INTERVIEW: IN PURSUIT OF HEROES: EMO WILL NEVER DIE
When clicking on your linktree we can read the following: Just a band from Montreal Canada who loves cats & preaches about how emo isn't dead. Growing up, what was the first song you’ve heard that made you emotional?
Rosie: "I’m Not Okay" was the first song where I was like: “Oh, this a thing. People do this!” I went to Walmart and spent 10$ to get the album. My mom looked at the cover and was like: “I don’t know, this is kind of messed up.” “Mom, let me buy this.” I think the other memory I have is probably Simple Plan. This time, my mom understood. I think the MCR artwork was just a little too gore.
Michael: Mine is “Unholy Confessions” by Avenged Sevenfold. It was the first song I ever heard. I was really young. It got me into the genre.
Alex: For me, it was “Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow” by Bullet for my Valentine. It’s so sad.
Dylan: “Surrender” by Billy Talent. Canada Pride! The opening riff got me into guitar. Ben’s voice got me into Emo.
What’s the song that makes you emotional now as an adult?
Rosie: Everything makes me emotional! I feel like we are at a stage where we’re like: “What doesn’t make me emotional?” “Pieces” by Ashley Simpson. I know it's very fucking random. “Damn rich girls feel that pain too.” There's a lot of really sad songs. There is a song my mom brought up to me the other day; “Pieces” by Sum 41. I actually remember the last song I balled to. It happened recently. A song from “Wicked”, I hadn’t seen the movie but wanted to listen to the girls sing. I was listening to “Defying Gravity”. I was at my desk and crying. Their vocals are just so beautiful. I love crying to music. I cry to music all of the time. It’s such a great way for people to feel something.
Dylan: “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish. That song is really good. It isn’t what I normally listen to. I have listened to a few covers of it. If you change the vocals and the instrumental a bit, it becomes a really sad song.
Alex: 1-800-273-8255 by Logic. Everytime I want to cry, I watch his performance at the MTV VMAs. It’s so good.
*Band starts singing the chorus of the song
The band has released 4 singles so far. Can we expect an EP in the near future or is the plan to keep on releasing singles for now?
Rosie: I think we have a couple more singles we want to release. I think that there's a lot of artists that release a lot of singles to get a feel; “Is this where we want to go?” I think we've evolved a lot. We got together almost 2 years ago. We worked to figure out how to bring our unique take on things that have been done before. We have songs with more Electro parts in them. There is a song we have been working on which is a little heavier. I think it’s the perfect mix of the past 2 years. I think bands need to go through that. They release singles to get a feel and then, they find their own place. “What is actually going to be on the EP?.” What needs to be re-recorded?” I think there are some songs we are on the fence about.
Alex: I like singles but deep down, I’m an album guy forever. It’s hard now not to listen to any singles. There is the new Spiritbox album coming out tomorrow. I didn’t want to listen to any songs before the album came out. That’s how music needs to be consumed. You listen to the album from front to back. You listen to one song after the other. There is a reason why the songs were placed in a certain order. They’re all connected. I like the cohesion of an album.
You mentioned that the song you'll be releasing in the Spring is heavier. I noticed you already have heavier parts in some of your songs. Did you consciously write a heavier track or did it just happen?
Dylan: Michael, our drummer is a better guitarist than me. Typically, we both end up writing things and sending them in our group chat. I’ll like something he does. He’ll like something I do. We just rip each other off. After a couple weeks, we just bounced this idea off each other and it just got heavier and heavier.
Rosie: I remember chiming in our group chat and listening to what they were working on. “We are going to play this!???!” I think we do have screaming in the songs. The vocals from Alex have been heavy. Nothing has been this heavy and this low.
Alex: The chorus is really poppy. The breakdown is the crazy part.
Dylan: It's true to our roots. We've been working with Ben from Slowdrain to record and mix. We got feedback and adjusted things. Our original breakdown was going to be way heavier. We took a step back and made something more refined. It's a whole different song but I think it still sounds like us.That's the cool part! Nothing replaces you screaming (Alex). Nothing replaces you singing (Rosie).
Alex: I listen to a lot of Poppy. “Rosie, you can do that!”
Rosie: If she can do this, I can learn to do this. I always feel like: “That could have been a little better.” I'm sure they felt the same way when they were first trying. I've been doing a lot more vocal exercises that you don't even think about doing. It's been helping a lot. Pushing the boundary!
Dylan: To contrast the heavy song, we are working on another song which is kind of a dDsco song.
Rosie: It's more like Electric Callboy. We can make it funky but still heavy.
Out of your 4 singles, if you had to only pick one to show someone who has never heard your music before, which one would it be and why?
Michael: I'm going to say “Falling Harder” for the way the song came together and the way we recorded it more than once. A lot went into it. When we finally released it, it was a sigh of relief. It was a lot of fun (and not fun). I'm proud of it.
Dylan: I think it is all of our notes that we want to try hitting. There are some heavier bits. There are some poppier bits. There's a big chorus. It's a little bit of everything we do well.
Rosie: I was at a party once and “Falling Harder” was thrown in the playlist. “We made the cut! Damn, this is us! That's cool!” That's the one I will usually show people who are general music lovers. For people who are into Emo and Warped Tour bands, I'll show them “Maybe, it's your Fault”. “Do it Again” is a lot of fun. It's just simple and catchy.
Alex: I want to be my #1 fan. I always listen to our own songs a lot before we play a show. I hype myself up. “Damn, those songs are good!” We try to write music we would personally listen to.
Rosie: I think listening to a song right after recording it is the worst time. You just spent a lot of time making sure it's good. It's hard to take a step back. When you take a break and listen to the songs again you know which one sticks.
Micheal: I stretch and warm up a little bit .You guys do weird things.
Alex: I panic! That's what I do.
Dylan: I'm usually plugging everything in. I'm the guy running on stage.
Rosie (to Dylan): I know one thing I do and I think it stresses you out a bit. I always ask if everything is okay. He sets up the laptop with all of the wires. If he's in the zone, I got used to not saying anything.
Micheal: I always ask if I can help you but I always hope you say no. (laughs)
Rosie: It's more of a singer thing but I always try to have my hot tea, my water, my cough drops. We always talk to the other bands. It’s good to know who we are playing with. You feel more at ease when you know the other bands. I might take a little shot of whiskey to calm the nerves. No beer.
Michael: We’re old! We’re not the kind of band who parties and goes to clubs. We go for hot-dogs.
If you think back on your first show all the way to now, would you say you are as nervous?
Alex: Even if there are 2 people or 1000, I always worry people might be bored. They are never bored.
Rosie: The only thing that makes me nervous is the equipment. As long as I can hear myself, I know the show will go on. Our first show, I was really nervous because I hadn't sang publicly in a really long time. There was someone at the show who remembered me from the band I formed in high school. It made me more nervous. I hadn't sang publicly since college. I think we sound better live than recorded. We are so in the moment. Maybe, it's because we are emo.
Dylan: Once we actually start the set, all the stress goes away. If a string breaks, we will just keep continue playing.
A lot of music fans, especially younger ones, consider shows to be their safe place. What is your personal safe place?
Michael: My house! It sounds terrible but I am not a people-person.
Dylan: On our end, we are not really the moshpit type band. We are inclusive. We always try to bring all kinds of people to our shows.
Rosie: It never suprises me the shit that happens. At first, we were just accepting any show. We were just trying to get into the scene. Now, we can be selective. Like I said I always greet the bands that we play with, talk to them. We are screening more the bands we play with. If the vibe is off so will the crowd. I know my friends are coming. I want them to have a good time and not feel like they were in an angry mob of tostesterone drunk bastards. A dude just tried to grab me. That was insane! You can be as nice as you want to people, and sometimes, they will misinterpret that. In that case, it was a crowd member. It happened right when we got on stage. Our friends took care of it. I think it's really important to make sure your crowd feels comfortable. We also need to feel comfortable. We're playing bars. People are going to drink. I am not shy. I'll say shit on stage.
Micheal: I think a safe space is what you make it!
If you collectively got the chance to put together the show of your dreams, what would it look like? What bands are on the bill? Is it an indoor or outdoor show? Does it take place in Montreal?
Paramore, My Chemical Romance, The Maine, Atreyu, Electric Callboy, Fall Out Boy, Sleep token, Enter Shikari, Poppy, Bring me the Horizon, A Day to Remember, Ghost, Thundercat, Stand Atlantic, Belmont, Pierce the Veil, and so many more honestly we listen to so much different music. The vibe of outdoor festivals is unmatched especially when the weather is nice, water is available, the sound is good, and there's enough space for everyone to be safe. I have fond Warped Tour memories and would be honored to play an event like that! An indoor arena show is always amazing too, opening up for a touring band at the Bell Center would be a dream!
You played your first show back in 2023 which means the band was formed fairly recently. Did all of you have previous experience being in a band? If you were part of a band before (or any musical endeavor) is there any lesson you have learned that you can apply while being in this band?
Michael: I have been in bands and projects before. I try to learn as much as possible and I feel very fortunate to have been in bands with amazing people who became like family. I don't think I could say I could apply anything because the needs of each band is different. I'm just very lucky to have so much talent around me to learn, grow and apply.
Rosie: I was in a band from high school to before university, it really taught me how cathartic music can be, how to use songwriting as an emotional outlet. I also got over my stage fright really fast by playing shows from tiny venues like L'inco (which doesn't exist anymore) to Club Soda. We were also a part of a televised battle of the bands in Montreal known as "Can Your School Rock" where we were mentored by local artists like Jonas and Jacynthe. The combo of meeting so many musicians and getting to build confidence as a vocalist and performer in my adolescence and on really made me who I am today!
What would you say is your favourite aspect about being in a band?
Rosie: Making music! The writing process is cathartic. The way we write is fun because everybody gets a piece of their work in a song. I write all of the lyrics. I come in at the end. Just listening to them and all of their hard work and then, I come in just mumbling things on the microphone. I eventually come up with lyrics. Also, I like playing live and I think all the guys like it too. Writing a song and being able to perform it in front of people is probably the most gratifying thing. It’s like opening your diary and everyone can read it. It’s my diary! It’s emotional, aggressive.
Knowing you love cats, can we expect merch with cats on it any time soon?
Micheal: We don’t have much merch but all of our merch has cats on it.
Dylan: Our first wave of shirts was all of our cats merged together. We will have a new shirt ready for the Calling All Captains show. It has cats on it. Cats on everything!! It’s something we all love. We all have cats. It has become our mascot; different versions of cats (cats playing instruments).
Rosie: Whenever we are debating what the artwork of our next single should be, it always starts with a cat. For “Maybe, it’s your Fault”, I was super hungover and took a picture with my cat.
Dylan: “Falling Harder” is my cat named Dorito.
The artwork for “Maybe, it’s your Fault”
Would you say that having the means to release merch is a challenge for a local band nowadays?
Rosie: Yes super challenging! We made our own shirts. People loved them! I think the cat sold it!
Dylan: We definitely want to do it all within our hands. In order to make it affordable for your friends to buy (when ordering custom shirts), you end up having to order 200 shirts.
Reflecting on this interview, I have realized a few important things. Okay, I was aware of these things. However, this exchange with In Pursuit of Heroes solidified them in my overthinking mind. It does not matter what age you are; it's never too late to develop a new hobby or finally invest time in a passion of yours. I am not calling the band old. We are around the same sage; thus, I would call myself old. Your (artistic) project is not any less valid because you started pouring your heart into it at 29 instead of 16. It's also okay and very cool to have your passion as a side project to your day job (hopefully one you enjoy enough). Everyone can be so much more than their job. I hope this wholesome interview has made you curious about In Pursuit of Heroes' music. If you are a Pop Punk or Emo fan, you will hear how this Montreal band's sound is the perfect balance between fresh and nostalgic. If you are a general music lover, give them a chance. Thank you, Rosie, Dylan, Alex, and Micheal for your time and kindness. Thank you to the ones reading this right now.
IN PURSUIT OF HEROES' INSTAGRAM
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