Last month, we caught up with The Interrupters before their show at the Aragon Ballroom and spoke with bassist Justin Bivona and drummer Jesse Bivona. We talked in detail about their new album, In the Wild, which comes out August 5th on Hellcat Records. We discussed what it was like writing during the early stages of the pandemic and how having guitarist Kevin Bivona also serve as producer helped to shape the sound of the record. Additionally, In the Wild features arguably some of the most personal lyrics to date from singer Aimee Interrupter, and it’s ultimately the common themes found in her words that really tie the album together. We also chatted about the band’s experiences touring with Green Day last year, their memories from previous shows played in Chicago and the extensive touring plans they have for this year and beyond.
Bill – You guys recorded In the Wild during the lockdown in a home studio that was built in your garage. What was that experience like?
Jesse – It was great. We really couldn’t have asked for a better situation. It was the silver lining of the pandemic for us. Just being able to take our time with it and the fact that there was no clock running on the recording process, so everything that we ended up putting out we were able to sit with, live with and be very comfortable releasing.
Justin – Yeah, it was so cool for just the four of us to get in a room together, work on these songs and build them out just the four of us. There were no real outside distractions and we were able to focus on making the best record we could make, and we think we did.
Bill – For sure. With not having those time limitations it would seem kind of relaxed, like you could just take as much time as each song or each part needed.
Jesse – Yeah. And that’s not to say that our past experiences in recording studios have been bad. We’ve been very lucky with how we’ve been able to record our music. But when you’re in a studio, you have an engineer and a producer, and there’s other people’s schedules that have to be accounted for. Like if you have studio time booked at 5:00 PM, then you have to go record that song at 5:00 PM. With this process, if Aimee went in and didn’t feel like singing a song because she didn’t feel the emotions to perform that song, she could just say “Let’s do another one.”
Justin – Or it could be 3:00 AM and she’s like, “Oh, I really wanna go sing this one right now!” and she just had to walk 20 feet into the garage and sing it.
Bill – Awesome. I’m assuming then that this kind of approach really helped to influence the sound of this record…
Justin – Yeah and then also Kevin produced the whole thing and going into it he kind of had a vision for how the record should sound. I think he accomplished his goal and maybe surpassed it in some respects. Also, right before we started this record, we made a movie called This Is My Family! It’s kind of like the live in Tokyo concert with the documentary footage in between. While we were doing that, we were doing a lot of reflecting on our upbringing, our childhood and our musical adventures. During that process, Aimee realized there were a lot of things in her life that she had never written songs specifically about that were really personal. It really allowed her to open up and do that. It’s astounding. There’s one song on the record that’s really personal and we would cry the first few times we listened to it.
Jesse – It took a month for me to stop crying every time I heard it.
Justin – Yeah, she got really, really deep and personal.
Jesse – And maybe that’s just us because we know her so well, but I think it’s going to connect with a lot of other people.
Bill – I think that was apparent the first time I listened to the record; just how personal it is. And I almost feel like that’s kind of what brings all the songs together, because there’s a lot of different styles in the songwriting, but the lyrics make it cohesive.
Justin – Aimee likes to say it’s kind of her life story if you listen to it from beginning to end.
Jesse – It could be a musical one day, (laughs).
Bill – And I meant that as a compliment because it’s not always easy for bands to do, like if you have songs with a lot of different styles on one album to have them all still go together, that’s a unique thing.
Jesse – And we’ve always believed that The Interrupters’ sound is just the four of us playing a song together. So even if we stumbled on a style that’s a little outside of the box for us that we hadn’t really done in the past, once we got it down it would still sound like us. There’s a reggae song on the record. Maybe we haven’t done a reggae song in the past, but this one sounds like The Interrupters playing a reggae song.
Bill – When you go back and listen now, what aspects of the recording are you most pleased with?
Jesse – I’m happy with the performances that Kevin got out of me on the drums. We record everything live, so we’d work the song out as a four-piece, record a little demo of it and live with it for a day or two. Then me, Justin and Kevin would go back into the studio and we’d track the instrumental live. It was nice just to be able to take our time, like I said, but I think Kevin got the best performances from me as a drummer for this record. I’m stoked on it. Every time I listen to it, I’m like “Yeah, I’m so glad I got to do that.” And it was a collaborative process. Kevin’s first instrument was drums, so he’s able to tell me stuff like “Maybe don’t do that fill, play a fill like this.” And when we were in the process of working the songs out style-wise, he’d suggest different beats. I’m just happy with the end product and how everything turned out.
Justin – I think Kevin really got the best performances out of all of us. But also sonically, the fact that we recorded it in our garage and it’s literally one of the best sounding records that I’ve played on. It’s not professionally treated or anything. We did it all ourselves.
Bill – That’s amazing. I had to re-read that part in your press release about where it was recorded, because it really does sound phenomenal.
Jesse – Thank you.
Bill – How do you feel that In the Wild compares to your previous albums?
Justin – I kind of think it’s a continuation. This is our fourth record and I feel like it’s been a progression and a build. There were some personal songs on Fight the Good Fight, but there’s more personal songs on this record. Aimee described it as the first record is like a first date and you don’t really tell the other person a lot. The second date you open up a little more and then as you go on you get more and more personal and you let people know who you really are.
Jesse – This is the fourth date, so all the baggage is out, (laughs).
Bill – I like that analogy. One of my favorite songs on the record is “Jailbird”. That was one that I heard and it just kind of grabbed me immediately. How did that song in particular come together?
Jesse – So that was one of the earlier ones written for the record. We were just talking about this on the bus about 20 minutes ago. It’s about Aimee’s struggle with mental illness. A lot of lyrics in there reference her trichotillomania that she’s dealt with in the past and her PTSD. I think the lyrics paint a pretty good picture of what her experience has been, because it’s been a struggle for most of her life.
Justin – And then musically I think we were just going for kind of a new wave-y punk aspect, something we hadn’t really tried. I remember specifically the day we were doing the organ and Kevin was trying to figure out what to do. We were like, “What if it sounded more like an Elvis Costello style and it was just stabbing and accented?” As soon as he did one take of that he was like, “Oh yeah, that’s it.” And that kind of really helped feed the rest of the production after that. It’s really cool that that one jumped out to you. It was a sleeper for us, we love that song, but a lot of people have been coming up to us and mentioning that one recently.
Bill – Yeah, you know how it is when you listen to an album for the first time. That was one of the three or four that just stuck out right away.
Justin – I also think Aimee’s vocal performance on that is really up front and in your face. And for the content of the lyrics that she’s singing, there’s something about her being so in your face about it. There’s a confidence even though the lyrics are describing a nervousness or that kind of anxiety.
Bill – Last year you guys opened the Hella Mega Tour with Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer. Was there anything that you learned from playing with those bands night after night that maybe surprised you?
Jesse – Oh absolutely. We had toured with Green Day back in 2017 and we learned a whole lot. It was like a master class in live performance. But also, behind the scenes, like how they treat their crew, it’s a family vibe and that’s something we’ve always tried to do. They’re playing baseball stadiums and Billie Joe can somehow get the people in the very back, in the nosebleeds, in the palm of his hand. It’s mind-blowing to witness in person. And that was something we picked up on back in 2017 when we were doing arenas and stuff with them in Europe and Australia and South America. Just the connection he can get with the audience is definitely something.
Justin – I feel like there could be 100 people in the audience or there could be 50,000 people in the audience, he’s putting out the same energy, the same show and he’s got everyone united and singing together. There was something really inspirational about that. But also, one of the things we learned from them is when you go out and play, you put on your best show possible for everybody. Don’t overthink it, just get out there and do what you know is the best thing you can do.
Bill – You guys are playing Aragon this Friday and having played Chicago numerous times in the past, I wanted to ask do you have any favorite memories from your previous shows in Chicago?
Jesse – Wrigley is an obvious big memory. That was amazing.
Justin – That was huge, but the very first time we ever played Chicago was Riot Fest in 2013. We were opening on a tour with Rancid and our first record wasn’t out yet. They somehow put us on a timeslot opposite of the Flag reunion. There were only two options, we were the only bands playing then, and we got a couple thousand people watching us. It was the biggest crowd for us at that point in our career. I just remember being onstage and thinking it was great because we got people to sing along and dance. It was cool.
Jesse – It was our first major festival experience where we had thousands of eyes just looking at us. And just the lineup the rest of the day. Riot Fest always has a killer lineup. We played and then I feel like we saw X and The Selecter.
Justin – I think Blink-182 played that night. And then after that being able to come back to Chicago and headline and sell-out the House of Blues on our own…
Jesse – Dream come true. Check that off the list.
Bill – Awesome. After you finish your current tour with Flogging Molly, what else does the band have planned for this year?
Justin – In August we’re going to Europe and the UK. We’re going to do some headlining shows and some festivals. We have The Skints opening the UK shows with The Bar Stool Preachers as support also. They’re a really good band from the UK that we love. When that finishes in early September we fly right back and start the second leg of the Flogging Molly tour. And then we’re still working out the rest of the year and next year and everything that’s going to come with this new album. It’s really exciting. There’s a lot on the docket.
Jesse – We’re trying to go to all the corners of the world. We’re talking about Japan and Australia and South America. We want to do Europe and the UK again, and do a proper headlining tour in the States for the record. Nothing’s off the table. We’re full force going forward.
