Friendship Commanders return with BEAR, a bold new album blending heaviness, emotion, and exploration of belonging. Buick Audra and Jerry Roe discuss inspiration, dual singles, and the themes shaping their most ambitious work yet.
1. You’ve just released the dual single “X /
MIDHEAVEN.” These two tracks show very different sides of BEAR. How
do they reflect the range of the new album?
BA: This album has some brutal,
metal-leaning work on one end of the sonic/tonal spectrum, and then some more
lush, grunge/shoegaze material. I think “X” is fairly representative of the
latter, while “MIDHEAVEN” lives in the former. The whole record explores this
idea of belonging and the songs are quite unified when put together, but we
definitely cast a wider stylistic net for these ten tracks than we have on any
past body of work.
JR: We're both huge fans of metal and
rock that runs the whole gamut, but I think these two really show you the
adventurous, technical side of us as well as the emotional, song-based and
almost more soundscapey tendencies we can indulge in. Musically they're on
opposite ends of the heavy music spectrum to me even though they still belong
together on our record. Everything about “X” is to serve the song, whereas we
really allowed ourselves to “show off” with “MIDHEAVEN.”
2. Buick, you mentioned
that “X” was written in the wake of Steve Albini’s passing. Can you
tell us more about his influence on your music and what it meant to honor him
in this track?
BA: Yeah, I wrote “X” within six
weeks of Steve’s passing, and it is sort of about him but also about Gen X and
the way I was watching them grieve him while I was also mourning that loss.
Steve was a friend and a collaborator; we made our second album BILL with
him. But before any of that, he was one of my favorite musicians. Shellac was
influential to me on a cellular level. To this day, I don’t think I’ve heard
anyone else present music in such a primal, zero bullshit way. And the lyrics
were also so real. No airs. That mattered to me, and still does, and I think
I’ll always keep it with me. Anyway, when he died, I saw an entire generation
become unmoored, but many of them seemed to almost take his death personally. I
found it both fascinating and familiar, so I wrote a song about the generation
who raised me. Putting his name in the second verse and saying that all of our
faith died along with him felt (and still feels) necessary and true. I like
having a reason to say his name, and now I have one. Every show. He deserves
that at the very least. Steve ripped.
3. Jerry, you directed the
video for “X.” What was it like capturing that Gen X/Grunge-era mood
while still keeping it authentically Friendship Commanders?
JR: It was a lot of fun, and also a
LITTLE scary because I wanted to reference the era and the vibe without it
seeming on the nose or even directly evoking any specific artist or video. I
also wanted it to be clear that we were coming from a positive, grateful and
understanding place, so I wanted it to be clear in the way we were posturing
ourselves and with the framing and behavior in the video. It had to look like
somewhere you wanted to be, and I definitely want to be where we ended up.
4. The concept of BEAR centers
around belonging—where it exists and where it doesn’t. How did that theme
emerge during the writing process, and how personal is it to each of you?
BA: The
first song I wrote for the project was “KEEPING SCORE,” which also opens the
record. And that song is about this bizarre tendency some women have to feel
threatened by young girls—and to attack them for it. It happened to me as a
kid, and I see grown women doing it now. So, I knew I was starting to write
about patterns. As the songs stacked up, I realized I was telling the story of
being kicked out of womanhood (like, from the jump), but also about these other
pockets of belonging I’ve had along the way. Counterculture, growing up with
the elders of Gen X leading the way, music scenes etc. It’s very personal to
me, but I think creating this body of work has helped me see it for what it is:
rejection as liberation. If they don’t want you, you’re free to be what you
actually are.
JR: The words and themes on this record
are all Buick's, of course, but I can relate to them in my own way in that I
grew up a non-Christian in the bible belt as a member of a musical family, so I
started out as an outsider. I also work within the music business and the music
that gets made within has a lot of limitations and boundaries placed upon it,
and I often feel like my peers think I'm kind of crazy for being in my own band
rather than just trying to tack myself onto something that's already huge. I never
really end up feeling like I belong anywhere. Truly. I can relate to the words
in every one of Buick's songs on this record in my own way, absolutely.
5. “MIDHEAVEN” explores
the idea of destiny and whether who we are is written in the stars. Do you both
see yourselves as skeptics, believers, or something in between when it comes to
fate?
BA: I’d say I’m more skeptical of the
believers who turn the belief of others into a grift. I’m deeply curious about
what makes us who and what we are in this life—so the song was written in
earnest. But I give serious side-eye to those who claim to know all of the
answers and want to lead people, charge them money, and exploit their
willingness to explore what’s out there.
JR: I'm a major skeptic at this point. I
have some basic sense of spirituality in that I feel connected to all the
living beings on this earth and wish well for all of them, but I definitely
don't believe in the idea of fate or being able to change anything beyond your
own physical actions in this world.
6. Your music often walks a
line between crushing heaviness and melodic clarity. How do you balance those
extremes in your songwriting without losing either edge?
BA: Thank you! That’s a great thing to
hear. The answer is that we love and believe in both of those pieces. I’m
obsessed with songcraft; huge fan of pop and R&B, of music you’ll remember
for the rest of your life. I’m grateful to be able to hear melodies that stand
on their own. The heaviness is just the truth of who we each are. We both grew
up loving heavy music (different stuff, but with some crossover), and we’re
both kind of dark customers. So, the marriage of the two elements is natural. I
do think that my tendency to be so riff-driven in my songwriting takes us out
of pop and lands us firmly in heavy music, but I will always love a big chorus
that makes you want to sing along in the car and drive too fast.
7. You co-produced BEAR with
Kurt Ballou, who also tracked and mixed the record. What does Kurt bring to
your sound that makes him such an essential collaborator?
BA: Kurt’s
so important to what we do at this point, it’s actually hard to imagine making
an album without him. As an engineer, his tones and mixes are invaluable. And
as the third producer, he’s the tiebreaker, the voice of, “What if we tried
this,” and he’s also a great hang. Making records is a lot of long days,
emotional and physical heavy lifting, and being in a small-ish space with other
people. Being a solid hang is worth a lot. I think he lightens the vibe quite a
bit. He never changes what we do, but he helps to make it the best it can be.
Love him.
JR: Kurt's perspective on our tones and
ideas when we're tracking are an essential ingredient that I honestly don't
ever want to live without. He mixes and records drums the way I like best,
honestly captures Buick's guitar sound and makes it sound as big as it is in
the room in real life, and makes her voice sound huge. He's also changing it up
every time we record with him and trying new things and seems perpetually
unsatisfied with what he's done before, and that's what I always want. He's
also great to hang out with and we can talk for hours. Everyone should work
with him!
8. Friendship Commanders have
often been described as needing to be “much bigger than they are” by outlets
like Metal Injection. How do you feel about that kind of
praise, and does it affect how you move forward?
BA: It’s such a huge vote of
confidence! It’s so important to know that anyone else sees and believes in
what you’re doing. Being in the arts can be lonely at times. Super grateful for
press, venues, other musicians that are stoked on what we’re doing and say so.
That said, the work can never pander. I don’t believe in it. There’s that
Albini influence. The work must always come from an honest place, never from
wanting to be liked. But yeah, the support feels incredible. Grateful for it.
9. The track list of BEAR looks
both heavy and deeply emotional, with titles like “DEAD & DISCARDED
GIRLS.” Can you share a little about the emotional weight behind this
record compared to your past releases?
BA: So, this record is personal but also
quite cultural in its themes. As I talked about, “KEEPING SCORE” is about women
harming girls, and “DEAD & DISCARDED GIRLS” is, in part, about the murder
of a fourteen-year-old girl named Reena Virk. She was killed by her peers, one
of whom was another girl. I want us to look at the way girls and women are
treating each other and get brutally honest when we examine abstract concepts
like patriarchy and empathy. I’m just one woman who didn’t make the cut with
other women, but the reasons around that are more troubling than my story on
its own. The world is in ROUGH shape right now, and we tend to look at the same
sets of issues related to why that is; I’m asking us to look at other pieces.
Other people. And I’m asking us to take responsibility. If the only empathy you
have is for people exactly like you, and the ones who live in your household,
check it out. The emotional weight tilts toward the collective and asks: and
where are you in this? Our releases before this one have been heavy in other
ways. But this one gets somewhat specific in its messaging.
10. With BEAR dropping
on Magnetic Eye Records this October, what do you hope listeners will take away
from the album—and what’s next for Friendship Commanders after its release?
BA: I hope they think it rips! And
I hope fellow weirdos feel seen. My work is always for the outsiders, for the
people aren’t popular on purpose. And what’s next is that we’re going to tour
on the album for as long as we can. We’re going to Europe for the first time
next year and can’t wait! Get ready, pals; we’re coming for you!
JR: I find a lot of joy and catharsis in our music, and I love to play as aggressively and as loudly as we can. I just hope everyone can get taken away by that in the way that we intended, and I hope the world is ready to come see us on tour!
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