This fall, Sincere Engineer will release their second full-length and first for Hopeless Records, called Bless My Psyche. We recently spoke with singer/guitarist Deanna Belos and talked about how the album was written and recorded. Compared to its predecessor, Bless My Psyche features increased contributions from Belos’s bandmates, resulting in more of a collaborative and diverse sound. The group’s lineup is rounded out by Kyle Geib, (guitar/backing vocals) Nick Arvanitis, (bass/backing vocals) and Adam Beck, (drums/backing vocals). Also of note is the continued development of Belos’s songwriting, which is prevalent throughout Bless My Psyche. Additionally, we conversed about the album’s general theme, the band’s move to Hopeless Records, their plans for the rest of the year and more.

Bill – With your last album coming out in 2017, at what point did you begin writing songs for this record?

Deanna – Shortly after Rhombithian coming out I was already starting to work on it, but fairly slowly. Just because I found it really hard to juggle promoting the album and playing shows. I toured for a little bit solo and then we toured as a full band later, and having a full-time job too. While I would have new songs and demo them with Matt Jordan, my producer, it was hard to even think about having a new record and putting that out. Fast forward four years and somehow it flew by. It doesn’t even feel like four years to me.

Bill – So the process was more start and stop, not something that was written all at once…

Deanna – Yeah, definitely not. I’m sure there’s a couple songs that are from right after 2017 and one of the songs was written as recently as March of 2020. The pandemic didn’t help anything, of course. It probably would’ve come out a year earlier had that not happened. That was part of it and then we jumped to Hopeless Records. That whole process took a little longer than I expected. That also adds to those four years and accounted for some of that time.

Bill – Got it. So, the last song you wrote for this record was finished as recently as March of last year?

Deanna – Yeah. I wrote it about two days after the tour that got canceled two days in. The song was “Come out for a Spell.” In some ways the extra time helped because I had time to be like, “Oh, maybe that song isn’t that strong. Let’s swap it with this one I just wrote. And maybe I could rework these weaker ones for a new album or maybe not at all.” So, in some ways it was kind of helpful.

Bill – Compared to your first album, Bless My Psyche sounds like much more of a full band effort. What were some of the factors that led to this?

Deanna – Well we’ve had the same lineup the whole time. We’re more familiar with each other and we’ve become really good friends over the last four years. I don’t know if people know this, but the release show for Rhombithian, that was our first time playing as a band in front of anyone. We didn’t play as a full band until that show, which was months after the record came out. That album was recorded in pieces and it took about two years to finish. We worked on it one song at a time. I didn’t even know my bandmates really until Matt introduced me to them during that process. So that probably speaks to some of it sounding more collaborative now. In some ways the process for this record was the same. I would write the song and then bring it to Matt. Then before we recorded, my bandmates learned the demos that we made and they added their ideas and stuff. The fact that I even know my bandmates now makes a big difference. It’s definitely not the most orthodox way of doing it, but it works for us.

Bill – Where did you record Bless My Psyche and what was your experience in the studio like?

Deanna – We did the bass and the drums at Narwhal Studios in Chicago. It was during Covid, so we kept our distance and stuff. Adam was in the live drum room and Nick was by the console, and they knocked it out. Kyle did his guitars separately and I had done my guitars months before at Type One Studios, which is also in Chicago. Then I actually sort of fled the state to go down to Kansas City to do vocals and that’s where Matt moved during Covid. He came here for one week and then I went there the next week, and then it was all done. That added to how weird it was because we weren’t even in the same state when it was officially done. I was like, “I guess that’s it.” I would’ve liked to have had a little party or something when it was finished, but it was just a text message saying it was done. There was no feeling of closure about it or excitement really. It was like we just did our job and then went home.

Bill – It seems kind of anti-climactic, but it also makes sense given Covid and how lots of people were working in isolation to some extent. Regarding the album’s production, one of my favorite things is all the subtleties that you can easily notice in the background, (like the organ on “Out of Reach”). What are some of your favorite aspects of how the record sounds?

Deanna – For sure. The organ that you mentioned, that’s Franz Nicolay from The Hold Steady. He was like, “If you ever need anyone to play keys or anything on your record, just let me know.” I was like, “What?” (Laughs). I was super-stoked to have him on it. He did like five songs, I think. He played the accordion on “Recluse in the Making,” which was probably one of my favorite things. That gives me chills. But those subtleties that you’re talking about, that’s a lot of Matt’s work. He’s really good at producing and he won’t just leave a song straightforward. He wants it to be interesting to listen to. “Recluse” is sort of more produced than the rest of them. There’s minimal drums and guitar, and it’s really bass-driven. There’s this audio track that he made just using a feedback sound. It’s the first sound you hear in the song and he made it into its own beat.

Bill – I know exactly what you mean. It kind of has a hip hop vibe.

Deanna – Yeah. He works with hip hop artists. I know of one for sure. He might work with more, but that’s something that I think he really likes doing. You can tell that he’s got some experience with it.

Bill – Speaking of “Recluse in the Making,” I feel like that’s maybe the most personal song you’ve written to date. What allowed you to get that vulnerable with the lyrics for this song?

Deanna – It just kind of happened that way. I had bits and pieces of that song written for a couple years, but it wasn’t until maybe about two years ago that it finally came together as a whole story. The part about going to a show and the taxi driver thing are both real events, where I was feeling kind of reclusive. I just mashed it all together and it happened to work out in my mind well enough to make it a song. I see that song as this record’s “Overbite,” because of how specific the songs are. I usually try to keep my lyrics general, but I think people really liked “Overbite” for that reason. So, I tried exploring that a little bit more and having specifics. It’s definitely the outlier on the record.

Bill – Of all the videos that you guys have made recently, I think “Trust Me” might be my favorite. Where did the concept for that video come from and what was filming it like?

Deanna – I had to toy around with a bunch of ideas and because of Covid I didn’t want to hire a huge crew and stuff. We had a little bit of a budget, but I’m also not super interested in spending a bunch of money. I wanted to make it myself and also thought that the first video that we release on Hopeless should have a DIY feel. I’ve done a few of those now and I wanted to stick to that. I also have a lot of fun making them and I turn into a crazy person when I have an idea. I buy all the stuff and then everybody around me, I’m like a tornado. I’m like, “You gotta be here and you gotta be here!”

Bill – You hop into the director’s chair…

Deanna – For sure. I’m like a crazy person about it. But yeah, that was just one of the ideas that I was messing with. I was also trying to be very careful and not get a bunch of people together. We couldn’t do a huge thing, so it was very small with just the band. I thought it was stupid, but also funny. There was something about…I wanted me to be singing the words, while holding a pizza and biking. And then the bird thing came along somehow. I honestly don’t remember the complete thought process.

Bill – Five of the songs from Bless My Psyche have been released thus far. Do you have a favorite song from the album that has yet to be released?

Deanna – We have one more coming out in August called “Coming in Last.” That was probably one of my favorites even in addition to the ones that have already been released. It’s one of the catchier songs and it’s got my favorite line in it that I’ve written on this record, so I’m excited for people to hear that. We just finished shooting a video for that song and it’s another DIY or homemade video.

Bill – In terms of an overall theme, how does this record differ from your first one?

Deanna – I would say this one I was more in an exhausted, sort of overworked headspace. I think that kind of shines through with a lot of the songs, but also being withdrawn from a lot of things. And I think that’s fitting with the whole Covid thing too, but like I said, half the songs were probably written way before then anyway. I think just the fact that I maybe had more pressure to do my best on this one, whereas I had no expectations for the first one. I did not think as many people would like it. Toby, (Red Scare Industries founder Toby Jeg) because he’s my friend he gave me a shot and put out the record, and I did not think it was going to turn into this huge thing. There’s that element of “We gotta make this good because there’s more people listening this time.”

Bill – For sure. I didn’t even think about that, but to go from zero expectations to at least some expectations, that’s a difference. Speaking of changes, what transpired that led to you partnering with Hopeless Records for the album’s release?

Deanna – I think two years had gone by since the first record came out and I was getting some label interest. I assumed everybody thought that I had another one ready to go. They were one of the first labels who reached out and I was pretty sure that I wanted to work with them right away. That’s pretty much it. It was just an email. Then a couple months later, because of the back-and-forth stuff, that’s what took a lot of time. There’s not like a super fun story about it or anything. They basically reached out to me.

Bill – I think sometimes having that gut feeling or it feeling right from the beginning, that’s kind of enough.

Deanna – Yeah, for sure. I like that they’re very charitable and they have a really great roster. They’re very, very nice and supportive of me, and they let me do what I want, kind of. It’s been fun. I’m still really good friends with Toby. It wasn’t like a “Screw you, Red Scare!” thing. I still talk to him all the time. I actually talk to him more now than I did before.

Bill – I can’t say for certain, but I would think that’s kind of his goal, to get the bands that he works with to eventually go to bigger labels.

Deanna – Yeah. He even said that. I was like, “Are you mad at me?” He was like, “No?!?”

Bill – That’s great, (laughs). What do you guys have planned for the record’s release and for the remainder of the year?

Deanna – We’ve got the Cobra Lounge show on September 10th, which is the same day that the record comes out. We’ve been practicing for that already, because we recorded the album separately and haven’t played the record in its entirety together yet. That’s similar to the last album too, but it’s going well. We’ve got more than half of it done at this point. I’m super stoked for that show and think it’s going to be really fun. Then we’re touring with Hot Mulligan and Prince Daddy & The Hyena in November and December. Hopefully we’ll do some more tours next year and I’ve already been working on songs for the next LP. This one is going faster for some reason, so that’s good.

Bill – Wow. Not wasting any time. You mentioned this briefly before, but I remember being at the record release show for Rhombithian and it’s hard to believe that was almost four years ago. With everything that the band has experienced since then, what are some of your favorite memories from the last couple years?

Deanna – Just getting to know my bandmates better. They’re my best friends now and we talk every day. Getting to travel with them too and we have so many inside jokes because they’re all hilarious. Just being around them has made me a better musician. They were actually in band in school, so I’m learning every day from them. I’ve also gotten to play with all of my favorite bands, which is insane and surreal, like Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms and The Hold Steady. We played Riot Fest too and I never imagined that all those things would ever happen. There were no expectations with the first record and now we’re playing with all these bands that were the reason that I even liked music to begin with. That’s kind of crazy.

Bill – That is really cool. When you think about the future of Sincere Engineer, what are some of the things that come to mind?

Deanna – More touring and I want to get over to Europe and Asia and Australia at some point. I’ve wanted to do that, but the timing has never worked out. It’s also really expensive. I want to write more songs and keep working on the next record. Hopefully it won’t take another four years to finish, (laughs).