Exclusive Interview with THE OUTSIDE KIDS

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as POST POP PUNK?

THE OUTSIDE KIDS:

As I mentioned, my childhood band covered a lot of Green Day.  Imitation is the start of art, and to this day, I still have to pause working on a new riff I just came up and make sure it isn’t already on Dookie… But after those first cover performances, The Outside Kids sound really came into focus when I began working as a studio musician in LA around 2010. I was young, inexperienced, and got my ass kicked by a lot of excellent engineers and producers.  They didn’t mince words about what I was and wasn’t good at. After developing a thicker skin, I realized the value of those accurate criticisms, and the burgeoning ability to step back and judge my own work.  That was the first step to developing my own style and sound.

Another thing: I’m a drummer first.  Rhythms were my first love, and if a new song idea doesn’t make me want to move my body some way right off the bat, I know it’s not a super strong idea yet.  Every time I find a new syncopation or picking pattern or some weird, skewed time signature change that excites me, I find a new song style. This kind of open experimentation over the years developed my ability to write a song like “It Could Be,” which on paper makes no f***ing sense. There are groupings of five and three measures for no apparent reason, a key change going into AND out of the choruses, and extra bars thrown in to make riffs breathe. But the end result is maybe my favorite song of the record, and has certainly been a crowd favorite.

We call our music “post pop-punk” because we sometimes feel genre-less.  Like we’re mashing a lot of things together and it doesn’t feel contained by a word or phrase. But our DNA is still very much fun-loving, sardonic, irreverent; all the trappings of pop-punk.  We just use it to explore real problems we face.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

THE OUTSIDE KIDS:

I don’t think you can really have any one of these things without the other.  The choice NOT to be political is a statement of political value in and of itself, no?

i think music should serve a purpose. However, that purpose is an unspoken contract between artist and audience. I can’t tell someone what to feel when they hear our songs. But I can only to their response. Some (most if we’re lucky!)  people will be entertained, but I hope some are moved, or even enraged. Music should invoke a reaction, spark an introspection. Cause a revolution.

We write honestly. Whatever is sitting heavy on our hearts that day or bubbling up from some childhood memory or pissing us off or turning us on… that’s what we write about. Our agenda is to get better at our individual craft of playing instruments, and to get better at our live show, our songwriting, our friendships. To give an audience back what they give us, and to make it enjoyable to feel the same thing as the guy next to you in the audience.

Doing that takes us into a lot of different territory; we are pro-human rights in every way possible. We take an active stance against phobic behavior and have zero tolerance for hate speech. We want to build inclusivity, freedom of speech, and a safe community for all at our shows.

Our mental health struggles inspire us. I’m high functioning ADHD to a sometimes comical level, and have struggled with depression my entire adult life. Songwriting has been a saving grace in that arena, and I hope to transmit even %1 of that healing power to someone listening to our music. To let them know that someone gets it.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

THE OUTSIDE KIDS:

This is a good question. It’s something I struggled with a lot until recently. Creating art is a such a, well, strange process for the artist. Your self-worth and identity get all tangled up in this thing you’re making.  If someone likes it, that validates your effort. If someone doesn’t like it, that can make you question why you’re even doing it in the first place.

But then it gets weirder: what about when a person you despise likes your stuff? Or a whole group of people? What if a group of people you’re diametrically opposed to hates your stuff?  How do you triangulate self-worth from that?

What I’m finally learning, deep in my bones, is how to let go of all expectation. When I go back to songs I released years ago, I still hear the truth in it. I hear the reason that song came out of me in the first place. That’s my fulfillment.  That’s why I create music.

All that said, though… I have watched bands make it from scratch. Friends are on world tours right now. We would like to join them, and will do our damndest to make it happen.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

THE OUTSIDE KIDS:

Some of my favorite songs are the ones that arrive whole.  The only thing that sucks is this usually happens RIGHT as I’m falling asleep after staying up to late, and then I have to get up and record the thing before the idea disappears. I’m a quasi-caffeine addict because of this…

But usually, there is a marriage between a chunk of a song idea and a riff or a simple melody or a lyric. There’s some nugget of truth in that marriage that captures our attention, and like a popcorn kernel stuck in our teeth, we keep picking at it until it comes out.  Then, like I mentioned earlier, we start thinking of the background and story. What are feeling and exploring?  Is this story linear? Or just a continuous snapshot of a single experience moment? Is there growth or change? Playing with these different narratives gives us an initial framework to flesh out a demo.

From there, some songs are neat and tidy and basically arrive with their own roadmap for us to finish at our leisure.  Some get derailed often and we have to backtrack.  Some sit in a dusty mental drawer for months before we accidentally open it and find we can finish it on the spot.

Sam and I are good at doing this together.  We fill in the gaps in each other’s experience and vocabulary in a way that makes for easy communication, and a constant challenge to be articulate, accurate, honest. Musically, my ADHD is an asset. I play most instruments, and have no trouble bouncing between them all to get the song going. My studio is arranged to maximize this workflow: electronic drums, my most used guitars/basses plus related gear, and go to mics are all set up within a few feet of my mix position.  Knocking out new ideas can proceed at about the speed of thought.

We’re very much looking forward to writing music as a whole. Up until very recently, this band was a studio project for just Sam and I.  Zac and Pat bring so much to the table in terms of songwriting chops that I cannot wait to see what we come up with. And playing our released material live with them… well, come out to show and see why that’s so damned exciting.