Meat Wave joined us in the studio in October. They are Chicago-based punk band with influences of post-hardcore and noise rock. Their newest album, Delusion Moon, includes 13 tracks of brief, yet upbeat songs that radiate energy. To listen to Delusion Moon and more music from Meatwave, check out their BandCamp or visit their Facebook.
Onna: Meat Wave is an extremely interesting band name, how did that name come about?
Ryan: The music we play is more on the serious side of the spectrum and I think we wanted to have a name that downplayed that a little bit. We all love the satire news publication, The Onion, and noticed an article titled, “Dozens dead in Chicago area meat wave,” and named the band after that. Was it a bad idea? Who knows, but the train has left station!
Onna: What’s your favorite part/memory about touring?
Ryan: Traveling is one of my favourite things, and being in this band has brought us to places I never expected to have the chance to go. We are heading to the airport to go to Iceland right now, it’s crazy! Otherwise, meeting new people/bands and getting to see all the different music scenes around the world is fantastic.
Onna: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Chris: It comes from a lot of different places. It kind of depends on where I’m at in my life. Usually it starts with the smallest seed of an idea. Whether it be a phrase, or an event, or a melody or progression floating around in my head. From there I just kind of let it grow, sometimes it’s very quick and it’s obvious where the song is going. Other times I just let it take its time, or it goes nowhere. A lot of the Delusion Moon songs came from trying to soundtrack a person or an event. Like, what would the theme song be for this awful person? We’re starting to think about the next batch of songs and I’m taking a very different approach to it. Trying to keep things interesting.
Onna: Everyone was a startup once, what is some advice that you could give to upcoming bands?
Ryan: Play music you enjoy and don’t expect anything out of it. As soon as it stops being fun it’s not worth doing.
Onna: How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
Ryan: As we have gotten better at playing together it has allowed us to try new things and go off in weirder directions. The differences between the ST and Delusion Moon albums are noticeable, but not jarring. I think on the next batch of songs we might shake things up a bit.
Onna: If each band member could be represented as a specific food, what would they be and why?
Chris: Trail mix, because I’m a mixed bag.
Joe: Tang, because astronauts drink it.
Ryan: Smoked trout, I don’t know why, but it just sounds really good right now.