There are a lot of pressures that we face as a band who has had a lot of past success. Success, no matter how much one may experience, always creates expectations about what is to come. The thing about music is that it changes as the creaters grow in life. Our tastes change, our vision changes or the industry that we are in changes and pulls us along with it. The truth is, writing and creating music for a large group of friends and followers is very difficult. With every piece of music that is released we risk being picked apart. Every person who listens to music only knows if they like something or dislike it. They can't always tell you why. One song can have multiple effects on the people who are listening. A song could grab tightly to one person's heart and at the same time provoke another person to feel bored so much so that they flip to the next offering on Spotify.
As songwriters we long to create music which inspires and pulls on the listener's heart. We long to write a chorus that lifts the listener out of their seat or causes the listener to enter in to worship. We also, try very hard to be authentic and represent ourselves without compromising our story or our beliefs. With this short EP project we were faced with a lot of choices.
We had just added Dustin as our new singer and rather than sit down with a bunch of songwriters outside the band right away, it was important for us to find a sound and a feeling that we could all agree and be unified around. We wanted to start as a unit and decided for our selves what kind of music we were going to make. We had to put off all expectations and create songs and music we enjoy and that moves us. We weren't chasing a radio single or a song that would test well with a certain age group. We were trying to make something authentic, raw and passionate. The truth is... Most bands start off as passion projects. Chris and Mark would say they were just a few guys playing Weezer covers and trying to recreate the feeling those songs gave them.
In the garage, In the basement or in the storage unit there are no expectations or marketing meetings. There are a few guys with hopes to make something special, raw and unique which helps people to see their world differently or feel closer to God. And since we didn't want this project to be affected too much by outside influences, we chose to do the whole thing in house.
Dustin, Chris and the rest of us would meet in Chris's basement at different times to write songs and music throughout the fall. Chris demoed out the songs and then from a handful of songs that were completed we picked 3 to record. Before we dove into the studio we put on a small house show at our friend Bob's house to play the songs in front of close friends and family and to see how they responded to the music. The show went over great... Everything was super new to us and to Dustin so it was a raw gig but the heart was there and people really responded well to the songs.
In December we hit my studio in Adrian and began the process to craft and curate these songs into what they are now. We wrestled with parts, sounds and everything in between to make sure that the songs stayed true to where we felt they should go. Everyone played their roll and all their parts and pitched in to shape the vibe of the tracks. Over all this record is more raw than some of the previous Sanctus Real offerings. It was important to us to not crowd the song with too many layers. We wanted the songs to dicate the production and not the other way around. By the time we started mixing the songs I would spend a few hours getting each song dialed in and then Chris would come over and we would tweak and move things around until the vision was fullfilled. It really was a life giving project for us. It's hard to describe what it feels like to write a song, demo a song and then take it to the finish line all as a group. It never gets old.
We hope that this sampling of songs blesses you. Our desire is that "This Is Love" would pave the way for what is coming next from Sanctus Real. Thank you for being a part of the journey.
~Jake