Honor Choir - Sound In The Signals Interview
I recently had the opportunity to interview Honor Choir. We discussed the writing and recording process for their new EP, lyrical inspiration, how music can be an escape, artwork, vinyl, upcoming plans, and more. Check it out below.
First, thanks for the interview.
Thank you for having us! I'm stoked to chat again.
You’ve been pretty busy and built some great buzz since the last time I interviewed the band. You signed with Sunday Drive which is a fantastic label. How did you end up working with them?
Prior to putting out "Animal/Beat Up Foreign Car" I had sent an email to SDR just to say "hey, we're a new band, we're about to put these songs out. We've got some work to put in, but if ever there's room for Honor Choir on the roster, we'd love to work together in the future." A couple of days after dropping the singles, Izzy from Glare had brought the tracks to the attention of Jonathan at SDR. With a cosign from some of our other friends as well, Jonathan made a point to reach out to us and follow up on that initial email. We had a few conversations and mutually agreed that we should work to put out this record together.
Your new EP ‘Modes Of Transport’ is out February 13th. I read that you had some of these songs for a while. Can you tell me more about the writing and recording process?
We have been sitting on these songs for a minute. Some of these were written before "Animal/Beat Up..." but they were all birthed some time in 2023. I didn't know if any of the songs, including the first two singles, would see the light of day and ultimately I was just writing for myself. Once Ethan got involved and we formed Honor Choir, he really took those songs and put his thumbprint on them as well. The songs that ended up on Modes of Transport felt connected in a way that made it obvious they needed to be grouped together. We booked a week at the Closet Studios in March of last year and wrapped on production that summer. I'm so relieved and grateful that we're finally sending them out into the world.
I really like “Envelope”. At what point in the process was that song written and what was your lyrical inspiration for it?
"Envelope" happened in May of 2023 which would have been pretty early in writing the record. A lot of the lyrical content on Modes... is about purpose, the desire to fulfill it, or the fear that you never will. I struggle with the fear that I'm not doing a good job of fulfilling my own purpose. Even when I do feel as if I'm doing my part at doing "the thing" the doubt always tends to creep up. Luckily, I find solace in knowing that these doubts are rooted in fear and fear does not certify reality.
I think the EP title, ‘Modes Of Transport’, is really interesting. What’s the meaning behind it and why do you think it fits this set of songs?
The title didn't come until right before we were going into the studio. I was thinking about how music has always been an escape for myself, and that, for me personally, these songs were an outlet both to become more intimate with and run away from the world and my own fears and insecurities. And our hope is that these songs are a means for other people to escape their own world or be pulled into another.
Where did you get the cover image from?
I was actually trying to pinpoint exactly when the image was taken this week and I figured it out. I wrote "My Thirteen" the final week of June '23. My fiancée travels for work and I was compelled, after dropping her off at the airport, to write about the palpable space that is left empty when she is away. The date that she returned from that trip, I was waiting for her plane to land from the airport observation deck and snapped that photo. Ethan says he knew as soon as I sent it to him that it had to be the cover for the record.
Sunday Drive is releasing vinyl for the EP. How excited are you for the vinyl? Do you have a personal favorite variant?
We're all very thrilled. None of us have had any of our music pressed to vinyl. I'm partial to the orange variant. It contrasts so well with the outer sleeve, in my opinion.
You’re playing a big show in support of the EP in March. The line-up is really cool. What can you tell me about the show so far?
Lennon, Ethan, and I felt very strongly that we wanted to use our release show as a means to celebrate the wealth of cool shit happening in Oklahoma. We spent a long time curating the perfect bill. It's pretty mixed but the bands are all some of Oklahoma's finest. We paired up with our friend Joe at True Love Shows and he's helped us craft something very special. We just wanted to put on for all of the things that excite us here right now. I'm so proud of what we've put together.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you want to add?
There was a time that I didn't think I would be doing the thing I love most, which is making music with humans I care deeply about. I encourage anyone who feels pulled to any one thing that makes them happy to really go after that thing in an honest way. Share it with the world. Make shit with people you care about. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us.
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