The Contortionist: Indulging In Your Aggressive Shadow Side
Somewhere in the world on another highway, in another van, THE CONTORTIONIST are huddled up in the midst of yet another gruelling tour. Watching the miles whip by is demanding at the best of times, but when we caught up with guitarist Robby Baca, they were three weeks into a North America-wide expedition supporting BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, and the road was starting to take its toll. “We’re kind of at the stage where you start to lose your mind a little bit,” explained Robby, while elaborating on a run of dates that has seen them travel deep into Canada and cover the length and breadth of the US.
And so continues the relentless life of an internationally acclaimed touring band. Robby talks passionately about the tireless effort required to make it work, particularly in the earlier years of touring in the back of a pint-sized van. Life without family and friends (and apparently in Robby‘s case, his pets) is tough, and yet it can also be incredibly rewarding. “I wish I could just go home with my girlfriend and watch Stranger Things, but this is what I signed up for,” Robby longs, and yet he also addresses at length the lessons that he has learnt from his time as a musician. Notably how to deal with “other people’s bullshit,” as he puts it, referencing the challenges of being locked away with five other guys around the clock. Perhaps the word is character-building, and in any case, that’s something he possesses in abundance.
On the brink of unveiling their EP Old Bones, the band seem pretty unfazed by the imminent release, instead choosing to pour all effort into their presence on stage. “To be honest, most of the hard work surrounding the EP is done for us, we’re just sitting tight and waiting for the trigger to be pulled.” A rather nonchalant reaction to the build up of a major release, but perhaps one of a band well accustomed to such an occasion. THE CONTORTIONIST have become something of a progressive metal treasure, highly revered for their unique blend of sometimes jarring, sometimes delicate precocity. They rarely put a foot wrong, and this confidence seeps into their music like a tidal flood.
Old Bones is a swift change in tact for the band. Their last album Clairvoyant had already seen them dial down from previous releases, but 2019 sees them angled at a different approach again. It is much smoother, less technical and relatively easy to digest. Interestingly enough, Robby affirms that the band have never put too much thought into how they think they should sound, instead allowing their development to become much more organic. He says that, “One of the most inspiring factors that influences the way our music changes is the tours we get put on,” referring in particular to one such recent outing with American pop-rockers NOTHING MORE.
Although Old Bones could be seen simply as a gap fill between full album releases, THE CONTORTIONIST also hope that it can act as a neat bridge between their style of old, and the new direction that they can envisage themselves taking. Looping back to the conversation surrounding inspiration, Robby talks about how enthused the band have become by modern pop. Their time on the road with NOTHING MORE gave them a whole new perspective on songwriting, and a different outlook on how a band can be run. “It’s not that the whole ‘radio-rock’ thing blew our minds, but seeing the way they operate was inspiring,” says Robby. It’s clear that the band have a knack for soaking up their surroundings, and for using them as a catalyst to drive their own impetus.
It will be interesting then to see which tangent THE CONTORTIONIST will explore in the future, but history dictates that it is unlikely to be anything short of spectacular. Robby hints at writing pop inspired songs with shorter, less prog-rock focused structures, and including more outbursts of energy than we heard on Clairvoyant, an album that he describes as being “quite sleepy.” We can also expect tasteful heaviness, all of which adds up to being a very intriguing recipe. If all proceeds as planned, they will hit the studio early next year, but for now we will have to make do with indulging on their infallible discography and hitting repeat time and time again.
Our Bones is out now via eOne/Good Fight Music.
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