Feature / Interviews
Balance and Composure

Scene Point Blank: Do you think No Sleep is permanent fit for you guys?

Jonathan Simmons: We like No Sleep a lot and we want to stay with it but we’re open to more options down the line.

 Scene Point Blank: Which songs are your favorite to play off the new album?

Jonathan Simmons: I like playing Stone Hands a lot. It’s different, slower paced but still kind of huge. I like playing Galena too.

Scene Point Blank: Separation had some slower songs that weren’t as common on your EP’s, is that because you had more room to work with?

Jonathan Simmons: Exactly, we had more room and we always wanted to, it’s just with four songs, we didn’t really have the room. I definitely always wanted to write slow, melodic songs; I like those kind of songs.

Scene Point Blank: Do you see Balance and Composure doing more of them in the future?

Jonathan Simmons: Definitely, we’ll probably have a few every record. Maybe one record will just be a slower, sludgier thing.

Scene Point Blank: Will you be releasing any EP’s before the next full length?

Jonathan Simmons: We were thinking about doing a 7” but I don’t know. I kind of just want to chill and put everything into the next full length, whenever we start writing and getting down to business.

Scene Point Blank: Was it exhausting writing your first full length?

Jonathan Simmons: It’s a little exhausting. With the lyrics and everything, it’s a lot. I’ve never done a full length before, it was my first time so it was a struggle but it got done. That’s the only pressure really, is the lyrics.

Scene Point Blank: It’s a very dreary setting with the lyrics, where did all that come from?

Jonathan Simmons: Well a lot of it is just questioning why I’m even alive and here in the moment; just being confused about life. Kind of like, what does it all mean, why are we all here, you know? It’s something I struggle with daily and I wanted that to come out of me. I can’t really express that in any other way but music.

Scene Point Blank: The lyrics come off very honest on the album, it creates that kind of personal bond with the listener.

Jonathan Simmons: That’s what we’re going, thank you.

Scene Point Blank: What bands influence you most today, what influences your sound?

Jonathan Simmons: Anything really, I mean we like all types of music; literally anything. I guess our main influence is 90’s bands like Neutral Milk Hotel, Nirvana, and Sunny Day Real Estate. That’s what made us want to start a band, bands like that, but it’s not strictly sticking with those bands.

Scene Point Blank: Well thank you for taking the time to speak with me.

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Photography: Mike Peleshok