Its somewhat ironic that a band called Liars Academy does their best to tell the truth about themselves. Their new album, Demons, is their most personal one to date and its that way for every member of the band because Ryan Shelkett [vocals, guitar], Fred Fritz [guitar, vocals], Chris Camden [bass, vocals] and Evan Tanner [drums] each hand some kind of influence on every song.
I got a chance to talk with Evan before their show at The Continental in New York City. We couldnt find a quiet spot so we ended up talking on the sidewalk across the street from the Starbucks that is across the street from The Continental.
Check out the official website of Liars Academy
Daniel Robert Epstein: The new album is called Demons, whose demons inspired it?
Evan Tanner: Everybody definitely. We felt like we were stagnating so we took a different approach to writing songs and to the way we were thinking about writing songs. I guess after a while we got a little bit cynical and jaded about the way our band was sounding like compared to how the other bands we played with sounded like. We just felt out of place so instead of conforming to what everyone else is trying to sound like we went the opposite direction and wrote whatever the fuck came out.
DRE: You guys write collectively?
ET: Ryan writes most of the ideas. He writes the lyrics and most of the song ideas. Then generally what happens is that me and Chris will take them apart and put them back together in a different structure. We dont change the words but will change the rhythm and tempo. The process starts with Ryan then it goes through this big washing machine and comes out a Liars Academy song. Everyone contributes on some level and some more than others on certain songs. Its a collaborative process but its driven by what Ryan writes.
DRE: Is it difficult process?
ET: It used to be. We were struggling to write what we thought were good songs. When we wrote Demons we didnt go into it with preconceived notions. Any ideas that came up and sounded good at practice we built on, so they came out pretty naturally.
DRE: For you, which tracks are most personal for you?
ET: The best way to answer that is to say they feel personal for all of us. I would say that The Accountant was one where Chris had the idea, Ryan wrote the words and it was a slow brewed almost reggae jam. I threw in this hyperactive drumbeat that worked really well. I guess I had a personal stake in that one and also People Are Games was going to be a slow brooding instrumental and instead we put a jazzy drum into it and made it more of a swingy upbeat thing. Every song on the record evolved the same way. Ryan did a really good job writing lyrics for this record that portray the feelings of most of the band.
DRE: I came to meet up with the entire band but theyre all late. Why are you here so early?
ET: We hung out with some friends in New Brunswick and got really drunk and in trouble. I ended up coming into the city last night with some friends.
DRE: What kind of trouble?
ET: Just drunk, falling into bushes and peoples pants were falling down. Ive got a bunch of prickers in my hands from when somebody handed me a case of beer when we were walking out of the bar. I fell into a bush because I couldnt stand up anymore.
DRE: You didnt even feel it, I bet.
ET: I felt it this morning. Believe me Im still feeling it. That was all we did last night, nothing too rowdy.
DRE: The track I like the best off Demons is Ghosts of Baltimore. Is that based on some legend down there?
ET: Baltimore is a very haunted town and there are legends. There are a lot of old sailors and ghosts floating around. Also there are some famous nightclubs and hotels that are supposedly haunted. The owners of the establishments play them up and use them as a marketing tool. But Ghosts of Baltimore was a big headline when they did an article about that stuff and Ryan took that title and wrote a dark song about some of our friends that are in bands in Baltimore. Baltimore seems to be a black hole for creative energy. You get a lot of really cool artists that live there to start their band or do their art and get sucked into the party scene a little too hard then its coke which leads to heroin. Weve had a couple of friends overdose so that song is actually about not becoming one of those ghosts. They walk around but its almost like they dont exist because theyre so fried.
DRE: A lot of stuff I read really emphasizes the fact that all the members of Liars Academy came from up and coming bands. Is that the people youre talking about?
ET: Yeah bands that we thought were so talented that they were going to be huge. Then six months later the band is half assed because they are into drugs.
DRE: How did you guys avoid that?
ET: I will say that there is a little thing that Chris and I wrote on the inside of the record about the last two years of our band. The last year weve been waiting for the record to come out and the year before we had a couple of rough spots where we were getting apathetic and we werent happy. So we trashed all our ideas and started over.
DRE: Your first album was produced by Drew Mazurek, was there any reason you didnt work with him on Demons?
ET: No, Drew was awesome. He recorded with Ryans old band Blank about seven years. We called him for the first record because we had heard some other stuff he had done and we thought it was really good. Then we had an offer from Brian McTernan who is producing everything these days. He gave us an offer to do an EP for us so we did that. When we were doing that EP we were thinking about a new album. We were listening to a lot of music that J Robbins had produced like Jawbox and Burning Airlines so we thought it would be cool to record with him. We couldnt have made a better decision.
DRE: You guys are a bit older than a lot of the bands you tour with.
ET: Yeah were everywhere between 25 and Im 32 so Im the daddy. Ryan is about to turn 30, Fred is 25 and Chris is 27.
DRE: Do you feel that age difference a bit?
ET: Occasionally we do. Thats part of what fueled this new record. We were getting frustrated because we had developed a more mature sound so its hard for us to compete with a pop/punk band that has songs that had a minute and half super anthems.
DRE: Do you guys have rituals before you go onstage?
ET: We usually drink.
DRE: Even before an earlier show?
ET: Yeah we always have a couple. The late great band Fairweather from the DC area once said that we were the drunkest band in America. I dont necessarily agree with that but we usually drink. A lot of times when were touring well catch up and have a drink with friends that are in different towns. But we dont have any real rituals like When I say this you jump left.
DRE: Hands in, LIARS ACADEMY!
ET: Right, go team.
DRE: Will there be another album?
ET: Yes were stoked. Were more excited about the band than we have been in two years.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
I got a chance to talk with Evan before their show at The Continental in New York City. We couldnt find a quiet spot so we ended up talking on the sidewalk across the street from the Starbucks that is across the street from The Continental.
Check out the official website of Liars Academy
Daniel Robert Epstein: The new album is called Demons, whose demons inspired it?
Evan Tanner: Everybody definitely. We felt like we were stagnating so we took a different approach to writing songs and to the way we were thinking about writing songs. I guess after a while we got a little bit cynical and jaded about the way our band was sounding like compared to how the other bands we played with sounded like. We just felt out of place so instead of conforming to what everyone else is trying to sound like we went the opposite direction and wrote whatever the fuck came out.
DRE: You guys write collectively?
ET: Ryan writes most of the ideas. He writes the lyrics and most of the song ideas. Then generally what happens is that me and Chris will take them apart and put them back together in a different structure. We dont change the words but will change the rhythm and tempo. The process starts with Ryan then it goes through this big washing machine and comes out a Liars Academy song. Everyone contributes on some level and some more than others on certain songs. Its a collaborative process but its driven by what Ryan writes.
DRE: Is it difficult process?
ET: It used to be. We were struggling to write what we thought were good songs. When we wrote Demons we didnt go into it with preconceived notions. Any ideas that came up and sounded good at practice we built on, so they came out pretty naturally.
DRE: For you, which tracks are most personal for you?
ET: The best way to answer that is to say they feel personal for all of us. I would say that The Accountant was one where Chris had the idea, Ryan wrote the words and it was a slow brewed almost reggae jam. I threw in this hyperactive drumbeat that worked really well. I guess I had a personal stake in that one and also People Are Games was going to be a slow brooding instrumental and instead we put a jazzy drum into it and made it more of a swingy upbeat thing. Every song on the record evolved the same way. Ryan did a really good job writing lyrics for this record that portray the feelings of most of the band.
DRE: I came to meet up with the entire band but theyre all late. Why are you here so early?
ET: We hung out with some friends in New Brunswick and got really drunk and in trouble. I ended up coming into the city last night with some friends.
DRE: What kind of trouble?
ET: Just drunk, falling into bushes and peoples pants were falling down. Ive got a bunch of prickers in my hands from when somebody handed me a case of beer when we were walking out of the bar. I fell into a bush because I couldnt stand up anymore.
DRE: You didnt even feel it, I bet.
ET: I felt it this morning. Believe me Im still feeling it. That was all we did last night, nothing too rowdy.
DRE: The track I like the best off Demons is Ghosts of Baltimore. Is that based on some legend down there?
ET: Baltimore is a very haunted town and there are legends. There are a lot of old sailors and ghosts floating around. Also there are some famous nightclubs and hotels that are supposedly haunted. The owners of the establishments play them up and use them as a marketing tool. But Ghosts of Baltimore was a big headline when they did an article about that stuff and Ryan took that title and wrote a dark song about some of our friends that are in bands in Baltimore. Baltimore seems to be a black hole for creative energy. You get a lot of really cool artists that live there to start their band or do their art and get sucked into the party scene a little too hard then its coke which leads to heroin. Weve had a couple of friends overdose so that song is actually about not becoming one of those ghosts. They walk around but its almost like they dont exist because theyre so fried.
DRE: A lot of stuff I read really emphasizes the fact that all the members of Liars Academy came from up and coming bands. Is that the people youre talking about?
ET: Yeah bands that we thought were so talented that they were going to be huge. Then six months later the band is half assed because they are into drugs.
DRE: How did you guys avoid that?
ET: I will say that there is a little thing that Chris and I wrote on the inside of the record about the last two years of our band. The last year weve been waiting for the record to come out and the year before we had a couple of rough spots where we were getting apathetic and we werent happy. So we trashed all our ideas and started over.
DRE: Your first album was produced by Drew Mazurek, was there any reason you didnt work with him on Demons?
ET: No, Drew was awesome. He recorded with Ryans old band Blank about seven years. We called him for the first record because we had heard some other stuff he had done and we thought it was really good. Then we had an offer from Brian McTernan who is producing everything these days. He gave us an offer to do an EP for us so we did that. When we were doing that EP we were thinking about a new album. We were listening to a lot of music that J Robbins had produced like Jawbox and Burning Airlines so we thought it would be cool to record with him. We couldnt have made a better decision.
DRE: You guys are a bit older than a lot of the bands you tour with.
ET: Yeah were everywhere between 25 and Im 32 so Im the daddy. Ryan is about to turn 30, Fred is 25 and Chris is 27.
DRE: Do you feel that age difference a bit?
ET: Occasionally we do. Thats part of what fueled this new record. We were getting frustrated because we had developed a more mature sound so its hard for us to compete with a pop/punk band that has songs that had a minute and half super anthems.
DRE: Do you guys have rituals before you go onstage?
ET: We usually drink.
DRE: Even before an earlier show?
ET: Yeah we always have a couple. The late great band Fairweather from the DC area once said that we were the drunkest band in America. I dont necessarily agree with that but we usually drink. A lot of times when were touring well catch up and have a drink with friends that are in different towns. But we dont have any real rituals like When I say this you jump left.
DRE: Hands in, LIARS ACADEMY!
ET: Right, go team.
DRE: Will there be another album?
ET: Yes were stoked. Were more excited about the band than we have been in two years.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
missy:
Its somewhat ironic that a band called Liars Academy does their best to tell the truth about themselves. Their new album, Demons, is their most personal one to date and its that way for every member of the band because Ryan Shelkett [vocals, guitar], Fred Fritz [guitar, vocals], Chris Camden [bass,...