Interview With 'On Better Terms'

Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?

We got started when vocalist Andrew brought his lyrics to guitarist Alex, who began writing songs while Andrew was still in college. We got together to write and record when we could and once Andrew graduated we added a bassist and drummer and started writing even more and practicing a set. We’ve been playing shows and releasing music ever since. Our collective love for music and similar bands, as well the desire to express ourselves outside daily life really made us want to start this project. What were you all up too prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?

Most of us have been or are currently involved in other projects of all different genres including Pop Punk, Jazz, Metalcore and Southern Rock. We’re really just trying to create an organic music and connect with listeners. Tell us about your latest release and why our readers should check it out.

We just released our first full length record called 'Waves'. It’s something we’ve been working on for a long time and are very proud to release. It’s the culmination of all our hard work over the last year, and we feel it’s the best thing we’ve ever put out in terms of writing and production. Who would you say is the bands main song writer or is it a group effort and where do you draw your inspiration lyrically and musically from?

Typically, Alex will write some riffs on his own and show it to the rest of the group. We’ll jam it and start to build around it, if we dig it then we’ll continue to develop it and add details as well as start writing lyrics for it, if we don’t then we scratch it and try again. Our lyrics span several topics but depression, existential anxiety, and the desire to break these cycles and experience happiness and personal success are often underlying themes in a lot of our songs. On the flip side we write about our hope for love towards ourselves, others and the planet. As a band what do you believe is your greatest achievement to date and why?

Probably Gas Monkey Live in Dallas with Glassjaw. Gas Monkey Live is about the size of the House of Blues, and it's rare that local bands get to play there. When we got asked to open for Glassjaw we felt honored. We even had a fan drive from across the USA to come see us.

Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?

Two bands that come to mind for us are fellow local bands Terra Collective and Seafire. Really great bands, and really nice people. We didn’t know what to expect the first time we saw them in a live setting, and we were honestly blown away by how good they both are. Be sure to check them out! What do you enjoy most about touring?

Playing in a new city every day. It feels like almost like a cool vacation sometimes where you get to see new things, meet new people, and show your art to new listeners. We’ve met a ton of great people on the road over the years that we now consider our friends, and it’s really cool that music can have that kind of power to bring others together.

If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?

We like to think that our live show is the best feature of our band. We try to bring as much energy and emotion to our live set as possible. The guitar tones and lyrics seem to hit so much harder in person. We also have a light show rigged up to sync with our music that definitely contributes to our aesthetic. If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?

Can we say our friends? Sure—our friends in My Apologies are always a blast to tour with. We went on a tour last winter with them and it’s the most fun we’ve had on the road. There’s nothing better as a musician than hitting the road and playing new cities with your friends!

You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about? Alex R: For me it would have to be Miles Davis. Davis was big on doing music his own way, regardless of what others thought, and that’s very inspiring to me. He was one of the most important figures in all of music, and I would love to ask him some pointers on improvising and writing music in new and organic ways. Josh: Freddy Mercury. I’d really just want the opportunity to just sit in on a Queen band practice, just to take it all in. I genuinely believe he was one of the greatest songwriters music has ever seen. To experience the magic of that creative process they harnessed would be amazing. And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?

Depends on your definition of “Christmas movie,” haha. If you consider those types of movies “holiday themed,” then yeah sure.

We just want to say thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

The pleasure is ours, thanks. Please be sure to go check out our new record Waves, available on all music platforms!

Bandcamp - onbetterterms.bandcamp.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/onbetterterms/