What’s that? You thought Press To MECO’s new album was already out? After a false start late last year, the band shelved their release plans, signed with a new label, and now ‘Here’s To The Fatigue’ has finally arrived. Guitarist/vocalist Luke Caley explains what happened.
Hey Luke, tell us about your new album, ‘Here’s To The Fatigue’.
I’m really excited about it! I think there’s a whole bunch of new sounds and places this record goes, but it still sounds 100% PTM.
It was originally due last year, wasn’t it? What pushed it back?
Yes! We announced it for self-release on 17th November 2017. The deal came through from Marshall Records, I think like two weeks before the self-release date. We went and met up with Marshall, to hear what they had to offer, and left the meeting feeling pretty optimistic. After weighing it all up we concluded that releasing through Marshall Records was gonna give this album a bigger platform than if we self-released, so we pulled the original release date and 30th March was the earliest we could go for, allowing enough time for the label and PR to do their ‘thing’.
Did you change the record at all during the delay?
No not really to be honest. We put a lot of time into the pre-production stage, so when it came to recording and tracking, we had a really clear vision of what we were trying to achieve. There are ALWAYS things that you wanna add in post-recording, especially after you’ve been jamming the tunes live for a little while. Like you always get that, ‘Oh sick we could do THIS’ with certain riffs, but over the years we’ve learnt not to dwell and just keep those changes for the live set. We always love it when we go see bands, and there are a couple of things they mix up, add in or drag back.
In what ways is this album a progression on your debut?
I think there are a few new sounds for the band on this record. It certainly feels a bit darker and moodier, especially towards the back end of the album. I think mostly though it’s just the most accomplished version to date of what we’ve been doing all along. It’s the most Press to MECO sounding album yet in a way. We’ve all progressed as writers and learnt a lot over the last couple of years, and I hope people feel the new album reflects that.
Was the writing and recording process any different this time around, were you more confident going in?
The whole process of pulling [debut album] ‘GOOD INTENT’ together was a huge learning curve for all of us. None of us had delivered a full body or work like that before, and you really learn the do’s and don’ts by actually living it and going through ‘it’. Going into this album, we were so much more relaxed. I think ‘Here’s To The Fatigue’ was probably the most fun we’ve collectively had putting together and writing a body of work too. The ‘approach’ was certainly a bit more practical. A lot more ideas and song structures were hashed out in a rehearsal room together, as opposed to on a computer and I feel like you can hear that in the record too. To me, it just feels like us jamming in a room together for 10/11 songs.
How did you find your time in Austin, Texas? How long were you over there?
It was AMAZING. Austin is such an awesome city. There was certainly a slight culture shock the further out of town you got, just being around people who all own guns. It was one of those things though where, even if [producer] Machine wasn’t a clear choice for this album, which he so WAS, there was a chance we would have just gone and done it anyway for the experience. Like, if the band split up straight after we recorded, it was always gonna be cool to look back and be like, ‘Yeah this one time we went out to Texas to do an album’! We were out there for a month… I’ve missed the food ever since; I’d put on a stone by the time I came back!
What was it like working with Machine, is he the main reason you made the trip?
It was the best. He’s such an amazing and inspirational guy. So much positivity and enthusiasm. He’ll make you fall in love with your songs all over again, even the ones you’ve been tearing yourself apart over and now despise. I joked about going over to Texas for fun, but realistically yes, he was absolutely 100% the reason we made the trip. It was one of those relationships where after the first day of pre-production we knew he was THE guy we had to be doing this new album with. I’m so happy we took the risk and went for it, he’s such a great fit for this band.
Did your initial ideas for the record evolve much while you were out there?
The pre-production process was pretty thorough with this record. We flew Machine over to Croydon (lucky him!) for a week and made sure we knew what we were doing. That pre-production process is so important to making sure you get everything down in the time you have in the studio.
What are you most proud of about the album?
Honestly, I’m proud that we just went out and did it, but not only that, we had so much fun pulling it together. Even if we put it out and everyone hates it, it was one of the best experiences we’ve had in our lives. So, I’m just proud of the whole process really. There are definitely a couple of ‘moments’ on the new record though where I feel we’ve been better than we’ve ever been. We’ll just have to wait and see if anyone else thinks so!
What else have you got coming up this year? Lots of shows?
TOURING TOURING TOURING ETC.
Taken from the April issue of Upset – order a copy or subscribe below. Press to MECO’s album ‘Here’s To The Fatigue’ is out now.
