Arrows In Action talk us through the creation of their two-part LP ‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’, out September 19 via Nettwerk.
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Arrows In Action have never been the type of band to rest on their laurels, but they are taking that to a whole new level right now.
As Rock Sound greet the boys to chat through the ins and outs of their new album ‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’, they are holed up in an Airbnb in LA, working hard on the first pieces of the follow-up, all this before this current project is even out in full. It’s the furthest ahead of the curve they have been in terms of writing in their career so far, but their excitement about what could come next very much speaks to a lot of what this current project is about.
“This album deals with looking back and trying to capture moments from the past but also being forced to face the reality of having to create new ones,” guitarist Matthew Fowler comments, “It’s funny because we recorded these songs so long ago that the memories of recording them are already nostalgic. We had an amazing time recording it, but the fact that we are back in California now makes it all feel very distant. And when I listen back to it now, I’m just excited to do us proud with what comes next.”
It’s a fascinating way to look at something that is still so fresh, but in not being afraid or uncertain about how fast things move, the band have managed to craft something that feels as timeless as it does timely. Released in two separate blocks – the first stained by the sun and the second gilded by moonlight – ‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’ is the most fully fleshed, fantastical and furiously fun collection of songs that the trio have put their names to so far. Bright and breezy one minute, cold and considered the next, it is music that speaks to the past, present and future of you and those you love, unafraid to tackle what has been and launch into what will be with gusto. More than anything, it is a body of work that will still hold the same resonance in decades to come as it does now.
“I really like the phrasing of being indulgent on this record,” vocalist Victor Viramontes-Pattison adds. “Something we talk about a lot is making some that is not necessarily nostalgic but more timeless, where it could be written at any time, and if it came out in 20 years, it would still sound as fresh. Something that feels really good no matter what. We just want to write a song where, if we just played it on the guitar, it would still feel just as amazing. To then be able to build those songs out, flesh out the emotions and end up with what we have is so satisfying.”
THE SOUND
Indulgent is a word that is very important to what ‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’ feels like. As well as being released in two parts, its individual tracks have had their own moments throughout the last year. The buoyant light of ‘Hello Sunlight!’ sprang out of the ground around the heart of Spring last year, whilst the crimson lust that filters through viral sensation ‘Cheekbones’ got to bare its fangs around Halloween. The 90s-esque vibrancy of ‘Feel It Again’ felt like a kick in the door of the New Year when it was shared back in February, whilst the neon-drenched funk of ‘Empty Canvas’ was unveiled following the Summer Solstice, a sign that nights would soon start rolling in and darkness was not far away.
In allowing each song to have its own space to breathe and moment in the sun, or moonlight, depending on the side of the coin, the band were able to properly dive into every itch that they wanted to scratch. Many of those itches came from the realisation that they aren’t tied to the traditional structures often associated with pop, rock, and alternative music. That the world truly is their oyster and that nothing is stopping them from playing with as many colours, textures and techniques as they want.
“It’s something that we started to pick up throughout the making of [2021 EP] ‘Be More’ that we don’t need to just be a band made up of guitars, drums and vocals,” Victor comments. “I feel like we have learned that we’re going to always come up with the parts on guitar, but we are also going to be able to make them into something else. Make them so much more. On ‘Lost In The Moment’, there are stacks and stacks and stacks of layers, whilst ‘Nobody Told Me’ is a bit more reserved. Making sure that every song had its own identity, and that we were serving the song more than anything else, was the focus.”
Much of the thanks for turning those intentions into results came from the trio’s ongoing relationship with producer Dan Swank. As well as being a firm member of the Arrows In Action family after manning the desk on ‘Built To Last’ and the ‘Be More’ EP previously, ‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’ served as the moment where everything he had learned about Victor, Matthew and Jesse over the last half a decade could come to a most prominent head. A real driving force behind the band pushing the boat out with the two different sides of the record, the result of that trust and openness is 11 songs that feel entirely separate for each other whilst still being cohesive.
And though the front half may feel like the most glorious Summer of your life and the back a summation of the most thoughtful 3AMs, the sound doesn’t always equal the situation. ‘Hello Sunlight!’ was actually written during a vicious snowstorm, ‘Stay Awake’ penned at 11am after a hearty breakfast and ‘Light In You’ brought to the forefront late in the night after one too many Fróses. And ‘Déjà vu’, a track that serves as a transition of sorts between the different temperatures, that sparkles with as many glittering synths as it does softly plucked strings, was crafted nowhere near the sunset that it embodies.
It’s in this ability to capture a mood, no matter where or when inspiration strikes, and no matter how removed from reality the result may be, that really hammers home what the band has built for themselves over the years. By delving into everyone’s expertise, experiences, and moments of enlightenment, they can create anything they desire.
“I think that’s a symptom of being a band that writes together like we do,” Matthew adds. “When you’re pulling from one individual story, it’s going to feel like one season or one theme. However, as we progress further in our careers, we’ve become increasingly collaborative, and with that, multiple people’s feelings are explored across various seasons over the course of a year. And covering lots of different sonic territories is just always going to be something that we do, no matter what.”
THE LYRICS
As mentioned, nostalgia is a big theme within both shades of ‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’, but not in the way that you may come to expect. So often, looking back at the way things used to be comes with a want to return to the sights, sounds and smells of the time in which those rose-tinted memories exist. But Arrows To Action are comfortable in the skin they are in now, and confident in the people that they have become. And though they are returning to situations, relationships and emotions that defined other periods in their lives, they aren’t doing it with regret or remorse. As the record’s opening gambit states, this is a celebration of the full spectrum of the human psyche, warts and all, and that’s a beautiful thing to be able to collate.
“A big thing about this record was that we wanted to feel confident enough to say the things that we wanted to say on both sides,” Victor nods. “We feel that confidence in where we are within our career, so why shouldn’t we feel it within the music too? So, it felt very natural to include darker and more introspective elements here, as we had done with the bright, shiny, and confident side as well.”
“I think we have got a lot better at telling a story in a song without us explicitly experiencing that thing right now,” he continues. “We’re really paying attention to the more specific parts of what we’re writing about, and how those parts may be more specific to us or more universal to everybody. Finding that balance has been really cool, and at this point in our career, we get to decide who we want to be moving forwards personally and musically.”
So often, when it comes to writing a record, the artist is still very much in the eye of the storm in terms of what they are writing about. Being so close to the emotion may produce something raw and real in the moment, but the effects in the aftermath can be detrimental, meaning that the song feels just as painful every time it is revisited. The thing about harnessing the past in the present in the manner that Victor, Matthew and Jesse have means that ‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’ already feels distant. That allows the hedonistic tendencies that bolster ‘Light Like You’ and the bleary-eyed uncertainty of ‘Nobody Told Me’ can be looked back on with the same levels of fondness and fancy rather than regret and sadness. The 5am misadventures that are regaled in ‘Lost In The Moment’ are just as formative as the delicate flirtation that flitters through ‘Corner Of Your Mind’. It is life lived and lessons learned, sentiments that are rooted in positivity for the future.
“I feel we are caught up on certain struggles, which means we get to choose what we say and what we may return to as well,” Matthew adds. “I feel like we have learnt how to work through a lot of things together, so there have been a lot of emotions we have been able to tap into without emotional wrecking ourselves in the writing room. That feels like a very healthy way of doing things.”
“Yeah, the memories of writing this album are very positive,” Victor extends. “Even if the theme is dark or the relationship written about in the song is in turmoil, we have come together, talked about it and had a blast whilst putting it together. We’re not really the tortured artist types.”
THE TITLE AND ARTWORK
‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’ has many a connotation, especially when you consider that a track called ‘Déjà Vu’ has found its way into its track listing. On the surface, it’s a sentence that defines a situation that feels familiar, but on a much deeper level, it represents how you approach that situation when it shows itself. Are you prepared to tackle it better than you did last time? Have you been dreading the prospect of returning to it? For Arrows In Action, in looking back on the things they have done in the way they have across these songs, they are solidifying the fact that they have grown and know what to expect when things start to feel familiar again. Both the light and dark sides of the record deal with similar feelings, just in different fonts, so familiarity is expected, but in telling themselves that no matter what, they are ready for it.
And that is why the album’s artwork depicts a lighthouse, albeit in different forms depending on the side of the album you are listening to. For Side A, the lighthouse is bright and welcoming, the flowers sprouting out of the desert floor leading up to it glistening against the deep blue of the sky. For Side B, the neon glow that rips through the darkness is still welcoming, permeating from the flowers and the full moon sitting in the sky, but there is much more trepidation. The unknown is still scary, even if one is familiar with the space, making it feel ambiguous.
To create this atmosphere, the band enlisted 3D artist Jim Hughes, a scene staple who has produced visuals for artists such as August Burns Red and Sleep Theory. He crafted the artwork in a way in which you could walk around it, a physical universe where everything could be controlled and, ultimately, lived in. A true embodiment of art and life working in tandem with each other.
“It’s all about the confident familiarity of seeing something that is similar and knowing that sometimes it will be good and sometimes it will be bad,” Victor explains. “Sometimes the lighthouse will lead you to where you want to go, sometimes you will follow it, and you will end up on the rocks and you’re screwed.”
THE FUTURE
Even though the band are already working away at what will eventually make up the follow-up to this record, it’s clear that the things picked up along the way are not going to be forgotten anytime soon. Especially when you look at the success that is already gravitating around it. One example of that is ‘Cheekbones’ being streamed over ten million times on Spotify since its release last October. And though numbers are secondary to the thrill that comes with artistic freedom, knowing that trying out something so different from what is expected has resonated with so many is far from lost on the boys.
“Seeing a track we are so proud driving the ship right now, being accepted so much by people from all over the world makes us so happy,” Matthew comments on the achievement. “And because of it, we feel inspired by what we may come up with next. We feel ready to fucking go.”
But even more so, it’s the fact that no matter what comes around the next corner, the path that has already been trodden will not be forgotten. By living in the present but also paying tribute to the people who helped them reach this point, Victor, Matthew, and Jesse have more clarity on the band than ever before. And in being able to celebrate every step that has got them here every time that they step on stage, there is no sweeter feeling.
“I feel so grateful that I am still able to play those songs and feel like I’m giving the kid who wrote them a hug,” Victor concludes. “Even if what I was singing about isn’t entirely fixed, it’s still better, and I can show them that everything has ended up okay. And we want people to leave with that same feeling. That maybe they are okay, too.”
