Features

“Pinedale”, the new EP by Massachusetts’ Northernmost came out a couple of days ago on Rude Fox Records and damn, it’s a doozy! If you’re into Brand New or Balance And Composure, you’d be doing yourself a favor checking it out. Here’s an email interview we did with drummer Tyler Bragger.

PRT: Can you tell us a little bit more about how Northernmost got its start and how you guys met up?

Tyler: Well, Jesse and I had known each other for a couple years at that point. We met actually from when my old high-school metal band was auditioning guitarists and even from then I knew he was a good dude. Jesse and I got back to writing together for new projects and it sort of just became Northernmost once we found other members. I don't really know anybody at all so it's no surprise that Jesse was the one who compiled the list of people he'd known. We auditioned a couple guitarists when we finally came across Scott and Kayla. Jesse knew Scott from school and they had made some music on the side before, and Jesse and I both knew Kayla from playing shows with her former band The Navidson Record. We took forever to find a permanent bassist, going through a couple good friends of ours, until we came across Nate, who we met through his former band Southpier. I think that about sums all that up! 

PRT: Before Northernmost you were involved in other bands like The Refraction and Pathfinder, none of which sounded like Northernmost. What made you want to go for a different sound?

Tyler: I don't know about Jesse, but metal/metal core had gotten super stale for me, and I think he got that same sense from emotive hardcore. We got together with the intention of writing music that was fresh and exciting to us, even if it was only cool to just us. We were originally actually going to write a mainly instrumental album and have guest singers come in here and there. But then we found out Jesse can sing and we wrote "Closure" and "I Wish I Was Honest", and the rest of the record just came very naturally. 

PRT: Do you remember the moment you decided you wanted to be in a band?

Tyler: Ooof, wow that's tough. I'd loved music my whole life, but it wasn't until later that I picked up a guitar and my parents bought me a drum kit. I started on the cello, then played the trumpet my whole life and always loved jazz and classical. I started guitar and drums roughly at the same around 6th grade. But I guess the moment I knew for sure that I wanted to be in a band was when I witnessed my first concert in 7th grade. Nightwish at the Webster Theater in Hartford CT, I'll never forget it. It was the loudest thing I'd ever heard and there were so many people and the band members on stage looked so huge to me. Ever since then I guess, since they were my first impression of live music, I've always wanted to feel the way they did on stage that night. 

PRT: For the people that haven’t heard Northernmost yet… if Northernmost was the lovechild of two other bands, which bands would have had sex and which position were you conceived in?

Tyler: Hmmm, damn this is a tough one.... I would say probably Brand New and Thrice. 

PRT: In the course of a little more than a year and a half, you released your first full-length, an EP, a split with Last Great Hero and now another EP. That’s a lot of music in a relatively short time. Are you guys in a hurry?

Tyler: We definitely aren't in any sort of hurry. We just love this band and we love making this music. We consistently love the music that we are making and it just makes it very effortless to write and organize. Although we have released so much music in such a short amount of time, each song we write goes through its own very extensive revision process. Having our own means to record helps quite a bit and because of that, most songs go through 3 or 4 drafts before we get to the final version that you all hear. This process has just been happening very quickly because new music has always excited us and it's a hard urge to fight. Also, ADD. 

PRT: Would you agree that the songs on “Pinedale” are your most upbeat to date. And what sparked the slight shift in sound?

Tyler: I would say that is very safe to say. So we released Sonder which was pretty dark overall, like tonally. The new material we've been working on is more of an elaborated form of that style. Among all of this new material, however, we stumbled across a couple brighter, more upbeat tunes. We decided, rather than having a release that's all over the place thematically, why don't we just give people some upbeat jammy tunes before the upcoming shit gets super dark. 

PRT: You’ve been playing a lot of shows the last couple of months, which means a lot of hours spent in a van getting to those shows. Now, everybody has annoying habits… did you already find what your fellow band members’ annoying habits are?

Tyler: It's true, being so close to the same people for so long does make it easy to get at each other's throats. In our case though, this is our third tour now and at this point we are all pretty much used to each other. We're each other's second family pretty much, so even when annoying stuff does come up, it always blows over in a matter of minutes.

PRT: What’s up next for you guys?

Tyler: What's next? Some new music, some even newer music, some shows, some burritos, maybe a tour. I guess you'll just have to keep an eye out!

PRT: If there is one thing you would love to achieve with Northernmost, what would it be?

Tyler: If there's one thing every human being can agree on, we all just want to make a difference and matter. If I can connect with just one stranger (whom I would have never otherwise met) at a show and have them tell me that the music I helped create has meant a lot to them or helped them through something, even just as a reminder that someone else has been where they are too, I'll be so content with my life. I believe music is an extraordinarily powerful tool and medium that doesn't get used to its full potential nearly as often as it should. No matter where it is, it could be a room full of kids experiencing the same connection with an artist or group of artists, and so indirectly connecting themselves, or someone at home alone listening to an artist musically relay the same emotion that they feel at that very moment, reminding them that they aren't alone, and I think that that is a very special thing that nothing but music can really fully accomplish. 

Pinedale EP by Northernmost