In the studio with Knocked Loose: “It was about expanding our approach”

If you thought Knocked Loose couldn’t get any more intense, think again. Frontman Bryan Garris invites us into Studio 606 to find out how third album You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To delves even deeper into the abyss. “They’re the most extreme, chaotic, anxiety-inducing songs we’ve ever written,” he promises…

“When we made [2021 EP] A Tear In The Fabric Of Life, it was our first real attempt to evoke something more than the energy of anger. We wanted anxiety, sadness, aggression all combining into this flowing, changing piece of work. This was about expanding that approach into an album – introducing different dynamics over the course of 10 songs without sacrificing what people know as Knocked Loose. Last year’s Upon Loss singles won’t be part of it. Instead, it’s a trip deeper into that world we entered on ATITFOL, with all its darkness and extreme, abrasive energy.”

“On every album, we talk about experimenting with different percussive sounds. We tried all kinds of instruments, from various blocks to a 36-inch bass drum. We even did a drum circle, which was fun. But the places where those sounds fit were generally the darkest and scariest.”

“At the end of Every Time I Die’s The Big Dirty, Keith Buckley signs off with the lines, ‘It is better to destroy than create what is meaningless / So the picture will not be finished.’ I never had that feeling of having given all that you can to the extent that he did, but I understood that idea of feeling like a broken record here, and asking, ‘How many more songs can I write about being pissed off or bummed out?!’ This is the first album where I had to step away and take a break because it was going to suffer from my headspace. It’s when you stop trying to force yourself to get something down that the most honest thoughts come through and speak for themselves.”

“We recorded with Drew Fulk [Motionless In White, Disturbed] at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in Los Angeles. Just being in that building with all their memorabilia and plaques on the wall was incredible, and there are so many resources available in the city. Our engineer Zach Tuch came on tour with us and helped turn the back lounge of our bus into a studio, too. It was interesting screaming in there all day, then playing shows every night!”

“We plan our setlists to get a reaction. We looked at some of our ‘big moments’ that turned into favourites over the years – the last ‘All my friends are dead!’ in All My Friends, that repeating chorus in Mistakes Like Fractures – and said, ‘Okay, this time, let’s do it on purpose! Let’s have the big vocal break. Let’s have the big build up. Let’s have the repeating chorus.’ Some of those parts are more digestible – a hook, a big vocal moment – but they’re juxtaposed against what are the most extreme, chaotic, anxiety-inducing songs that Knocked Loose has ever written.”

You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is due out on May 10 via Pure Noise. This article originally appeared in the spring issue of the magazine.

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