It's

funny, but not true.

It's neither of those things.

I think, yeah, like it sort of started with the reformation and the rebirth of the band.

Like we were back in this, in a lot of ways, feels like our second debut record, because this is just like, we're back.

And I think it's sort of like...

the first chapter in a new story of the band.

Can you talk through that process a little bit? Were you openly like, okay, I'm going to just want to write with other people, or did these things kind of come naturally? Yeah,

yeah hell yeah and i mean finding that balance has that been difficult or is it have there been moments where you have to like catch each other just like nope we can't we can't do that we gotta we gotta take a little slow or has everyone been kind of like on the same page with that

I think, like, I think just a lot of it has changed in growing up, sort of exiting our 20s and being in our 30s and stuff.

I think the reason we said yes to so many things is we were so scared that the opportunities just weren't going to be there anymore.

It's like, if we say no now, this might never happen again, or... we might start like the decline of the hype of the band or whatever and now and sometimes we said yes to stuff that financially made absolutely no sense no matter how like cool that might be like we are trying to run a business too at this end like just keep ourselves alive so it's not always it's not always easy and yeah like we have to hold ourselves accountable first and make sure make sure we're holding everybody like else and the band and the team like accountable and stuff but um yeah it's just feeling easier better and more second nature to just do things the the right way this time around and yeah like a lot of that is just like for having done this for the better part of 10 years now like when you're it's really tough when you're in your early 20s to say that you know better than people that have been like in like professionals in the industry for uh yeah uh a lot longer than you have and they're older than you and yeah so just to be like no we need this this is right for us is a hard thing to say but i think we've we've learned to and the older we get the easier that gets i think

So, yeah.

I love the question.

I wasn't sure how to answer it, because, like, I don't know, like, it's sort of, I don't know, any of the records, like, were strong contenders, but, like, I think back on, like, who the band's, like, biggest influences are, and it's, like, Paramore, and it's MyChem, and it's Fall Out Boy, and it's, like, what would you say is the perfect, like, where do you start with those bands? Right.

Like, that's the best thing about them, is, like, how...

um well yeah i guess you know but before obviously making this new album you did you know revisit the first album um and kind of like you know we record that you had a few guests and stuff on it do you feel like going back and i guess in a way remembering those memories of making those songs and the roots and the start of the band did that kind of inform this new record in any way

I think they were different in that we started writing songs for this record even before we started reimagining Never Happy X.

The songs and the new music and the record is sort of what brought the band back together more than shows or anniversaries or anything else.

But it was nice to revisit those, and I had a real appreciation for...

Those songs, which I hadn't listened to in a very, very long time.

Of course, nobody really listens to their their own music all that often.

But it was really cool to I mean, the guest part was cool because we had bands and artists that we looked up to so, so, so much since we were only really little kids.

well you also worked um with kate hannah of ks graves to do that whole choreography um for lose your way and find yourself how was that for you trying to like i guess learn that routine and memorize it because obviously you've done it live a few times as well