All-around Breakdown: At The Interview Go Behind The Music of New Album POSTHUMOUS
At The Interview playing a live gig with MIke Walker & Tyler Vinci-Smith (CREDIT: Ashley DeMarco @ashleyxxrenee)
At The Interview (affectionately known as A.T.I., for short) cryptically describe themselves on their Spotify page’s band bio as “Posthumously yours…” A.T.I. is a New Jersey-based that occupies the convergence wherein Pop meets Punk “n” Rock meets Roll. Their musical tastes can also be fittingly described, in one snappy, cohesive sentence, as in-your-face Melodic Punk Rock. A.T.I. first formed over the summer of 2015 with initial members including frontman Tyler DeMarco, guitarist Rodger Williams, bassist Reggie Carey, drummer E.J. Baker, and a brief stint with a second guitarist named Joe Szatny. From 2015-20, At The Interview went through a rotating cast of membership including drummers Don Montgomery, Paul Berthold, and Shaefon Davis, and bassists Matt Eldredge & Mike Erickson. After enough member swapping and in-and-out membership to rival The Misfits or even Black Flag, E.J. Baker & Matt Eldredge exited one final time, leaving DeMarco & Williams as the sole founding members by the fall of 2020. Up to that point in time, A.T.I. had released their Nowhere Fast EP, Bandcamp-exclusive MEME EP, eight singles, and two official music videos.
Amidst their membership shuffling and shake-ups and, oh yeah, just a little thing called COVID-19 Lockdowns, A.T.I. had been playing live shows/streams sporadically and writing, recording, and working towards assembling their long-awaited and hotly anticipated full-length debut album. While the ill-fated album never saw a proper release, it was written between 2017-21 and recorded from 2020-21. Tyler & Rodger gradually released three singles from the would-be A.T.I. album throughout 2021, “T-Swiftin’ It, Pt. 2,” “Fake,” and “Dizzy,” and after that, the collection was seemingly shelved. However, on the evening of December 3, 2023, Tyler & Rodger hosted a Facebook/Instagram livestream billed as an “A.T.I. HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT.” If you tuned in like us, you would already know it was the announcement of the existence of the actual factual At The Interview album, POSTHUMOUS, and its release, which would be shared on 12/22. We got a chance to speak with the long-time core line-up of Tyler “Ty” DeMarco & Rodger “Hodge” Williams (the current live line-up also features bassist Tyler “Ty Smith” Vinci-Smith and drummer Michael “Black Mike” Walker) about the making-of and stories behind what we now know as POSTHUMOUS. Check out Ty & Hodge’s track-by-track breakdown and go stream At The Interview’s POSTHUMOUS on your streaming service of choice while you read along. Enjoy this special Christmas gift from A.T.I. to you!
Rodger Williams: I was going for a Killswitch Engage - “My Curse” kinda vibe, but wanted to brighten it up some to fit our style. I’ve always loved their harmony guitars and wanted a big chorus with a heavy breakdown.
Tyler DeMarco: I remember y]Rodger texting me a voice memo with the chorus riff while I was at my mom’s house watching my brother. I immediately went into the basement and knew the chorus needed to sound huge and the hook and lyrics just came to me right away; within minutes, I texted him back my idea for the chorus vocals and we knew the chorus was too strong to ignore and finished the rest of the song at our next practice. It’s funny because I’d say, musically, the intro screams old school Killswitch [Engage,] but, vocally, I was going for more of a Chino Moreno [(of Deftones)]-ish sound. Then, [for] the chorus, I definitely was inspired more by Howard [Jones formerly of] Killswitch [Engage]. The song is pretty heavy for us, but, of course, the verses have that O.G. [At The Interview] (A.T.I.) Pop-punk style. Oh, and that ending! I’m a sucker for surprise endings, especially, breakdowns haha.
Williams: I love that [crunchy] beginning on bass. I wrote this jawn in the room at practice and it just came to me out of the blue. Rob [Bulman] made this song on drums. The chorus straight bangs. For this album, I really wanted to hit with big choruses and I think we certainly achieved that here. The ending of the song has got a bit of [an] A Day to Remember breakdown vibe.
DeMarco: I recall one day at practice, Rodger showing me an idea he had for a chorus, but it was unfinished and he needed another line for it. After some run-throughs, we nailed it down and I presented him my ideas for what could be the verses. I wanted to have the verses feel kind of open and free-flowing with the drums carrying it along and the vocal melody intertwined within the beat, so that way the chorus would really hit. We felt the song needed to go out with a bang, so cue the heavy breakdown ending. In my mind, I was definitely tapping into some Randy Blythe/Lamb of God vocals. Last, but not least, the drums on the this song are absolutely insane. Rob [Bulman] captured exactly what we envisioned and more on this track, so shout-out to him for really elevating it with his playing. Maybe, our heaviest song ever.
Williams: I wanted to this track to be in your face right from the jump. This song felt like it was something a lot different than what we usually do.
DeMarco: “My Room” has been a staple at our live shows for some time now and perfect to use when we need to inject some energy into our set and get the crowd engaged. It’s probably my favorite song to play live. We wrote this a while back after I showed Rodger a song called “All Good Junkies Go to Heaven” by Glassjaw when I needed an example of how I wanted our sound to evolve at that point. It was really our first attempt at writing a Post-hardcore or Emo sounding song. Vocal influences on here for me would definitely be Jeremy Enigk [Sunny Day Real Estate], Geoff Rickly [Thursday/United Nations], and Daryl Palumbo [Glassjaw/Head Automatica].
Williams: I wanted to write a song that we could try and pitch to the Philadelphia Flyers to use at their games.
DeMarco: This was our tongue-in-cheek attempt at writing a “Radio Rock” anthem. Kind of in the vein of Rise Against or AFI, but, of course, we had to throw in a weird off-time breakdown in the end to show our true colors. Who knows, maybe, you’ll be sitting at a Philadelphia Flyers game one day and hear this song pumping through the speakers.
Williams: This track is a vibe. Pop-punky!
DeMarco: No-frills Pop-punk. I believe this is the only track on the record to feature an acoustic guitar. I enjoyed writing this song more than I, actually, enjoy listening back to it now. At the time, it was super-cathartic for me to put into words how I was feeling, but it’s not something I’m emotionally ready to re-visit in 2024.
Williams: For “Beneath Me,” I just wanted to do something simple and fun. In essence, it’s just a nice head-bob song with another big chorus. The ending is pretty nice too. It’s something different that we haven’t done before.
DeMarco: Classic Pop-punk with all the bells and whistles. I had a lot of fun in the studio with this one getting to add a bunch of little nuances and touches that weren’t originally there when we wrote it. Funny enough, we, actually, recorded a version of this song years ago with our buddy, Doug [Douglas Cassel], who was offering us a free session at his studio. Ultimately, we weren’t satisfied with how it came out, so years later, we re-purposed it and turned it into the clap-along, finger-snapping, toe-tapping banger it is today.
Williams: It’s a relatable song to our fellow musicians with weird time signatures. In the studio, we created the ending and the break part with the help of John [Mendel] & Rob [Bulman]. We wanted to have a “live” kinda feel to it and, of course, [couldn’t] forget the head-banging end with strong leads!
DeMarco: The only song on the album (besides some gang vocals) to feature Rodger singing. This was a fun sing-along song. It’s got kind of a Jimmy Eat World or early Fall Out Boy vibe to it. FUN FACT: the “live” outro is, literally, just Rodger, John, and I doing all the voices, cheering, chanting, whistling, and clapping. Talk about studio magic!
Williams: Rob [Bulman] made this song, as well, and John [Mendel] killed it on the bass. It’s a really fun song to play live, too. I wanted a nice head-bang ending and that’s exactly what we got.
DeMarco: It took us a loooong time to write what you finally hear now on the record. Many scrapped choruses, changed lyrics, [and] different melodies and tempos until sh*t finally stuck. John & Rob knocked this one out of the park, too. The rhythm section really brings it all together. Another fun one to play live.
Williams: When we were writing “TidalxWaves,” we wanted [original member] Matt [Eldredge] to shine a bit with a bass intro. That guitar riff in the beginning with the drums coming in always gets me a little excited. Honestly, I think it’s the best song we ever wrote, musically speaking. It flows very well and John [Mendel] rocked a nice bass riff to pull the chorus together.
DeMarco: Definitely a fan favorite. Very dark, brooding, and emotional. I can’t put my finger on to why, but it’s unlike everything else we’ve written before it. We knew we couldn’t put it out until we changed the original chorus, so we re-wrote it completely and it all fell into place. In the studio, I really wanted the piano and strings to be highlighted, especially, at the end to really tie it together. I think it worked well.
Williams: Honestly, [I] don’t recall the song-writing behind this one too much. Very similar chord structure to “Désavouer.”
DeMarco: The final track on the album deals with coming to terms with loss, feeling worthless and used, and ready to re-claim one’s former self. We wanted the ending to sound tormented and haunting, then, let everything drop out one by one until there was nothing left.
At The Interview’s Rodger Williams & Tyler DeMarco playing a Halloween livestream (SOURCE: Tyler DeMarco)
