Make noise from the heart.
The band talks about Detonatean album built from honesty, collaboration and the need to keep shouting in chaotic times.
In a world where everything seems to speed up, The Casualties continues to focus on the essentials: direct songs, raw energy and a genuine connection with their community. A few days after the launch of Detonatethe band returns with an album that not only captures their history, but also pushes their sound into new terrain without losing its essence. Between tours, memories of Warped Tour and reflections on what punk really means today, the group makes it clear that the important thing is not to please, but to stay true to what they feel.
Indie Rocks!: First of all, congratulations, because you are a couple of days away from releasing the new album.
The Casualties: Yes, in two days. Yesterday we launched “Allies and Assassins” and this Friday the full album comes out. We are very excited. It is not the first album of The CasualtiesWe already have several out there…
GO!: One or two…
TC: Yes (laughs), but each one is like their own child.
GO!: So what kind of son is this? The problematic one, the weird one?
TC: This is like our brain child. It is the result of taking a little of each of the above and making it grow. I feel like this album speaks for itself.
It has a lot of feeling behind it. Musically we are entering areas that we always wanted to explore. And lyrically we're really saying what we feel.
GO!: That's interesting. How does lyric writing work within the band?
TC: It's collaborative. Many people think that the drummer is just the drummer, but Meggers wrote all the lyrics Detonatewhich was amazing.
Jake also writes many hooks. Sometimes he sends me ideas on guitar, and I listen to them and think about what they make me feel, and from there I write the lyrics. In other songs I do everything. It's changing.
GO!: It sounds like a very collaborative dynamic, especially considering that some members have been there almost since the beginning and you arrived later.
TC: Yes. The coolest thing is that we have been friends for like 27 years. When I joined the band, I think it also gave them a little bit of air, like space to try new things.
And when writing this album it was no longer “the new one.” There was trust between us, and that made everything flow much better. It was like a fresh breath.
GO!: They also come to Mexico as part of the Vans Warped Tour. Have you been here before in this edition?
TC: No, not in Mexico. I have been to many Warped Toursbut never here. I'm very excited.
And it is incredible that the Warped Tour take so many years. I'm glad he's back, because I have very good memories of that. tour.
GO!: Even before being in the band, right?
TC: Yeah, I was more of the guy who stole all his beers (laughs). When they went out to play, my friends and I would go get beers.
GO!: And now who steals them?
TC: Now I throw them to the public.
GO!: How difficult is it to balance what's new with the songs that people always want to hear?
TC: There will always be people who want you to sound the same as you did 30 years ago, as if you didn't grow up.
There's that balance: you can “play it safe” and give them exactly what they want, but that's boring. And punk people get bored quickly.
One day they tell you “I want to listen to the old ones,” and the next “they always play the same thing.” You can't win.
But we are very excited about this album. I think it's a great album. It has that energy of hugging the person next to you, shouting, dancing together. I think it's going to connect.
GO!: The single “Detonate” is growing a lot on platforms.
TC: Yes, and it's crazy. I knew it was a great song, but seeing how people are embracing it is incredible.
It has like a very chantable rhythm, and I think people need that now: something fast, strong, something to scream.
GO!: They have always been identified as street punk or hardcore punk. How do you live that label?
TC: For me, street punk is not a musical style. It was more of an attitude: we were kids on the street, half dirty, drinking.
Then, around 2010, everyone wanted to be “street punk” and make it a business. And you would see new bands with perfect equipment, perfect clothes… and it was like “this isn't real.”
I'm not saying I know what punk is, but you know when something isn't genuine. It is not having a mohawk and that's it.
GO!: It must also be difficult to hold that flag over the years.
TC: Yes and no. Because this album comes from the heart.
And something I said the other day is that no matter what happens with the puck, we already win. We recorded it, we love it. That's what matters.
GO!: That's punk.
TC: Exact.
GO!: After everything they've done, would you say that Detonate Is it an honest album?
TC: Completely. I hope people take the time to listen to it.
Before you bought a record, you opened it carefully, you read the lyrics, you listened to it in its entirety. That's what I'd like them to do with this one.
GO!: Last question: they have been a band for more than three decades. Do The Casualties have another decade?
TC: Definitely. Writing music is a very vulnerable thing. And in punk there is a lot of ego, a lot of criticism.
But we made this album out of trust, being open with each other. And now my phone is full of new ideas. I already want to make another album.
We're not going anywhere.
GO!: Thank you very much, we hope to see you soon in the Warped Tour.
TC: Thanks, this was very fun. Go say hello to us.
GO!: The singles promise a lot.
TC: Get ready, there's a lot of good stuff coming, song after song.
GO!: It is also exciting that they return to Mexico.
TC: For us it is a gift to travel, but Mexico, Central and South America are very special.
Mexico is incredible: the people, the food, the music. I love walking, discovering bands, talking to people. I hope we can stay a few more days.
