I needed big sounds to go with big emotions, and I needed them to be something that would draw my audience in so we could share the experience together. It simply wouldn’t be cathartic with me just standing there alone pecking away at a guitar under a single stage light. I knew what I envisioned for my next step, and it was a full musical experience because quite honestly, that is the only suitable way for me to tell these stories and feel satisfied. I knew I wanted to write with a wall of sound that pulls from all sides, and so I set out to write these songs in my home studio as if I already had a backing band. I really wanted to take those elements and make them my own while holding onto those more melodically punk driven influences that have always been near to my heart.īecause I want to keep pushing myself to experiment and take risks, I knew I had to continue graduating my sound from Feral Hymns, through the split EP and into Working Title. Things that make you feel bigger than yourself. As far as the sound that drives me, I have always been drawn to things that were emotive and catchy. I really wanted Working Title to reflect this place of life for me - one where I have grown into myself and come at the experience of living a little braver than ever before. While I certainly respect those who have gone a more Americana route, at the end of the day that just doesn’t feel like “me.” I am very cautious to be genuine to who I am, even if there are many sides to that. I guess it feels more like a “band” than a solo kind of thing. For example, the track “I’m a Lot” sounds like it could be on alternative rock radio since it’s so goddam catchy. When I listen to Working Title, there’s an immediacy and strong melodic current running through the material. That’s definitely not the case with this new record. It’s interesting, but many other musicians who came up in the hardcore scene would end up going in an Americana route when it came to their solo work. Though he still works with BoySetsFire, the singer-songwriter is returning with a new solo effort called Working Title, so I decided to chat with him about the album, his open-book policy about his personal struggles, and juggling family and musical commitments. That's why I was excited when Nathan ventured out with his debut solo album a couple of years back in the form of Feral Hymns. With each BoySetsFire release, vocalist Nathan Gray's vocals grew stronger, especially when it came to the sweeter side of his delivery, something that appealed to me a great deal. The Delaware-based melodic post-hardcore band found success throughout the world with such albums as The Day the Sun Went Out (1997) and Tomorrow Come Today (2003), and toured accordingly throughout that time. I first encountered Nathan Gray back in the '90s through his work as vocalist of BoySetsFire.
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