The Process:

It was November of 2013 and we had gotten together at Mansfield University to play our first show since July. We were at the point of being a bit sick of playing the songs we had and really wanted some new material to add to our set. Our college schedules made it a bit difficult to get together but our winter breaks happened to line up in a way that gave us about a week of time when we’d all be home. We set aside the 1st through the 5th of January to write and record a new EP. Our band is in a unique situation because two of us have gone to school for sound engineering so we have the benefit of recording and producing ourselves. Originally we planned to use a cabin in the woods, where our old band did an EP, to write and record “Grainy Days.” The day before our session was suppose to start, the temperature was projected to be below zero the entire time so we decided to use our drummers house where heat would be ensured (or so we thought). Oddly enough, the temperature managed to work it’s way into the lyrics of both “It’s Easy” and “Mosaic”. We didn’t spend anytime prior to the 1st working on writing and decided instead to constrain the entire writing and recording process into the five day window. Our last album “Armoire” was a lengthy nine month process so we wanted to force ourselves to be quick and concise this time around. The 17 hour days paid off and ended up being the most creative period our band has ever had. It’s still a bit of a whirlwind to us now because of how quickly the whole thing came together.

Separate and Low

Tyler: The name explains it all. When I wrote these lyrics the distance was starting to eat me up. I find it amusing when we produce a song that has an “upbeat” feel with really pretty negative lyrics because most people don’t understand that it’s a sad song. People will say things like, “Oh that song has such a happy summer-y feel to it!” yet in my mind I know what I was thinking when I wrote the lyrics. Depression. Anxiety. Anger. Whatever it happens to be. It’s actually pretty funny to see them with a big smile on their face singing these really sad words like, “A winter solstice gun fight, and I brought my best knife!” That’s what I imagine this song will be like when it hits the streets. But hey, I’m just happy when I see people enjoying our music, no matter how they do it. This song was written during a time of anxiety related to being away from the girl I love.

Jeremy: I remember when Tyler first sent a demo of this song to us. I was in my first semester away at school and this song instantly struck me. I had left a lot, a girl, my family, my friends and my life behind and truly missed it all. Although I didn’t pen the lyrics; “it pains me to say this, but now I must go, separate and low” summed up my feelings in a way I would’ve never had the strength to say. We were all dealing with separation in different ways and Tyler was able to channel the feelings into this song. On a much lighter note, I’ve always wanted to write a sitcom, and if I ever do, this will be the theme song. It just has a TV theme song feel to it.

Paul: To me, the most interesting aspect in our writing process is that I literally have no idea where a song is heading while we’re working on a part. I might have my assumptions based on how we tend to format songs, but even when a song seems so straightforward front-to-back, Tyler is able to put in a style of writing lyrics that brings the song to another level.

It’s Easy
Tyler: Ahh, It’s Easy; Another love song. “I wanted to be alone, where it’s comfortable and calm, I feel the same when I’m with you.” I’m a fairly introverted person in many ways. I need time to recharge from being around people. But some people I can just be around all the time and never lose energy. I think when you find the right person, of course it’s going to take sacrifice, but she/he will make it feel easy. “It feels natural.”

Jeremy: In October of 2013 I had the pleasure of attending one of Sirs final shows. I got back to my room after the show, picked up my guitar and the opening riff to this song was the first thing I played. A minute or two later I was messing around and played what would become the chorus chords. In three minutes total I had written the basis for the verse and chorus and just put down my guitar and left. It was one of those times a part just flowed out and I knew I had to just leave it be. When we got together, on the first day of writing/recording, to assemble the parts into a full song it continued to flow out of us with the finished song put together in an hour and half. We proceeded to record it the following day and it is by far the quickest and most organically we’ve ever created a song and is one of my favorites because of that.

Paul: This is a song that I’m still incredibly excited about, because it feels so new still! This EP was a collection that we pulled together from stockpiles of little parts we’ve had floating around, but “It’s Easy” was a song that came together extremely fast in terms of how we write, and it’s been amazing to find that after some time we all still enjoy how it turned out.

Ellameno

Tyler: This song is fast. I’ve never sung so fast before. But I like it because it reflects the idea of furious, racing thoughts. When you find someone who can put up with your deepest, ugliest struggles, think twice before letting go. I find myself dealing with anger and knowing that “she said it’s not a problem. I’m here for you no matter where you want to take me” is completely reassuring.

Jeremy: The name Ellameno came about from an, admittedly drunk, conversation Phil, Paul and I had while celebrating Paul’s 21st birthday. We thought it was a clever title to name something and it somehow just stuck.

Paul: I’m really happy to know that we were able to develop this song into something of our own. It really felt like it came out of left field for a lot of us, so working with such a different song idea was a refreshing challenge for the way we work. Tyler absolutely nailed the style of the song in his vocal parts, so that was just icing on the cake to me.

Mosaic

Tyler: This is a song about waiting. It’s so amazing to look back on the journey this band has been on. Most of us have been playing together for the better part of 4 years and Atlas Arrows has been together for 2. We’ve traveled more than we ever would have imagined, playing close to a hundred shows, in a good portion of the north eastern U.S. Waiting to see our fame. Waiting to find our soul mates. Waiting to start our lives after college. Waiting to start Puberty (lolz). Whatever it was, we were always waiting for the next step, and we continue to do so. This song is a mosaic of all the little pieces we’ve been putting together for all of these years. We know this isn’t the end. There are still pieces left to place.

Jeremy: This was the toughest one on the EP to put together. The foundation came from two separate parts Tyler had lying around that we really liked. We struggled for the first three days of the session to try and fabricate them into a full song. There was probably 3 or 4 different versions of the song that we tried to force into working but none of them were right and we almost cut the song entirely. On the second to last day we finally put together something we were happy with, but to be honest I don’t think any of us had total confidence in the song still. It was very exciting to watch this song slowly build as we furiously recorded it. We’re definitely happy we didn’t cut it.

Paul: Considering how many times we tried to put this song together in different ways and never felt confident with it, it’s no surprise to me that is has one of the most original forms we’ve put into a song. I think we’re really lucky to have the line-up that we do in this band, because our strengths work together to get everything that we can out of a song, and I’ve never felt like we’ve left something on the table when it comes to getting the most out of the songs we work on.