Vulnerability, irony and energy in Funeral Music.
The Savannah band returns with Funeral Musican album that combines emotional rawness, minimalist atmospheres and a playful spirit that oscillates between the dark and the ironic. In this talk with Indie Rocks!, Triathalon reflects on the passage of time, the need to reinvent oneself and how to continue making authentic music in a world governed by ephemeral trends.
GO!: Funeral Music It is a new album that is perhaps one of the band's most ambitious projects. What was it like working on an album with a sound that feels different, but at the same time very connected to your roots?
T: I think it has to do with growing up, with feeling different and applying real life to music. As you get older, life becomes more challenging in certain ways, and I think the album reflects just that.
GO!: Many of the lyrics touch on themes such as nostalgia and transformation. Where does that inspiration come from: from life itself or from a specific theme that you decided to develop?
T: I would say that of life itself. It is a very vulnerable album, it talks about what I have experienced, what we have been through as a band and how to face changes when everything around us changes too. Even the recording process transformed us: at the beginning the songs were almost skeletons and little by little they took on another form. Emotions were the real influence behind the album.
GO!: When you have that inspiration, those lyrics, how do you choose the genre or the instrumental vibe? How do you decide when to sound more shoegaze, lo-fi or put riffs powerful?
T: We've played together for so long that we don't even think about it; It just flows naturally. On this album we work in a simpler way than before: we start with the minimum, with the essentials of each song. From there we let everyone contribute their own thing, whether it was experimenting with distortion or letting Hunter He went crazy with the guitar. The sound grew very organically.
GO!: They chose “RIP” as the first single from the album. Why that song as a cover letter?
T: Because it has a lot of energy. We wanted to make a strong statement from the beginning and set the tone for this new path. We hadn't released music for a while and we felt like we had to come back with a direct hit. It was exciting to show that song first, even to our friends, because it sounds different but reflects just what we needed at that moment.
GO!: The name Funeral Music It may sound dark, perhaps ironic. What does it mean to you and how does it connect with the idea of closing a chapter?
T: For me it is a closure, the end of a stage. They are songs that only belong to this moment and, in some way, then they “die.” The title always seemed strong to me but also fun, almost campbecause it's dark and funny at the same time. We wanted that contrast: serious but playful. Even the imagery of the album reflects that: organs, somber atmospheres but with a touch of humor.
GO!: What do you think about making music in such a fast-paced, ephemeral world dominated by TikTok or Threads?
T: Honestly, we didn't even think about it. We know what the networks demand, but we prefer to go against the flow. If you focus on that, you lose originality. We come from one more idea old schoolwhen releasing a record was enough to get people excited. I think the important thing is to have fun making songs again without worrying about whether TikTok is going to use them or not. And in the end the internet is so random that one day the very song we like the least may go viral.
GO!: What is the difference between Triathalon in the studio and on stage?
T: Live we are more experimental, more spatial, bigger. On the album everything is controlled, mixed and mastered, but live the sounds expand, we use delays, phasersseventies psychedelic textures. Nothing is perfect and that makes it fun: each show is unique because something unexpected always happens.
GO!: For those who don't know Triathalon yet, what song would you recommend to enter their music?
T: Good question. From the new album I would say “See You Smile”. But if we think about our entire discography, it would be difficult for me to choose just one. Maybe “Chill Out” of Nothing Bothers Me: It has a little bit of everything we are, the weird, the pop, the relaxed. I think it pretty much defines the spirit of the band. Those two work very well: one represents what is new and the other what has been with us for years.
GO!: In closing, describe Triathalon to me in three words.
T: Emotional, chill and Cursed, because strange things always happen to us, although in the end they almost always turn out well.
