This March, Strung Out released their eighth studio album, Transmission.Alpha.Delta, via longtime label Fat Wreck Chords. Without question, it ranks among the strongest of the band’s respected catalog. On this effort they continue to advance their sound, mixing elements of punk and metal with complex songwriting, while simultaneously incorporating an array of contemporary influences. The outcome is a record that’s both fresh and modern, and one that favors pushing boundaries over revisiting the past. With that said, this is sure to be an album that’s embraced by diehard fans and newcomers alike. Last month, Strung Out played Reggie’s and we spoke with drummer Jordan Burns before the show. We talked at length about what it was like recording Transmission.Alpha.Delta. We also discussed the record’s style, its writing process, the band’s upcoming European tour and more.
Bill – You guys spent two years writing and recording this album. What was that process like?
Jordan – The process of everything we went through was pretty intense. There’s a lot of creativity between all five of us and then when our producer Kyle Black came into the mix, it turned into six of us. It’s not like one person necessarily dictating every move or chord progression or whatever. It’s everybody, so there’s lots of arguments that we go through and switching of parts. We just never really felt a huge rush to get something out. We wanted to spend time and make something that we felt would be the best we could possibly make. You want to do that every time and it’s up to the people and the fans to determine is it your best stuff or is it not. Because every time you put out an album you’re putting it out thinking “This is our best stuff.” I don’t think any musician or band puts out stuff going “Well this album is cool, but our last one was better, but we’re still going to put this out.” You always want to think that it’s the best and then let the fans decide. It was definitely a really interesting process making this album with everyone involved. It was physically challenging, mentally challenging, everything you can think of. In the studio it got really intense. We just worked so hard and so long on the drums. Recording the drums was…I had a lot of my own ideas of course, which I typically would, and then we recorded the album at Ryan Greene’s, (noted producer) studio. He didn’t record with us, but he ended up being like the mentor/counselor. He was there for consultation, which worked out awesome because there points where…most of the time doing the drums it was me, Rob, (guitarist Rob Ramos) and our producer Kyle. When you’ve got a cowbell for a metronome going in your ear for ten hours a day it can drive you insane. And then you have our producer going, “No, I want to hear it crash, crash, crash.” And you’re like “If I hear the word ‘crash’ one more time I’m going to fuckin’ kill you,” (laughs). And then Rob going “We have to try every single beat. Every idea we have, we have to try it.” And you’re just like “This is insane.” It got to the point where I like broke down and told those guys, “I’m not trying any more beats. We’re not doing this anymore. I can’t deal with this. We have to go to a drum machine and sit down together, listen to the songs and program out some of the beats that we’re looking to make. Then we’ll take it from there and then we can work on it, so at least we know the foundation that we’re going to lay out.” Because everything changed from preproduction, once you get into the studio everything changes. You hear everything so much more defined, you know? Anyhow, it was insanity in there.
Bill – Your last full-length, Agents of the Underground, came out almost six years ago. How did that sort of distance between releases help to shape the songs this record?
Jordan – I mean, honestly I don’t know. I don’t know if the timeframe actually had anything to do with the way the songs turned out. We just write and write and we actually had probably 20 to 25 tracks that were in the works, but we had to focus down and focus back and a lot of things and ideas got put to the side and stuff and not recorded. But, I don’t necessarily think that that had anything specifically to do with it.
Bill – You mentioned this in your response to the first question, but can you elaborate on what it was like working with producer Kyle Black?
Jordan – Kyle Black was a really big Strung Out fan before we ever met him. I actually met him through this younger band that’s located near my house called The Sheds. He had done production for them that I thought sounded really, really good. I started talking to Kyle and we were talking about producers and stuff. I brought him to the table and finally everyone started to agree that we were going to try him and that his production sounded good. He started coming to our pre-productions and stuff and it was crazy. He’d go around in circles on some of the ideas for arrangements. We were like “Is this the guy?” We were like really questioning it. But I think what happened is throughout the time period of working and stuff we actually kind of all grew together a bit and got used to each other and got into the process. Once we got into the studio, like I said, it was craziness. Going back to what I was talking about a little, we’d end up spending like two hours on 15 seconds of a song. We’re going in circles and you just want to end up killing someone, you know? I literally at points walked out of there saying, “Fuck all of you. Find someone else to fuckin’ record.” You’re just really stressed, you know? Sometimes I think people think that the studio is all fun and games, but there’s so much that goes into it. When I’m done with the final result I look at it like if we didn’t go through all of this, all of the pain, maybe we wouldn’t have wound up with the product that we did. With Kyle, I think Kyle just really wanted to strive to achieve the absolute best that he could get out of us. Sometimes it was really punishing, but it worked. I’d have a drum idea that I’m working on or whatever or what I’m going to play for the song and those guys keep telling me “No, that’s not going to be it.” I’m like “Yeah, that’s going to be it.” Then Ryan would come in going like, “Hey, that’s not a Jordan Burns beat. You’re not playing that. You have to come up with something better.” I’m just like “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Like I said, Kyle and everybody pushed it to a limit. He pushed it and I think what he did achieve was he achieved the best production that we’ve ever had. I believe that this album sounds the best out of any album we’ve recorded. The drums are so crisp, the guitars are powerful, the bass is solid and clear, the vocals are great…the whole package is there. It’s what I had been seeking for a long, long time. Sometimes I think if we had this production on some of the different albums that we did they would make those albums even that much better.
Bill – The songs on this album sound especially inspired. Where did that inspiration come from?
Jordan – I mean, I guess the only thing I can say is from the five of us. From our hearts, I guess, and all the different ideas that everybody conjures up together and from within.
Bill – A lot of the songs on the record feature unconventional structures. There’s a variety of tempos used, guitar solos are often the focal point of the arrangements and many of the tracks take unexpected turns. Was this type of writing a goal from the beginning or did it just unfold as the songs came together?
Jordan – Yeah, I’d say definitely it’s something that more unfolded. It’s not planned, like “Hey, we’re not going to do guitar solos.” I don’t think the guys are like “Well, we’re not going to do guitar solos on any of these songs.” It’s not something direct like that, I think it just happens. I’ve noticed a few people saying there’s not enough guitar solos on this record, but I think there is. I don’t listen to any certain parts and think “Oh, we should have extended that part and put this solo in there.” I think everything is in place properly and the guitar solos and the licks and everything are placed in the proper places. We’ve got Rob Ramos and Jake Kiley in the band and they’re two fuckin’ shredders. They’re not going to like let things just slide if they don’t feel all good about it.
Bill – While there are slight nods to the band’s past on this album, by no means is it filled with nostalgia. It’s definitely more focused on being modern and progressive. How important was it to you that this record centers on the present and future?
Jordan – Well, I think that that was really important to us. Everyone’s always talking about Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues or Twisted by Design, and it’s like you don’t want to forget your roots. You don’t want to totally not touch on that stuff at all, but I don’t think we directly go “All right. We’re going to write this song and it’s going to sound like this record.” We just write. I think it’s really important to try and stay current and fresh and new and exciting. Once again, I think that’s something that we achieved with this record. That’s what people keep on telling us. It’s our own sound. I don’t want to be cocky or anything, but I think it’s our own sound, it’s our own niche. At the same time, it stays totally within our sound. I don’t know. I think it’s some really unique music. If you look at all the bands from within our scene, it sounds like we’ve got our own thing going on.
Bill – What are you looking forward to in regards to taking these new songs on the road and playing them in front of a live audience?
Jordan – I think we look forward to the songs being received well and so far so good. We’ve been opening all the shows with two brand new tracks, which is a pretty different thing for us. We’ve opened up with certain songs so many times. We’ve got a pretty cool, unique set list. It doesn’t have some of our so-called classics I guess that we maybe would play at every single show we’ve ever played. We’ve left a few of those out, which sometimes I’m questionable about, but it’s going really well. With the new songs, they’re being received really well, they’re fun to play and it’s fresh and exciting.
Bill – What aspects of your upcoming European tour are you most excited about?
Jordan – It will be good to get back to Europe again. It’s been awhile. We’ve got a lot of really cool festivals that we’re going to play. We’re going to do some shows with Lagwagon, NOFX and Alkaline Trio. It’ll be cool to get over there and see how the record is being received. It should be good. This will be our twentieth something time to Europe, so it’s not like some new experience or something, but we definitely want to build ourselves up over there again. Getting to play with some good bands from within our scene will hopefully help us.
Bill – After the European tour wraps up, what else does Strung Out have planned for 2015?
Jordan – Well, I know there’s this Fat Wreck Chords tour in the works, but I don’t even know if I’m supposed to announce that or not, so I won’t really elaborate too much on that. I think we’re going to try and get back to Japan, we’re going to try and go to Australia, we’d like to get to South America, just keep on working.
Bill – When you look ahead to the future of your band, what are some of the initial things that come to mind?
Jordan – It’s funny because you look at the future and we’re pretty far into the future as far as this band goes. Looking to the future with what’s on the horizon, I mean I don’t know. I feel a lot of times we’re not like this band that had huge hits or anything, or was on the radio and everybody knows us. I hope in today’s age with the internet and everything, and with having a good album with 12 solid songs on it, hopefully it can just spread through the internet and that we find a lot of room for growth and new fans. I get really excited when people say that they’ve seen us for the first time or they’ve just heard of us recently. Of course you love all the longtime fans, but making new fans is really cool too. I think we have this album that just needs to heard. I don’t see how if you like all these other bands that are within our scene that you wouldn’t be able to like us. I would also like to think that if you like a band like Metallica or Slayer or Megadeth or some metal bands or whatever that you could pop this in and listen to it and be like “Fuck yeah, this is pretty cool.” I always get pumped when there’s longhairs in the front of the crowd headbanging. That gets me pumped. As far as the future, I don’t know. We’ll just continue to do what we do. It’s already been such a long time and we still have this seemingly stable career going and a great new record. People are caring and that’s all that really matters I guess.
