Last month, Sincere Engineer released their third full-length and second for Hopeless Records, titled Cheap Grills. The record represents a new high-water mark for the band, with everything from the writing to the performances, as well as the production, being taken up a significant notch. Longtime fans can rest assured too, as their patented brand of humor and seamless blend of punk and Midwest emo remain present in abundance. We spoke with singer/guitarist Deanna Belos on the day that Cheap Grills was released. We discussed the album’s writing process and what it was like recording out of state in Massachusetts. We also talked about the inspiration for the record’s title, the band’s experience playing Lollapalooza this summer, their plans for a hometown record release show and more.
Bill – With the band’s last full-length being released just a little over two years ago, at what point did you start writing songs for Cheap Grills? Did you do a lot of writing while on tour or did these songs come together more in the studio?
Deanna – I think I probably had a few done even before we did the last record. If I don’t think a song is quite ready yet, I’ll go back and edit it until I think it is. So, some of the songs are older and some of them I just wrote in between tours. I never write on the road, because it’s impossible to find the time. I don’t write every day or anything like that. It just kind of happens when it happens or whenever I have free-time. Then we booked studio time and I think I wrote a few more songs just because the pressure was kind of on at that point.
Bill – I can see how that would be good motivation though.
Deanna – Yeah, for sure. I like to have at least 13 or 14 songs before I even tell anyone that there’s a record that’s ready to go. That way some weaker songs get pushed out. This time I had two songs that I wrote while we were waiting to go into the studio.
Bill – Just out of curiosity, did those last two songs end up making the album?
Deanna – Yeah, I’m pretty sure “Code Orange” was one of them and I can’t remember the other one. It might’ve been “Cinderblocks.”
Bill – Got it. So, you guys recorded Cheap Grills with Mike Sapone at Ghost Hit Recording in Massachusetts. How was this experience in the studio different from your previous albums?
Deanna – It was different in that we’d never worked with Mike before and we’ve always recorded in Chicago. This time we had two weeks and we had to travel out there. It was isolating, but it was also awesome to only have the record to focus on and nothing else. Two weeks is not a lot of time to make an album, so it was kind of crunch-time. We did some pre-production with Mike out here for a few days and I had sent him the songs a few months before, so we’d talked and shared ideas leading up to the recording session. We kind of knew what we were doing as soon as we got to the studio, because we didn’t have a ton of time to mess around. It worked out super-well and Mike was awesome.
Bill – The studio that you guys were at is in an old church, right?
Deanna – Yeah, it used to be a church and they gutted it. The first level is apartments, so you can sleep the whole band. Each apartment had a kitchen and a washing machine. It was kind of like vacation, but we got to all hang out and have a summer camp experience in the middle of winter. And then upstairs is the live room and that’s where the main room of the church was. There’s a big organ on the wall and stuff. It was so cool. And next door there’s a graveyard, so it was a little bit creepy too.
Bill – With you guys being together for the entire time, were there certain arrangements that maybe came together because you were in that kind of situation?
Deanna – Things were definitely pretty ironed-out before we got there. “Landline” we kind of had to work on a little bit in the studio because it wasn’t coming together the way that we wanted. Ultimately it did, but we did spend some time on that one. The rest of them we kind of had the idea already.
Bill – That makes sense. Between the release of your last album and this one, you guys did a significant amount of touring. How do you feel that impacted the songs on this record?
Deanna – I think I’m more in a travel mindset now. I used to hate it and now it’s just kind of part of my life. I’ve grown to like it and it definitely shows in the songs. There’s a lot of songs about traveling. “Scratched,” for example, is pretty much about touring. So is “Library of Broken Bindings.” I write about my life and then obviously it comes out when I travel more.
Bill – Sure. I feel the song “Inside My Head” really illustrates your band’s ability to mix emo and punk influences, along with lyrics that are especially personal. Do you recall what some of your initial motivations were when writing this song?
Deanna – Yeah, it was kind of about being overworked and the monotony of getting up early every day and working. That’s come up in several of my songs over the years. I liked the idea of using my will to live as like an item that would just be lying around the house, but then it’s also inside your head. And then everyone’s like, “Oh, it’s all just inside your head,” except it’s not.
Bill – Right. It’s a real thing too.
Deanna – Totally. I can’t remember how long ago I wrote that one. I used to work at Northwestern and that was part of it. My hours were 6:00 AM – 2:30 PM, so that feeling of waking up at 4:00 in the morning is not fun.
Bill – I can relate. I once had a job that I had to be up for at 3:30 AM, so I definitely know the feeling. I also wanted to ask about the song “Library of Broken Bindings.” I really liked the demo version of that song, which came out last year, and then it went through a transformation as far as the version that’s on the album. Can you tell me about that song’s evolution?
Deanna – Shortly after the pandemic I had those two songs that came out, “Bottle Lightning Twice” and that one. I worked with my producer, Matt Jordan, and it was just a between albums thing. Just him and me made it and it was kind of seeing what it would be like if I made something a little more poppy and electronic than our typical punk sound. And of course, everybody shit their pants about it and was like, “Oh no, they’ve changed.” And I was just like, “Just having some fun. Everybody calm down.” I envisioned that song as a punk song from the get-go. It could definitely have a second life. It totally worked out and it’s one of my favorite songs on the record. So, there’s a version for when you’re trying to go to sleep and there’s a version for a show.
Bill – (Laughs). That’s perfect. Where did you get the idea for the album’s title and the cover art?
Deanna – So it took me forever to come up with a name for it. We were done recording and it was mastered already and I was like, “Oh my god, I gotta think of something.” A lot of the songs on this record…I cleaned out my parent’s basement and garage over the last year, so it’s been a lot of going through old memories. “Old Coat Pocket” is one in particular. I was still working on that and then I stumbled upon that picture and was like, “Oh my god, that’s perfect.” It’s my dad in the ‘80s. My mom took it, but accidentally cropped his head off in the photo. And then the name came to me a little bit later. I was just kind of making stupid puns with it. I’m a really goofy person in real life and don’t take anything too seriously. I was like, “This is our most serious album so far, even though it’s got some funny stuff on it. I’m just going to choose a really ridiculous name and I don’t even care.”
Bill – Yeah, when I first saw the cover art and read the album title it almost reminded me of an AC/DC album. Like an AC/DC album could’ve easily been named Cheap Thrills or something.
Deanna – That’s what I was going for. For sure. Not to be ridiculous, but it looked really rock ‘n’ roll to me. It’s like kind of provocative, but not really, (laughs).
Bill – Kind of provocative, but in a suburban dad kind of way.
Deanna – Exactly, yeah. As soon as I saw it, I was like “Oh, I don’t have to think about this anymore. That’s it.”
Bill – That’s awesome. So, in the last couple months, you guys played Lollapalooza and you threw out the first pitch at a White Sox game. What were those experiences like?
Deanna – They were wild. It’s been a super-fun and surreal summer. Both things I never expected would happen. The Sox game was great. My whole family and my friends came out. And Lolla was crazy. It was really hot out, but we still had a great time.
Bill – How was the crowd response at Lolla? I would imagine a lot of people probably weren’t familiar with you guys.
Deanna – To be honest, it wasn’t the biggest crowd in the world and I feel like a lot of the people there did already know us. I know a lot of my friends were in the audience, so that’s why I can say that. I know the first couple rows were just fans of The 1975, who were camping out for the entire day and waiting for them. I even got some comments later in the day from people who were like, “I really liked your set. I was just camping out for other bands when we saw you guys.” So that’s cool. I’ve probably never been as nervous as I was before that show, even though I get nervous all the time.
Bill – Speaking of experiences that might’ve been a little nerve-wracking, you recently performed with Gaslight Anthem at Riot Fest and sang “The ’59 Sound.” How did that come about?
Deanna – We played the Four Chord festival in Pittsburgh in August and Dave Hause introduced me to Brian, (Gaslight Anthem singer/guitarist Brian Fallon). We were backstage and chatting it up because we’re all kind of in a similar scene. We just became really quick friends. One day we were texting and he asked if I wanted to sing a song with them. I was like, “Are you crazy? Of course!”
Bill – So did you pick the song or did he suggest it?
Deanna – He asked what song I’d like to do and I gave him a short list. He was like, “You should do ‘The ’59 Sound.’ It’ll be good in the set placement and it’s a fan-favorite.” He was very, very nice to me. I sent him our new record the day after I met him and he had really nice things to say about it. He’s super-supportive and it was really cool to meet him.
Bill – That’s amazing. What are some of the things that you’re looking forward to most about your upcoming headlining tour?
Deanna – I don’t know what to expect. We’ve never done a headlining tour before, so it’s kind of scary. They’re not huge rooms, but I’m just excited to try and bring back that Quenchers vibe, like more intimate shows, in all these different cities. I’m very excited to play with Cliffdiver and I got Canadian Rifle to come out, an old Chicago band, and they’re very stoked too. It should be fun.
Bill – Do you guys have anything planned beyond the upcoming headlining tour?
Deanna – Yeah, our hometown record release show will be at Metro on December 23rd. That’s probably the thing I’m most excited about. They wanted me to wait until after these in-store appearances to announce it. All of my favorite bands have played at the Metro. That’s where I used to go when I was like 12 years old and wait at 3:00 in the afternoon to go see Alkaline Trio and Against Me! and The Lawrence Arms. Everybody in Chicago knows what an important venue it is. It’s an honor that they’re letting us have the record release show there. We got The Brokedowns and Canadian Rifle again, so I got some of my favorite bands to play. I think it’s going to be a really fun time.
Tickets for the show are available here.
