1. How did you feel about being described as "Doom Pop" in metal injection?
WILL: We’re into it. We’re too heavy to be called a shoegaze band, our songs are too short to
be called post metal, and I don’t think we’re metal enough to be called a straight up metal band,
so it’s cool to have a descriptor outside of those boxes that feels pretty true to what we are
doing.
2. How did you decide the style of music you wanted to play?
WILL: it’s been a pretty natural progression. When the band started the objective was to be
simpler and heavier than anything any of us had done before, but it has evolved and we’ve
adopted some of the colors from our previous projects as we’ve grown into our sound. At this
stage, we want to make music that is streamlined and as immediately impactful as possible
while also making sure it is interesting and challenging for us to create.
3. What's an important message you want to portray through your work?
WILL: everyone struggles and you aren’t alone.
4. What's the significance of the band name?
WILL: We wanted to use something that didn’t have a clear definition, something that our music
would assign meaning to, that implies something looming or somber. It’s been really interesting
touring across Europe and learning that SOM means different things in different languages so it
has sort of taken on a life of its own.
5. State some of your earliest influences!
WILL: When I was really young I loved The Beach Boys and Michael Jackson. Nine Inch Nails
was a huge influence throughout my adolescence and into early adulthood, they opened the
doors to heavy music for me. I recently went back through the In Flames catalog, and I was
surprised at how much of an impact their early records still have on me. Just great tone,
interesting songwriting and some of the most epic riffs and guitarmonies ever.
6. What do you want to be remembered for?
WILL: I love that I’ve gotten to leave my fingerprints on all the records I’ve recorded or mixed,
and that I’ve made so much music that lives in tv shows. It’s been very cool experiencing SOM
finding our place in the world, so I’m simultaneously amped on making bigger, better albums
and playing bigger tours and also continuing to live a quiet life where I get to make weird music
with my friends and take on projects that keep me growing as a person. Maybe a long way of
saying I don’t think I know yet.
7. Your favorite part of making a track?
WILL: The “aha’” moment when a bunch of parts suddenly become a song.
8. One message for your listeners?
WILL: It’s cliche, but thank you. It’s been so amazing connecting with people on social media,
and out in the real world after shows and at the merch table. Over the past couple years, we’ve
all really needed to find cathartic moments, and the tours we’ve gotten to do have been that for
us. We’re grateful and humble that this music speaks to people like it speaks to us, and that it
seems to attract cool people. That feeling of connectivity is part of why we keep doing this.
9. Tell us about this latest release!
WILL: This past Spring we released an EP of Depeche Mode covers called “Faith”. We re-
imagined 4 of our favorite songs of theirs and couldn’t be more proud of the results. We tried to
stay true to the originals, but make them crushingly heavy and create an atmosphere that feels
like a cohesive album. It was super fun to live inside those songs, and learning and arranging them felt like a masterclass in songwriting.
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