Touché Amoré talks new music ahead of Southern California stops – Daily News

Touché Amoré does not claim to have an exact methodology for escaping the doom spiral.

The subject of the band’s upcoming release “Spiral in a Straight Line,” out on Rise Records on Friday, October 11, lead guitarist Clayton Stevens and bassist Tyler Kirby offer their fans some advice: trust your intuition as you navigate the rollercoaster of life.

“We’re all looking and doing everything we can to feel whole and complete,” Stevens said during a Zoom call. “It’s always a never-ending journey, so I don’t know if it’s our job to tell people how to cope. We owe our viewers respect and honesty. It’s up to people to connect with it in their own way and discover how to navigate it. I would say don’t be so hard on yourself and accept the fact that sometimes it won’t be good, but you will get through it.

Touché Amoré will embark on a headlining tour beginning October 9 at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles, with an additional stop at the Casbah in San Diego on October 11 with support from Soul Glo, Portrayal of Guilt and Soft Blue Shimmer.

“We’re going to put everything we can into it and give people a really good, hardcore show,” Stevens said. “I can confidently say that we stand behind the squad you will see. Many people across the country haven’t had the opportunity to hear a band like Soft Blue Shimmer open the show, so I highly recommend people get to the show early because if you don’t, you’ll soon be kicking yourself.”

1 With 2

From L-R: Jeremy Bolm, Elliot Babin, Tyler Kirby, Nick Steinhardt and Clayton Stevens of Touché Amoré will perform at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 9 and at The Casbah in San Diego on Friday, October 11. (Photo: Sean Stout)

Increase

Spiral in a Straight Line is the group’s sixth album and perhaps one of the band’s most unflinching. The record contains all the elements of Touché Amoré’s signature product: fusions of loud, rhythmic instruments led by the poetic, primal words of frontman Jeremy Bolm, and all of it, of course, delivered without interruption in less than 30 minutes. Songs like “Disasters” and “Force of Habit” exude mental spiral themes, and their lyrics contain internalizing doubts and negative thoughts that can spiral into muddled self-deprecation.

“‘Spiral In A Straight Line’ is probably our most aggressive record since maybe ‘Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me,'” Kirby said. “We went back a little bit in that direction, but it all felt natural.”

The album also features collaborations with Lou Barlow, the king of lo-fi and founding member of Dinosaur Jr., as well as returning collaborator Julien Baker of boygenius, whose vocals on closing track “Goodbye For Now” provide a chilling melodic contrast to Bolm’s grating vocals vocals and chaotic hits of drums and guitars.

Another standout single is the catchy pop-punk “Hal Ashby,” which references the director while nodding to the film industry with visuals of theater booths and the iconic vintage Paramount studio logo. and staying on par with the album’s theme. The single’s lyrics also stay in line with the album’s themes: “Hal Ashby’s disaster the wrong way/Not exactly something you plan on/You gotta handle it gracefully.”

This isn’t the first time the Burbank band has paid tribute to filmmakers. The song “Palm Dreams” from the fourth album “Stage Four” is a tribute to the experimental and surrealist director David Lynch. Stevens said that growing up in Los Angeles, a key city for the film industry, and being around people working in production on film sets influenced the band’s music.

“Growing up here has given us a unique perspective, the ability to see remnants of film all around us and plays a huge role in each of us as individuals,” Stevens said. “We try to let that come into our art through the subconscious or conscious.”

Legendary producer Ross Robinson, who collaborated with them on their previous release “Lament”, also returned to the group. Robinson, also known as the “Godfather of Nu Metal,” earned this title by working on some of the most prolific releases of his era, including albums by Slipknot, Soulfly and Korn. He also collaborated with post-hardcore icons Glassjaw, At The Drive-In and atmospheric English rockers The Cure.

Robinson’s production methods have been characterized as unconventional, ranging from allegedly throwing potted plants at late Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison to capturing Korn frontman Jonathan Davis’s emotional breakdown in the studio following the recording of “Daddy,” a song written by Davis that recounts persistent sexual abuse by his childhood babysitter and the dismissive reaction he received from his parents after bringing this to their attention.

However, as Stevens and Kirby worked together, they found that their experiences with Robinson were not as disconnected from reality as some stories about him. Stevens said the band and producer worked quite well together on their previous album, and by the end they felt creatively in sync, as if their work together wasn’t quite finished yet.

“Make no mistake, Ross is a complicated person and sometimes he is our biggest cheerleader and other times he is our drill sergeant,” Stevens said. “It requires full concentration, attention to art and seriousness in the process. There are no preconceived notions of what a band should be like, and I think that’s cool and different compared to a lot of producers. We all have a lot of respect for Ross.”

“His creativity is so contagious. I’ve never met anyone as creative as him in my life,” Kirby added. “Just being around his energy is very inspiring. It’s all about matching emotions to lyrics or melody and bringing them out through music.”

“Spiral in a Straight Line” is one of Touché Amoré’s many achievements in almost 20 years of working together. Like many of their fans who have gone from hardcore kids to adulthood with a hardcore kid at heart, they realize that the future of punk rock and hardcore will always belong to the youth.

“Young people decide what the moment is about,” Stevens said. “Young people will always adapt to the moment. I really believe in it. Yes, older people, if we’re talking about people in their 30s, 40s, 50s or whatever, older people still connect with music because music is bigger than all of that. That’s the beautiful thing about hardcore: it can unite us all.”

Touch Amore

Where: Regent Theatre, 448 Main St., Los Angeles.

When: 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9.

Tickets: $42.25 at Ticketmaster.com.

Also: 8:30 p.m. on Friday, October 11 at The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Tickets are $27-$30 at casbahmusic.com.