Congratulations on the release of “Talking Dreams” back in October! How was the process of composing this album different than anything you’ve released previously?
It was very collaborative. Nobody really sticks to their instruments whenever we write, either. Graham, the drummer, will sometimes write the melody! Or Jamie will write the bassline even though he’s a guitar player. So it’s very collaborative. It was a really fun process.
What does the title “Talking Dreams” mean?
Well that was actually the last song that we wrote for this record. It’s funny because that song actually took only an hour to write. There’s other songs, like “Cool Kids”, that took days or weeks to write. Every song is different. There’s no rule to it. That song was really natural to us. It was just our perspective on life. Perspective is unique to you, so you might as well write about it. That song was really just talking about what we were doing. I think, as a band, it’s important to write about your perspective on life, whether it’s being super excited or being super depressed. That song was really just…us. The description of us in that moment, and our description towards life.
You guys recently did a cover of the song “Royals” by Lorde. What made you guys choose that song for a cover?
That’s a good question! For us, it wasn’t too much of a huge meaning behind it. We did a whole radio tour along with our college tour last month. They said, “Hey, you should do a cover of something!” and we didn’t really know what to do. We really like Lorde. She’s really cool, and all about being unique. We think that she’s awesome and we respect her. We thought of all songs, that was the best one for us. It gave us a chance to do a lot of harmonies, and make it our own.
It has been announced that you will doing the entire 2014 Vans Warped Tour. What was the initial reaction you had when you got asked to come back and do it?
It was really cool! We were so excited. The first time we did it, was nothing like we had expected. It was so fun for us. We were so different, and we didn’t know if it would be a great thing that we were so different, or if it would be the worst. It ended up working to our advantage, because I guess people want to see something different now! And we definitely weren’t sure of that. It was a great learning experience, and a great way to build our fanbase. This year will be really fun because there’s still, of course, new discovery, but I think this round will be a lot of building up with fans that we have already, as well as getting new fans. And it’s a lot of fun; I love the connections that are made on Warped Tour. I made some of best friends in the world at Warped, and we meet some of the best fans in the world at Warped, so it’s really cool to be able to say that, and I can’t wait to have that all over again.
What will make you guys stand out from every other artist out there? I mean that in the sense of what’s going to make people stop and watch you when there’s a million different sounds being thrown at them?
You know, we as a band, and as people, love what we’re doing, and we see it bigger than just music that we kinda like playing, and songs that we just happened to write! We think that it’s all bigger than that, and it’s bigger than we even realize. We take it serious, but we like to have fun, most importantly. I think people can see that onstage, that we just want to have fun with each other, and with the crowd. That’s one thing that’s unique to us. We’re not taking it way too serious, but we love what we’re doing. We see something bigger than us in this. I think people need songs that are not so dark, and songs that are more about hope, and love, and things like that. We’re all about that. That’s what we stand for.
Obviously, not everyone’s going to love it. There’s a lot of screamo bands going on that same time, but it doesn’t matter what [band shirts] they were wearing, whether it’s Metallica, or Paramore, or The Summer Set, people still were stopping. It was really cool to see that. And I think that love, and that hope, will hopefully let people see what we’re doing. I think that’s one thing that we really stand for, and it seems to be working, and people seem to really connect with that!
What kind of message would you like fans to walk away with after listening to your music?
In general, we are really big believers in being yourself. If you listen to “Cool Kids”, that’s what it’s about. It’s about people wanting to fit in. Everybody has that longing to be like somebody else at some point in their life, whether it’s super extreme or not. We’ve all felt that way at some point, and it was a really important topic for us to write about. Just in general, being yourself and accepting who you are and who you aren’t is one of the biggest things in life. Once you do that, life is so much more enjoyable. You see life completely different. Life is all about how you see it, honestly! It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor, you see all those people with a smile on their face, and you’ll see these rich people who are sad. And there’s obviously happy rich people and sad poor people, but still, it shows that life is about perspective and how you choose to see it. You can either feel sorry for yourself and for your situation, or you can accept yourself and try to make the best out of it! Try to have a smile on your face, despite the circumstances. That’s what we really stand for, and we hope that people feel that when they listen to our songs and lyrics.
What does music mean to you?
Music is a huge thing, because, first of all, it’s something that I always loved. It was the first thing I ever did besides talk and walk. Music has always been a huge part of my life, and obviously it was the only thing that I was good at anyway. Music, more importantly, was just something that I always loved, and always dreamed about. I always dreamed of this! It’s cool to say that I’m feeling exactly what I’ve been dreaming of my entire life. Obviously, we’re not playing stadiums yet, but even if we don’t play stadiums, that’s okay! We’re happy with where we are right now. Because we love music so much, and we love the people who connect with it so much, it doesn’t matter. Obviously, we’d love to play stadiums one day, but if our music doesn’t reach that, we’re going to make the most out of it, and use it to connect with the people that we have right now! Because we love what we’re doing so much, it doesn’t matter what happens, big or small. We love the passion that people have, and the passion that matches it is really cool, and it’s cool to see people love what you’re doing just as much as you love it.
What are the future plans for Echosmith other than Warped? Anything you’d like to let fans know about, let us know!
We are going to do some local shows in LA, and also be playing a couple random shows. Some college shows and college tours, plus some radio shows and stuff like that. We’ll have a lot more things coming up. It’ll be really fun, I’m excited!
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