Mono No Aware with The Everyday Losers\’ Dylan and Tyler Seidel
July 25, 2019
Mono No Aware is your fourth full-length record. Coming off of Revel in the Chaos, what did you want this record to look like- lyrically and musically?
I wanted to challenge myself musically. I wanted to write cool riffs that would translate well live as well as making them memorable. Lyrically, we always stress about writing words that actually mean something. Tyler puts a lot of thought into the words that he writes. I will have an idea of a subject for a song or a line and he will expand on the idea. I do think all of our previous albums have well written lyrics but “Mono” takes it a bit deeper. We don\’t sit back and think maybe we should tone it down a little. If we feel passionate and have something to say we will always express that in our songs.
Does the title and album art have any significance on the material of the record for you?
I will have Tyler take this one.
The title \”Mono No Aware\” is a japanese term that translates to \”Empathy Towards Things\”. The title really fits the album. With the new lyrics I wanted to pull away from a mostly negative agression or a down point of view. When I write, I tend to talk about what makes me hurt or why I feel angry about things. As I suffer from depression and witness manic depression first hand from Dylan, it is an easy train of thought to expand on. While the album isn\’t necasarily uplifting all the time, it does showcase a different vibe in some of the songs. I wanted to express an understanding of why people do the things they do.
The album cover features a dragonfly which signifies change. We went through a change in the band. We had a few members leave the project at the end of the writing/start of the recording process.
A song like \”Burn Away\” would have never been crafted if it were\’nt for the situation we were in. This song is about playing with the idea of walking away from music. As a group we were fading, I could tell and I became somewhat miserable in the situation. In the song, I talk about the the thought of stepping away, but quickly arriving with the idea that I must continue.
While \”The Calm and Collected\” has an aggressive feel musically, it is a song of acceptance. It is an invitation to let go of your humanly struggles. This is one of the more spiritual songs that I have written. It plays on the idea of releasing yourself to a higher power and trusting that things will be okay in the end.
These two songs in particular, are more or less the inspiration for the albums theme.
This one feels more personal and polished. Did it take longer to finish and put together than previous records?
We did have some of the songs written for a little while. We try to have the songs completed before heading to the studio. The situation was slightly different in this case. We like to record with Niko Albanese, who happens to be a former drummer of ours. While he is a great recording engineer he is also a great drummer and stepped in as drummer. We also recruited Freddy Herrera of Everclear/The Exies on bass for the recordings. With everything that happened during the recording process, it was held up a bit but the actual time in studio was much less time than we have ever spent on an album. I am completely proud of how it turned out, especially due to the situation we were facing at the time.
“Break My Heart” is one that really stands out from the rest of the songs- where did that song come from? Was it from a personal experience or have you been able to tap into a side of yourself that can just channel pain and heartbreak?
Break my heart was a song that was in the works since “Revel in the Chaos.” We just couldn’t find the right words to say. Right before we went into the studio for Mono, I found a recorded demo we did of the song on my phone and was like “we need to release this song.” This song is rather personal. The past couple years I’ve been dealing with life changing events. We chose the subject and Tlyer and I finished the words while channeling how I had been feeling. I’m very proud of this song. It is a little different than the than anything we have released.
“Die For You” is a fun way to close the album out. It also feels like a fuck you to the world. Why close things out with that song and what makes that song work so well?
\”Die For You\” is a song that I had a couple different riff ideas for. I just kinda put them together and it worked. We kinda wanted to do a little more of a silverchair vibe to it. It really dives into the life that I was living. It displays th feeling like you would do anything for someone but you aren\’t sure they would do the same but also thinking that they might not be capable of that type of thought as well. To us, listening to all the songs that one just seemed like the perfect closing song. It was the right one to use to have people thinking” Damn, what a way to close an album with a punch!”
You’ve been out on the road with Saliva, Smile Empty Soul and other bands that you’ve grown up loving and looking up to. Did you talk to them about songwriting and how have they influenced you differently after having played numerous shows with them- especially Saliva- who you’ve spent a lot of time with?
I will say touring with Saliva every night on tour over the years really helped the song writing for this album. Saliva\’s songs are good solid rock songs that gets bodies moving at shows and that’s exactly what I wanted. I wanted to write big memorable riffs that people could feel and feed off of. Energy translates live and their shows are full energy. So I wanted an album exactly like that. Songs like “Calm and Collected” “Birds of Birds” and “Melancholia” are energetic songs that get people on their feet at shows.
In two months, you’ll play the Inkarceration Festival with Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Godsmack, but also bands like Seether- who your style is a lot like. How does that feel, how did it come about and what are you looking forward to the most?
Inkcarceration is a huge step for us. I don’t know if we’ve ever been on a show of this magnitude to be honest and we’re stoked! We have worked with the promoter of Inkcarceration in the past and asked us to perform It is a great feeling being thought of for a festival like this. We love playing festivals. Nothing like good music and good summer weather.
This also isn’t the first major festival- last year you did Rockfest up in Wisconsin.
We played Rock Fest last year after Gwar and Incubus. That was really amazing to see our name on the same billing as huge bands like that. It was a really good time. Not only did we enjoy ourselves but the crowd responded well to our music.
Looking back on Mono No Aware, what stands out about it to you? What songs mean the most to you and what do you feel like it says about The Everyday Losers at this point in time and at the time you wrote it?
I strongly believe that “Mono No Aware” is an album that has our true sound on it. We found our groove. If anyone asks “what do The Everyday Losers sounds like?” I would say listen to this album. I think \”Birds of Prey\” and \”Break My Heart\” mean the most to me. Birds of prey was one of the earlier songs written for the album and I really challenged myself as a song writer to write a huge catchy riff. Break my heart has the most meaning I believe. That song was completed at the right time in my life and helped express myself in a way only music could.