New York-based alt-rock band, Quarters of Change, recently brought their first headlining tour to Brighton Music Hall in Boston. They released their debut LP, Into the Rift, last summer on Elektra records. Front of House Boston got to sit down with the band – Ben Acker, Attila Anrather, Jasper Harris and Ben Roter to talk about making a record, touring and what’s coming next.
It’s been almost 8 months since the release of your debut LP – what was the process like of putting pen to paper and getting these songs written, recorded and released?
Jasper: It started with COVID – we were all in school when it happened and none of us were going to go back after that winter break. We were basically like a pod and locked ourselves in Attila’s dungeon and that’s where most of the earlier songs of that record came from like “Rift” and “Too Many Thoughts,” which eventually led to “T Love” and “Jaded.”
Ben Acker: We wrote about 15 songs during that COVID period. A couple months later, we got offered a record deal and we said “Wow, these songs cannot be the first thing we put out,” so we scrapped about 13 of them and were left to start again. With the thread of “Too Many Thoughts” and “Rift” kind of being a general soundscape of what we were enjoying musically at the time came as a result of “the pressures on now, let’s write something we’re really proud of.” It was a wake-up call.
Jasper: We always took it seriously, but the bar got raised after that record deal.
A few months later, you released the Deluxe version of Into the Rift – did you feel there were some things left unsaid that you really wanted to include on the deluxe release?
Ben Acker: The deluxe songs were a collection of three songs we did with a producer, Mikey Freedom Hart [credits include Bleachers, Taylor Swift and Lana Del Ray], which was our first time working with an external collaborator. He is an incredible musician and played a lot of the keys on those songs – it was a great mentoring experience for us that just coincided with the time of the album, so it made sense to put them on there. A lot of the songs [on Into the Rift] were sitting for a while and we did not want that to happen with the deluxe tracks.
What is your typical songwriting process? Any main influences?
Ben Acker: We actually do sometimes just sit down to write songs. We went away for two weeks to Woodstock – no microphones, no recording equipment, just instruments and amps.
Ben Roter: Well I had a microphone.
Ben Acker: We were there with the sole intention of sitting down and writing a record. Some things will always get dropped or revised, but sometimes it is that simple.
Attila: We wrote like 8 songs in two weeks. I feel like when you take away things that you’re so accustomed to relying on to write songs, it kind of pushes you.
Jasper: It’s gotta sound good in the room. Cause if it doesn’t sound good in the room, then it’s definitely gonna sound like shit when we record it.
Do you guys have individual influences you all bring to the table?
Ben Acker: We have so many influences, but they are all different, and that’s what I think makes it good. We all line up on things that are dope, but we all have our own huge influences.
Attila: Four very strong tastes.
Jasper: Four very different tastes, but a lot of overlap.
Ben Acker: We’re always able to compromise on what’s good. Which is what I think makes it special – we were always good at listening to each other and trusting. Up until we’re recording the song, we’re still asking “should we try something new?” It’s important.
Ben Roter: That’s “Ms. Dramatic.”
Jasper: I think I’m only satisfied with that song now, only after it came out. I feel like the song is fully done now that we’ve been touring it – not that I don’t like the record, but I feel it’s truly us.
Ben Roter: Songs always go through a rebirth on tour – that’s when they enter their true form.
Any big plans for 2023? Festivals, promotional events, touring the record, etc.
Ben Acker: We’re trying to write the best album we’ve ever written.
Ben Roter: We’ve been in the process of writing the next album before Into the Rift came out. We had that album ready to go for at least a year when everything was recorded. We’re feeling inspired lately.
Ben Acker: Yeah, we’ve been in a great creative flow. The past two months we’ve been in sessions with new collaborators, refining the stuff we wrote upstate.
Ben Roter: We basically work every single day on some aspect of creation, art or learning…then we party. Work first, but we don’t like to talk about the work. Let the work speak for itself.
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