So did being physically present with each other give you a new lease of life?
Tim: “I don’t think that we’ve ever created music that I’m wholly proud of without a lot of tension. And with this one, we had conflicts but we just addressed it differently. Now it’s like, ‘Let’s just do what we want, and try to make it fun but not shy away from tough conversations. If you think someone’s fucking up the song, tell them and we’ll work it out.’ I think that’s what I’m excited about moving forward: just being very frank and direct, but not dicks!”
Spencer: “There are people not necessarily fighting for their part because they’re in the headspace where it’s like, ‘Everyone wants the same thing.’ And that’s for the song to be the best that it could possibly be. If this guy is fighting for something then it’s not in a selfish way; it’s because they dig it. And if they don’t like it, then let’s work until we all dig it. We are closer now because we did this record ourselves; it took a lot of respect and patience and understanding for us to be able to push each other to make this record on the easy days and the tough days. No-one broke down or wanted to quit, or got their feelings hurt so bad that they didn’t want to come back.”
It feels like a very cathartic album, like you’re letting go of a lot of pent-up feelings. Where did Voyeurist’s themes come from?
Spencer: “There were a lot of things we weren’t allowed to say being a Christian band growing up. As our last couple of records haven’t been from that point, you’re always scared you’re going to offend someone. But I think this time it was like, ‘Let’s say what we need to say.’ And even though it’s not a COVID record, we did make it during this time of uncertainty. When we started writing this thing we didn’t know if we were going to have jobs anymore; we didn’t know live music was going to come back. And I feel like that uncertainty fuels deep down inside you – whether you realise it or not. You’re angry, you’re uncertain, you’re anxious and those emotions are buried deep. Even though you’re being positive and writing lyrics about other things, there’s still a lot of real-life shit going on.”
In terms of that real life, the song Pneumonia holds a deep, personal meaning to you, Tim, as it reflects your father passing away. How does it feel to have that track on the record?
Tim: “I can’t much talk about it without choking up still. We had just written Damn Excuses, and the next day we were trying to play around in the more atmospheric space. But I was not feeling it as it was the one-year anniversary of the passing of my dad. I was just in my head, and then I went and saw my mom that day, and then obviously told the dudes that night. So, for the first time ever, Aaron and Spencer sat me down and were like, ‘We always tell our story, but this is yours. So can you help us write some of the lyrics to the end?’ It meant a lot to me, and it’s cool to be able to actually say something about that experience.”
Also on the album is a collaboration with Ghostemane. How did that come about?
Tim: “Aaron and Spencer reached out to Ghostemane on Instagram about working with him and we got nothing. Weeks went by and nothing happened, but then the dude literally hit up Aaron just said, ‘Hey, I woke up today wanted to let you know that I appreciate what you guys do, and I wouldn’t be where I am without you guys.’ So we chipped away at the track it was very, very quick and very, very simple. It was just super-rad to see. He put a lot of energy into it, and was really stoked to be there and it showed.”