Out Of Sight‘s debut full-length ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ is released today and it’s an absolute belter. Singer/guitarist Jake Robbins gives us the full low-down:
So Jake, it’s been a couple of months of big announcements and achievements for you guys. How are things in the Out Of Sight camp right now?
Everything is really exciting at the moment. It’s been years of frustration and waiting around. We’ve been a band for about 10 years now, so we feel it’s about time people start taking us seriously. It feels like everything is starting to fall into place.
Your debut album ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ is finally out today. It’s been a long time coming. Correct me if I’m wrong but your last EP came out in 2006?! How much of a relief is it to finally get it out there for public ears?
You are correct! Ridiculous really isn’t it? It’s a mixture of feelings to be honest. Relief to finally let everyone hear an album we worked so hard on and are very proud of, but it being sitting around for a long time you get nervous as to whether it’s still as relevant as it was when we wrote it. When we wrote it we weren’t trying to be part of any particular musical movement. We were just trying to write good songs. We’ve never been a band for gimmicks, so hopefully it’s still relevant.
We’ve had a sampler of the album streaming on the PT homepage this week. What has the fan reaction been like so far?
You have indeed. Thank you very much for sorting that out! It has been great to be honest, really nice to hear positive feedback on something you spent such a long time creating. We’re actually still waiting for the first bad one! We always find them funny. You have to learn take how take criticism in this industry.
It’s coming out on Slam Dunk Records, who you signed with earlier in the year. As their first signing since they ‘broke’ You Me At Six, do you feel there’s a lot of pressure on you for the album to do well?
Not really to be honest. The only pressure we feel is from ourselves, we’ve always been hard on ourselves but not expected too much! I think that’s the best way so you don’t take things for granted. I mean – we want to be successful, but this is album is only supposed to be a new introduction to our band to people that haven’t heard of us before. We’re not too bothered about how people get hold of it. We just want to people to hear it, hopefully love it and to come enjoy the live experience with us.
How did the writing/recording process of the album shape up? We understand you went over the States to make it…
Yeah, we recorded the album with Playwork Productions, who have worked with Four Year Strong and Valencia. After sending our demo’s to a few producers, they showed an enthusiasm for our band that we had never experienced. They just got so excited about the songs and we decided that we couldn’t turn that down as it’s so rare to come by.
We spent about 6 months writing for the album, then spent 2 months in Philadelphia recording. It was an amazing experience, so much fun but really intense at the same time. We would be spending like 13-14 hours in the studio and only had 3 days off. Even with all that time somehow we were still recording my last vocal whilst everyone was in the car waiting to go to the airport. That last day was pretty horrible – so stressful knowing that you are against the clock, but that feeling on finishing was just unreal!
Lyrically, what sort of experiences shaped the album for you?
Just before we wrote this album Ben’s dad passed away. He was very close to all of us, like our second father, and obviously it was a very hard time for us. Our band pretty much didn’t exist at that time, and we were at a stage where we had been doing this for a long time and not that much was happening for us. We kind of came to a crossroads with it all. We all sat down and decided we were going to write an album, not another EP and luckily we had the backing of Scylla Records, who were great to us. We were like ‘If this is the last thing the band does, at least we will have an album to look back on and be proud of’, which inspired songs like ‘Let’s Make Shit Happen’. Thankfully i think that attitude made us make the best album we possibly could at the time, and has now created a lot of opportunities for us.
When writing the album we were all between 19-21. So mostly it was just about everyday life. Like getting out of work/school or relationships, whether it be with the fans or females. We made a decision that we wanted every song to be about something different. Whatever we wrote about we wanted to put a positive spin on everything.
Which song off ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ means the most to you and why?
‘Where Do We Go From Here’ is definitely the song means the most. It was about Ben’s dad passing away and that time when we weren’t a band. It was the first time we had ever delved into a subject that deep and personal to us, kind of unfamiliar territory. I think it was a defining moment for our band for that reason, both musically and lyrically.
I remember after writing the first verse lyrics, showing them to Sean and he just started crying, but that song still has the positive spin I mentioned earlier. It’s more like a ‘thank you’ for what he taught us, and for believing in us.
As well as the new record, you guys have been nominated for Best British Newcomer at this year’s Kerrang! Awards. Firstly how did you react/celebrate when you found out and secondly, what would it mean to you guys to win?
Insane, isn’t it!? We never really thought we would be nominated. Of course we were trying for it, like every band does.
I got woken up by a text from Jack Fairbrother (Not Advised) saying congrats, and I was like, ‘Congrats on what mate?’ haha! It was a great feeling, though
We celebrated by having a BBQ and getting pissed, as you do, and watched England win their only game of the World Cup against Slovenia. Good day all round!
It would be incredible if we won, we wouldn’t know what to do, the celebrations would get out of hand! It would be amazing if all of PT could get behind British Pop Punk though and help us win! Proving that it’s on the way up.
Finally, in no more than a hundred words, tell us why should someone go spend the hard-earned cash on Out Of Sight’s new record!
It’s a fun-filled record full of uplifting and positives songs that could be the soundtrack to your summer. It fits the mood of all your BBQs and parties and will go nicely with the best weather we’ve seen for years. It also has great artwork and is in a digipack! (the cardboard packaging). So it’s a must buy!