t know if I would be here today”. A single confession in a short conversation sent shockwaves through his system, showing that there’s a real purpose to ALEXISONFIRE. “I’m a people person, and I think human connection is important and that’s when I’m reminded how much power and how special music is as a whole, but what we do as a band, it’s such a beautiful reminder that there’s a lot more purpose to us, there’s something bigger than me individually in this whole process.”
This sense of purpose sunk itself into them like a vampire’s bite. It’s dyed their blood and driven them to immortal heights. In many ways, it’s matured them. And without that, they wouldn’t reach the depths Otherness does. Whereas opener Committed To The Con is a mile-a-minute punky post-hardcore punch-up that prophetically states ‘Hey you, get the fuck off my lawn!’, closer World Stops Turning is an eight-minute tour-de-force of cosmic psych-rock, spiralling shoegaze, and proggy pomp that’s unlike anything they’ve ever done.
“Committed To The Con was a no brainer, we love that weird start, the way it kicks in with a sense of anticipation and urgency, not sure what’s going to happen but never getting ahead of itself; then there’s World Stops Turning which is like the end of the earth in song, and the bridge of Dark Night Of The Soul, we would have never thought of that, we weren’t mature enough to do something like that in the past, and with Wade listening to a lot GRATEFUL DEAD, we had so much we could make so pretty it’s almost heavier in a way.”
Creating Otherness was an experience unlike any other. It was an out-of-body meeting of the minds that bought ALEXISONFIRE closer than they’ve ever been since beginning back in 2001. With their newfound maturity and purpose, they’ve put together an album that serves a single purpose for fans – hope. “I hope they take away sincerity and hope. There’s songs about hard times and misguidance and the uncertainty of things, and the ability to be open enough for change and that there can be a way if the individual allows us, and it’s easier said than done but it’s possible.”
“I hope that Otherness resonates with the listener because I know that we can all relate. That’s my goal, as a musician, to create such an emotional reaction to a song or a lyric or whatever and that whatever way that is, it just nudges you in a better direction.”
Otherness is out now via Dine Alone Records.
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