Written bylogan white|31 January 2020|News|0|
THE THEORY - officially known as the Dead Man's Theory - has changed in recent years. The transition to abbreviated theory was accompanied by a change in sound starting in 2017.wake up call– but one that is not unknown to fansBanda, which currently consists of Tyler Connolly, Dave Brenner, Dean Back and Joey Dandeneau
For THEORY they have high-energy tracks like "Bad Girlfriend," "Hate My Life" and "Nothing Could Come Between Us," but they've also made their mark with slower songs like "Not Meant to Be." "Angel", "Santa Monica" and many more. The success of the later singles has certainly influenced his more recent material, as Connolly tells me in our interview: "We don't really know what a song is going to do, but once a song hits, you look at it and you go away." , 'You know what? We could keep doing that.'”
Today THEORY released their new album,say nothing(via Atlantic/Roadrunner) and, according to Connolly, "a sequel to the last record." It's one that most clearly shows what the band hopes to achieve, which has mostly consisted of evolving as people and creators while being honest with their music. It's a record that's certainly more mature, touching on topics like current events, politics, domestic violence, and things a bit more serious than the popular theoretical tracks like "Bitch Came Back" and "The Truth Is..." for example. I think with the last record with [RX (Medicate)'], I think it gave me some courage to talk about things that I never had the courage to talk about before," says Connolly.
That confidence in trying new things was important to the band, as Connolly tells me, many of his favorite bands had that same confidence growing up. He explains that he believes that one of the worst things a band can do is get too comfortable with themselves and their sound, becausesay nothing, also apart from the lyrics, this also includes a tuba on the record. "Theory never stayed in a box, I think our songs always appealed to our fans. We were never one of those bands that were like aKlangband,” shares Connolly.
Many of the tonal changes hark back to a tonal moment for Connolly: writing songs on piano instead of guitar. "A friend of mine challenged me to buy a grand piano for my house, so I gave myself one. I started playing it every day and really enjoyed it and started writing songs on it," he says. This new instrument opened up a whole new world for Connolly and company and he admitted that it was like opening up a whole new avenue of creativity. For THEORY they feel like they've already written almost every riff possible, having written tracks with a guitar from 2001 to 2017.wake up call. "It stifles creatively because you're trying to think of something that you or other bands have never done before," he begins to explain, "With the piano it felt like it was wide open, we could create new [material] and it opened up a lot of new tunes for me vocally, which was also great."
Connolly admits to me during our interview that when you're trying something new as a band, you "always cross your fingers," which again highlights the fact that as a band, you never know what will succeed and what the fans will latch on to. "It's easier when you have good content, good things to talk about," he says. He mentions that writing about bitterness, women, and even some of the tongue-in-cheek stuff that used to be prevalent in his music is "getting old." Another level of this is that they don't necessarily want to write the same kind of songs as they get older. Connolly specifically targets "Bitch Came Back" and, while he's proud of all of his earlier material, he wasn't interested in writing it.nuevomaterial in the same direction. "We understand that songs take you back to a memory, a place, a time in your life, whether it was in high school, and it will always be there. So I think it would be a mistake if we tried to substitute that for fans," I was told. He says. "We're not trying to replace 'Bad Girlfriend' with anything else. We can't. So now we're trying to make new memories with the fans."
I ask Connolly if he had trouble writing about the lyrical content compared to the more light-hearted stuff, which he mentions was "very difficult." She doesn't expand on the notion, sharing, "It's easy to be a goofball and make fun of things, the wink thing, that's fun because you don't really have to stand up for it." to a newer song like "Strangers," which touches on American politics. "It's a bit of a dangerous song, it's very even-handed, I was strategic so that it didn't lean to the left or to the right, everything is mixed at that point. You have to be careful, you have to be smart with some things that you talk about because you have to defend them later," he tells Strangers.
Today, Substream is excited to collaborate with THEORY to premiere their new music video for "World Keeps Spinning", which is one of Connolly's most personal tracks.say nothing -Dealing with his own personal struggles with anxiety and depression. "I think a lot of people will be able to relate," she says of the meaning behind the song. “I read that they see social networks as a drug, as an addiction. In 10 or 20 years they will have centers of addiction to social networks. He is becoming crazy. People obsess over getting likes and positive comments, like strangers putting a smile on your face. It's just not healthy. So I think people are going to hear this song and really resonate with it and understand and be like, "Man, this is a day in the life I'm going through." I am very excited for people to see this video. It is very difficult, it is very, very difficult.
Check it out below.
The video was directed by Sam Sulam, who previously worked with the band on History of Violence. Along with Sam, THEORY invented the story behind the video and that worked to bring it to life, including even the RX (Medicate) video. "I really wanted to get kids in schools involved in this, something that's hitting America right now with the shootings. I wanted to put something on it that would probably scare the record company, [but] it turned out really cool," he says.
"World Keeps Spinning" is the song Connolly says she is most excited for fans to hear on the record, so it was important to bring it to life in a way that did it justice. She feels that bands sometimes miss the point: to be able to say something with a video or add an image to the meaning and not fully execute it. "Not to disparage performance videos, we've just done a lot of them. I don't think we want to see another performance video where we're just jamming in an empty warehouse with water dripping from the chains," Connolly explains, explaining that in At this point they are out of the things they write about, they want to get the best out of it.
THEORY has a slew of tours in support of Say Nothing, including their current tour of Canada, an upcoming US tour in the spring, and then more summer plans in the States. When it comes to adding these newer songs to the set list, Connolly tells me fans have nothing to worry about. “We tend to be quite heavier live with all this stuff,” he begins, “I think that's a concern for some people: 'Well, are they going to jump into new stuff, is it going to be a pop show?' , it's going to be a rock show for sure. Transitions ok, sounds a little more [rock] live. Obviously, it's probably just a lot of adrenaline, everything's turned up to ten, it's just loud.
Grab your copy of Say Nothing and check out upcoming THEORY tour dateshere.