Cosmic Hit and Run<\/em>, for its Oct. 5 performance at Atwood Music Hall. The band also features lead guitarist Cory Swadley, bass guitarist Nick Fry, and drummer Paul Metz.<\/p>\nAbout a year ago, Kjelland started getting severe headaches and episodes of blurry vision. Working at his day job as a graphic designer and video editor, he noticed that computer and TV screens often triggered these issues. Initially, he assumed he just needed glasses.<\/p>\n
But the headaches got worse. Last November he sought medical help. While he was waiting to get an MRI, The Mascot Theory convened in January to record songs for the album.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was having such horrible headaches and tinnitus that was flaring up,\u201d says Kjelland. \u201cI told the guys I might be sitting down during practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
In early February, after a series of scans and procedures, his doctors discovered a rare arteriovenous fistula in his brain. AVF can be fatal and rupture \u201cwith the wrong move,\u201d says Kjelland. It was a frightening diagnosis. Doctors thought it had been developing for a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kjelland was immediately placed on physical activity lockdown and prescribed a pain management regimen. As someone who\u2019d been constantly working, it was challenging sitting idle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During that anxious three and a half months of waiting for the procedure, he got into the studio whenever he felt well enough to work on the songs. Sometimes he\u2019d be on his couch working on his laptop on the music, and other times he\u2019d have his head buried in a pillow to ease the pain while a band member recorded vocals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kjelland felt an urgency to record before the procedure, unsure if these would be his final songs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These included songs written about his grief as he watched his father\u2019s health deteriorate between 2018 and 2020 and his subsequent death. They felt doubly potent as he grappled with his own mortality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the album\u2019s final song, \u201cStill Here,\u201d he sings about how someone moves forward when a loved one is gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was singing these lyrics and not knowing what my future was going to be, and that was really hard,\u201d Kjelland says. \u201cIt was the hardest thing I had to sing on the entire album.\u201d<\/p>\n
He ended up changing the lyrics to be more hopeful, with the line \u201cI’m still here\/I’m still breathing.\u201d It was something he needed to express at a point where he didn\u2019t know how much time he had, but wanted to make the most of it.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the procedure on his brain was successful. While Kjelland still has headaches, they’re not as strong. His recovery is an ongoing process.<\/p>\n
He recalls feeling a wave of emotions listening to the final mix of the album at 2 a.m. while recovering in the hospital \u2014 the same hospital where his father received treatment. Kjelland hopes to replicate that feeling as much as he can during the band\u2019s live show.<\/p>\n
Cosmic Hit and Run<\/em> follows the band’s 2024 album Every Sign of Life<\/em>. This time Kjelland\u2019s autobiographically inspired lyrics frame tragedy and grief through an otherworldly lens. The songs examine how life can shift in an instant and ask such existential questions as \u201cWhat are we doing here?\u201d and \u201cHow do we fit in this universe?\u201d<\/p>\nKjelland says the band was supportive of his song ideas and wanted to help him create a bold sounding album. After their \u201cdream recording experience\u201d working with veteran producer Terry Manning at El Paso, Texas-based Sonic Ranch Studio on Every Sign of Life<\/em>, the band decided to record the album themselves in their own studios. That way they could take their time and be spontaneous and in the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe band \u201cput some surprises in there,\u201d Kjelland says. While the band is known for its Americana sound, one song, \u201cWide Awake\u201d has a disco-like beat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real blessing as a songwriter to have a bunch of guys that are willing to try anything\u2026. And even if it is some big extreme switch in direction, it’s just so much fun and it keeps it fresh for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n