Semi Precious Weapons: A-Sides with Jon Chattman
Jon Chattman of the Huffington Post caught up with SPW's Justin Tranter to discuss the new look, the evolved sound, and the writing process:
"... As I discovered, Los Angeles clearly worked wonders for their evolution. "The basic way of life out here is so breezy that I found myself writing more about love, its dramas and my awesome friends, instead of the glamorous tales NYC survival," he explained. "There are [also] so many different people in LA making music all day to be inspired by. When you find yourself watching Tricky Stewart make beats at 5 a.m. your perspective changes." Read on...
Right off the bat, you guys have a noticeably different look... was that a conscious decision to develop a new one before the new album drops? We've always been inspired by fashion, and recently I've been really into menswear designers like Juun J. Our style has grown - which is good - because I feel like it matches the new music, and even though I love a good look, music always comes first.
Speaking of which, the new single does mark a different direction for you. After touring the world with Lady Gaga, I have to admit I'm surprised (and thankful) you guys didn't try to make more of a pop record. Can you explain? I'm glad you're feeling it! Our goal was to just write the best songs we could, and have the sound be whatever it needed to be to serve each song. We, for sure, made a conscious choice to do something new, but the details just happened naturally.
What was the songwriting process like this time out versus last time? Last time, the four of us would get into a room a day before a show in NYC, turn up real loud for three hours and see what happened... which I wouldn't trade for anything, even diamonds. However, this time we were in our home studio in Los Angeles almost everyday and wrote enough for four albums which lead us to where we are now with "Aviation High."
Let's go back to the whole Gaga thing for a minute. You and the band saw the world for over a year opening for her. Can you even put that experience into words? We got to play about 200 shows in arenas and stadiums opening for a massive artist who also happens to be a really great girl with really great fans. I mean, we got to go to f--king Japan, you can't ask for anything better.
Still, you were embraced by her "Little Monsters" do you think they'll dig the new record? And double negatives be damned, there is nothing not to like about Japan. We hope so! We are real proud of it, and we'd would love it if such passionate fans embraced it.
Spill the deets (that's details, people but I shortened it to come off as hip), what's the name of the record going to be, and when will it be released? We aren't fully sure of all the details yet, but I can tell you there is going to be a lot of new SPW music coming out in the next six months. Right now, we are just thrilled to have one new song out.
Have you started planning for a summer tour? If so, would it be headlining or opening up for another member of music royalty? We have started planning some things. We actually can't wait to get back out on the road. We are always up for a royalty situation and headlining...but nothing is official yet."
