Instagram account<\/a> in true Black Rebel style. Been says, \u201cThe letter back from Homeland Security was the most surreal thing I\u2019ve read. It sounded like an ex-girlfriend writing to you. It didn\u2019t sound like it was coming from an official organization, or a legal chain. It was kind of shocking. We see the political theater of it, but to get a peek behind the curtain was pretty revelatory. It\u2019s a complete shitshow.\u201d<\/p>\nAs far as new music, Been tells me to pump the brakes. \u201cWe\u2019re keeping steady with repairing the relationship, seeing how far we get with being able to come together and and just have that joy and camaraderie of playing live together. We\u2019re trying not to get too greedy with pushing it more than that. We have been through quite a lot of intense ups and downs. We\u2019re taking it one step at a time. I hope we get to that place of music coming together naturally. For now, grateful for today, and grateful for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
What spurred the stylistic and musical approach on <\/strong>Howl<\/em><\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\nDigging music that was from a different place was always there, we just didn\u2019t know how to do it with any confidence until later. Making the record was like finding this skill set. We started off as a rock band because it\u2019s just fucking easier. It\u2019s the same way I learned bass, because it had less strings, so it was going to take less time. The first album, we could kind of fake it through a bunch of songs really well and be a loud rock band, let the swagger fill all the holes we haven\u2019t learned how to do yet. And then how scary because it\u2019s hard enough trying to play the songs live, but legitimately, you get to the last verse or a bridge, and you can\u2019t just fill it with something that you scribble down really quick because it degrades everything else. You have to really craft songs like that. It takes a lot more time and work. We didn\u2019t know how to write all that skillfully yet.<\/p>\n
We were really proud though, when we finally actually pulled off the thing that we were just as passionate about as the other stuff. That\u2019s one area of my life I feel good looking back on that\u2019s actually turned out pretty well. Statistically, it should not have. We lost the label, lost the drummer, everyone turned it down, except RCA at the very last second. And they even gave us a stipulation: \u201cWe\u2019ll only put this out as a boutique thing through Echo, a subsidiary label, if you promise you\u2019ll record a real rock record next.\u201d It was the best deal we got. At least they let us put it out as is, which was the big sticking point.<\/p>\n\n![\"(Credit:](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/_f6WXaysIk5vhpZoP.Y6tQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEzMDI7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/spin_digital_media\/3221ce2a7f9a9a0ce57931e57b50a2cc\"\/)