EMAROSA TALK NEW ALBUM, 131

Posted: July 21, 2016 | General | featured | 0 Comments

Our Press Correspondent, Kamna Talwar, had the chance to interview Bradley Walden (vocals), ER White (guitar), and Jordan Stewart (keyboards) of Emarosa while out on the Vans Warped Tour. The band recently released their fourth studio album, 131, on Hopeless Records.

Kamna: Hey guys! So, how’s the tour been so far?

Bradley: Good, busy. Busy, hot, rainy… It’s still very early. It’s like week two, but it’s been good.

Jordan: Super good though!

Kamna: Can you please tell me a little bit about the upcoming album, 131?

Bradley: It’s the greatest album of our time.

Kamna: How was the writing and recording process?

Bradley: It was cool. We spent a lot of time writing in the studio together… It was very organic. There were no limitations. If something was good, then we used it. If something was bad, we didn’t use it.

Jordan: It was really together. The process was really open and better than any other process I’d say we’ve had making a record… We trusted each other a lot. We let each other fall into their roles and do what they wanted.

Kamna: How long were you in the studio?

Jordan: It was like a month. We actually finished early. We were sitting around with a couple days to spare. Every other record we’ve done, we’ve gone overtime. And this was the first time that we were under.

Kamna: Are you playing any new songs on the set?

Bradley: Mostly! All of the singles that we put out. Pending set times and things out of our control, we might add or take out songs.

Kamna: How are fans reacting to the new stuff?

Bradley: The singles have been out for a while, so it’s cool that people got a chance to learn them. People have been really receptive, I’d say more so than the old songs. They’ve been singing along… There are still people that don’t know anything, even from our last record. Like, they only know the singles that we put out. They just discovered the band. There’s been a lot of people who come just from hearing us on Octane or the radio who have come to see us because of that. They don’t even know about the band. It’s great to have that introductory factor, because the band hasn’t had that in a long time… Just new people in general.

Jordan: It’s weird, you can see the same people singing both songs. But people, I feel like, are singing the new ones with more gusto… And it’s not actually young fans, either. They’re older, but they’re new.

Kamna: Do you have any plans after Warped Tour and the release?

Bradley: Yeah, we’re going to the UK in September [for the] first time in over five years. So, I’m very excited because I’ve never been and they have, but it’s been a long time… Nothing [else] is in stone, but we definitely plan on getting out there as much as possible.

Jordan: We’ll be fully supporting 131 though in the fall and in the spring… We will be busy this fall.

Kamna: How do you feel about the tobacco industry, whether you smoke or not?

Bradley: I think smoking is a terrible idea. I realize that people are addicted to it. Even the people that smoke know it’s a terrible thing for them… I think in 100 years, smoking will be drastically just gone.

Jordan: We’re from Kentucky where there was a ton of tobacco industry, and it’s all been vacated in the last like 30 years. I’d say the only problem with it is there hasn’t been an industry to come behind it in Kentucky to fill the gap. Our downtown in the ‘90’s was filled with tobacco warehouses. And our downtown now is a developed thing because the tobacco industry has moved out and they used all those warehouses for building businesses.

Kamna: How do you think the perception of smoking has changed in the past 5-10 years?

Jordan: People just got educated.

Bradley: The world is way ahead of us as far as health consciousness. America is getting there, we’re just a little slow in the uptake.

Kamna: Have you noticed trends in the music scene or at shows about smoking/tobacco use?

Bradley: A lot of places are just non-smoking now. I’m not in that world and I still see people smoking. But when I was a kid, it was way more.

Jordan: It’s definitely on the decline.

Kamna: How has the local music scene been influential and important for you?

Jordan: If that is something your band wants to do, and it’s something that you can see value in, great. Where we came from, there was not really an option for that. If we wanted to play shows in front of people, we had to leave our town, and we did that. But I definitely think there is importance into bringing what you do and the culture of that back to your home. And I think we try to showcase that and do that in the best way we can. Now that we’ve come out of our hometown, there’s three other bands that are signed on to labels like ours, touring like we are. I think that’s full trickle-down effect of us. There’s value in the local scene, but it’s not everything. To try to make that your band is wrong. Our first EP is called This Is Your Way Out and the record was our way out of town, and we got out there to do what we wanted to do.

Kamna: Do you have anything else to add?

Bradley: Our record is out now. Pick it up, listen to it on Spotify. Come out to a show. We’ll be in the UK in September, but after that we will be in the States touring this year.

Jordan: Please support, please tell a friend!

Photo: Ashley Osborn