Eat Your Heart Out: A Lesson On Accepting Change

For EAT YOUR HEART OUT, everything was falling into place. 2015 saw them self-release their first EP Distance Between Us that finally allowed them to tour overseas and to later grab the attention of Fearless Records, thanks to a band you may know of as MOVEMENTS. Said band would then take them on tour in their homeland Australia and collaborate on what would be their debut full-length album Fluorescence, a fantastic album that combined the various genres of alternative rock, pop-punk and grunge that became recognised as their signature sound alongside of frontwoman, Caitlin Henry’s, unique voice.

What should come next? Why, a new album and perhaps a couple of shows, a tour perhaps and – Oh, wait. What’s that dark cloud in the distance? It’s a story that we’re all too familiar with by now. Anyone mentioning the dreaded phrase 2020 and we all shudder as we know what happens next. The pandemic hits, lockdown is announced, and we are all stuck at home as everything grinds to a halt. It’s an awful time for everyone but for EAT YOUR HEART OUT, this became a mini blessing in disguise. Inevitably their 2020 album, Can’t Stay Forever, was put on hold for the following year, and then delayed again for 2022, all that extra time they had helped to further improve their record. Sitting down with Caitlin she reflected on this time.

“It gave us way more time than we initially anticipated. At the time we were so keen to get it done but in hindsight I’m glad we had those extra months because I feel like we did a lot of work in those months. Having the time to sit at home when in lockdown, even though it was horrible, it was also kind of a blessing in disguise as there was so much time. What else can we do other than just write? It was perfect timing, but it was the worst.”

EAT YOUR HEART OUT are not ones to shy away from being honest about their feelings. A lot of their songs tend to focus on mental health, questioning one’s existence and just the general wondering of what’s the point in this weird reality that we call life. Being stuck at home with one’s feelings is certainly a dreaded time, but Henry has always found therapy in writing their songs. “It’s all we’ve ever written songs about, so it makes sense to us. For me at least it’s almost like when you write the song and get it out of your system you can move on from the feeling; once you’ve expressed it in that way and really dug into your feelings it’s almost like you’ve done a bit of therapy on yourself.”

It’s not always easy though, laying bare your soul in front of the whole world to see. “It’s difficult in some ways to be that vulnerable. I find especially writing the lyrics, sending a demo over to the band or our producer Jack I’m always like ‘oh, everyone’s gonna listen to these and think what’s this about?’. It’s a weird vulnerable feeling but once it’s been out there for a bit, I guess you become a bit numb to it, you kind of forget that everyone’s listening to your deepest feelings.”

In times like this you always look for some type of lesson to take away from it, or at least something that can better you as a person. For EAT YOUR HEART OUT it’s that change is inevitable; nothing is permanent whether it’s good or bad and that you need to be open to it. Caitlin reflected on this. “A couple of big ones (changes in the band) in the last few years is our bassist, Dom, had two beautiful kids during the pandemic so he’s a dad now, which is amazing. But then our guitarist Andrew stepped away from the band this year. It had been the five of us for 10 years and now it’s the four of us, so it’s the first member change we’ve ever had which is a radical change.”

Other amazing moments in the last decade since EAT YOUR HEART OUT was formed include signing to a label, and getting to tour overseas, everything that they’d ever dream of doing.

The most important lesson for Caitlin though. “I know it’s always easier said than done but be more confident. It took me a while to realise that it’s our art and I think a lot of the time you think too much about what other people think, it’s easy to get caught up in that. At the end of the day I do this for me.”

Can’t Stay Forever is out now via Fearless Records.

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