Recorded live in five days with minimal overdubs, engineered and mixed by J. Robbins at The Magpie Cage, FOOTBALL, ETC.‘s third studio album “Corner” is a masterful collection of soaring choruses built on cryptic lyrics and builds on the band’s repertoire of jangly indie-emo with a newfound confidence. These guys have beyond doubt crafted both the most soulful, emotional, and heartfelt record of their career, and we’re thrilled to give you this insightful interview, breaking down the recording process, explaining their approach to writing, and sharing some details on their plans for this Summer. Scroll down to read up.
FOOTBALL, ETC. are hitting European roads in July with DAGS!, so hopefully you might be able to catch them play! The band will then head out on a U.S. midwest/east coast tour on July 18th, 2017. See the details below.
Football, etc. was formed in 2009 by partners in music and life, Lindsay Minton (vocals/guitar) and Mercy Harper (Bass VI). Lindsay and Mercy teamed up with Daniel Hawkins (drums) in 2013. In addition to drumming, Daniel does graphic design for the band including the artwork for Corner. Football, etc. previously released two LPs, The Draft (2011) and Audible(2013) as well as several EPs and splits on Count Your Lucky Stars Records. Corner is their first release on Community Records.
“Corner” by FOOTBALL, ETC. comes out on May 26th on 12” Vinyl via Barely Regal Records and Community Records (150 Crystal clear with pink splatter, 100 yellow, 250 Black, Die-cut jacket) and Cassette Tape (Community Records, 150 Pink brick), and CD through Japan’s Stiff Slack Records.
Band photo by Gia Quilap.
FOOTBALL ET.C European Tour Dates (July 2017) – RSVP & tickets HERE:
1.7 – Turin, ITA – Officine Ferroviarie
2.7 – Lucerne, SWI – Treibhaus
3.7 – Paris, FRA – La Comedia
4.7 – Brighton, UK – The Hope
5.7 – Nottingham, UK – JT Soar
6.7 – Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
7.7 – Manchester, UK – Fallow Cafe
8.7 – Birmingham, UK – Wagon & Horses
9.7 – Bristol, UK – Milk Thistle
10.7 – London, UK – The Black Heart
11.7 – Lille, FR – Bobble Café
12.7 – Cologne, GER – Privat
13.7 – Erlangen, GER – Selbstverwaltetes Jugendhaus Erlangen
14.7 – Darmstadt, GER – Oetinger Villa
15.7– Verona, ITA – ColorificoJuly 18, 2017//Denton, TX//Gatsby’s Mansion//with Two Knights
July 19, 2017//Oklahoma City, OK//TBA
July 20, 2017//St. Louis, MO//TBA//with Jr. Clooney
July 21, 2017//Chicago, IL//Subterranean Downstairs//with Grandad
July 22, 2017//Pittsburgh, PA//TBA
July 23, 2017//Lancaster, PA//Lizard Lounge
July 24, 2017//Wallingford, CT//Wamleg//with Cheem, Zanders
July 25, 2017//Boston, MA//Middle East Upstairs//with Dream Tigers
July 26, 2017//Brooklyn, NY//Gold Sounds//with Wild Pink
July 27, 2017//Cleveland, OH//TBA
July 28, 2017//Nashville, TN//Cafe CoCo//with Sinai Vessel, Secret Stuff, Slow & Steady
July 29, 2017//New Orleans, LA//Hey Cafe
Hey guys! Great to have you here! How are you? How’s Texas?
Mercy: Doing well, really excited about the release of the album and our upcoming tour.
Lindsay: Great! Texas is getting pretty hot. Looking forward to our travels to escape the heat.
Great! I must say that we’re very excited for this new record and it’s really amazing to hear that it shows heaps of growth since your latest album. What took you so long to come up with a follow up full length record?
Mercy: We wrote the majority of songs on this record in a short period – a few months. So it wasn’t writing the songs that took time, it was carving out the time and space to write music.
Lindsay: After our last full length, “Audible,” our previous drummer left the band. Daniel came on board for our European tour in the winter of 2014. After that tour we wrote and released the “Disappear” EP, which came out in 2015. We did some touring, most notably Japan, on that release, and then it wasn’t until the spring and summer of 2016 that we got down to writing the full length. And here we are! We recorded it over the Christmas and New Year holiday and we are super happy to put it out into the world.
Just to check off the technical stuff, can you drop a couple of lines about this new set of labels involved? Why is CYLS not on board?
Mercy: The guys running Community Records and Barely Regal share an incredible energy that’s infectious. It’s impossible to not be excited about music after a conversation with these guys. When we were working on the album, preparing for the release, we had these labels in mind. We didn’t ask CYLS or strictly no capital letters to be involved with the release, but we have a good relationship with them still.
Ok, so how has your relation with J. Robbins expanded during the recording process? What’s changed since your first collaboration and what was new when it comes to both yours and his approach to the process?
Daniel: I think doing this second record with him, we were more comfortable and were able to make exactly the record we intended to. Having worked with him before, we had a better understanding of how best to approach recording all the songs, which saved us a lot of time and helped create a more focussed record. J’s approach remains the same though, he lets the band do their thing and makes sure to get the best performances out of them without making you feel overwhelmed.
Lindsay: It was great to walk in and be like, okay, I want to use this guitar amp again, this bass amp again, this drum. We had a lot of nerves the first time around because we didn’t know what to expect. This time our nerves were just about needing to get everything done in such a short period of time. We completed this record in 4 and a half days.
Incredible!
Writing and recording wise, have you run into any unexpected twists and turns?
Daniel: Recording was actually the easy part, but writing is a whole other story! We live in different cities so finding the time to get together can often be tricky. But more so, is making sure that we are productive when we are able to get together. There were months and months where we would get together to write and not be able to get anything done. And then at a certain point we just sort of found the sound we were looking for, for ‘corner’ and then we were able to write most of the record in just a few months. Just took a bit for us to all feel inspired in a similar way.
Lyrics wise, how did you go about getting your ideas for these tracks? What became the catalyst for this release?
Lindsay: The lyrics are pretty autobiographical most of the time.There is usually a kernel of a moment, a feeling, a memory… and it grows from there. There are definitely reoccurring themes and songs about things I have written about on previous releases.
What does this record signify to you?
Lindsay: In a way, with the reoccurring themes that come up, there is a feeling of being cornered or helpless. But at the same time, there are some really hopeful feelings throughout some of the songs that I hope signify what’s to come for me.
How do you feel your approach to writing has evolved since First Down EP?
Mercy: We still all write the songs together; that remains the same. Because Danny lives in a different city, whereas previous drummers lived in Houston, writing is a more concentrated and compact experience now. I think, now, if something’s not working right away, we’re a little more apt to just jettison it. I hope that the end product is songs that are not overwrought, songs that push the emotion to the Forefront
In the bubble world of IDIOTEQ, emo tinged indie records became a solid hype at least a couple of years ago. After several years of ‘emo revival’ articles on mainstream media in the vein of Vice, whan do you think about the style and the movement these days? How is the emo scene in Texas?
Mercy: In my experience, nobody wants to say “emo revival” anymore; they just want to say emo. A lot of what’s currently called emo sounds like pop punk to me, which is not a sound I personally enjoy. A few years before, a lot of it sounded like bad shoegaze or post rock to me. I think emo is less restrained in terms of sound than it was in the emo revival timeframe, which is probably a good thing. You can only take so much twinkle. In Texas, there’s bands that I’m enjoying that I’d consider to be at least on the fringes of “emo”. HONEY AND SALT and RUINERS are two of those.
Lindsay: My favorite emo bands are still the ones I listened to in high school.
What have been some of the most personal and striking releases in 2016/2017 so far?
Mercy: Psychopomp by JAPANESE BREAKFAST stands out to me for 2016.
Daniel: Goodness by THE HOTELIER was one of my favorites in 2016 and so far this year its hands down – Everbody Works by JAY SOM
Lindsay: Out of the Garden by TANCRED was my favorite record of 2016 for sure.
Ok, so what’s up next for you guys? Tell us a bit about your upcoming European tour. What do you expect from that trek?
Daniel: Yes, so 2 weeks in Europe… we expect lots of friends and lots of hot and sweaty days in the van, lots of vegan goulash. Then we’ll be doing a US tour as soon as we return from Europe, which we haven’t done in a while, so we’re excited!
Lindsay: We are visiting a lot of places we have been to before, so we are excited to see familiar faces. We are also excited to tour with Dags! from Italy and visit a few new towns.
Will there be more touring announcements for Q3 and Q4 2017?
Mercy: Yes, we will! We have some special plans for the fall.
Lindsay: We will be playing FEST! again in October, which is really exciting.
Alright, thanks so much for your time, guys! Any final thoughts for our readers?
Mercy: Just a thank you for reading this and listening to our music. Every time we put out a new record or go on a tour, even play a local show, I feel so grateful that people care.
Lindsay: I want to second that sentiment. Have people listen to our music means so much to me. And the fact that I have the opportunity to travel around the world to play music for people who want to hear it just fills my heart with so much gratitude.
