INRETROSPECT

“WE WANT TO UTILIZE EVERY ELEMENT OF OUR MUSICAL CHARACTER TO GIVE LIFE TO SOMETHING TRULY UNIQUE ”

BY GUSTAVO TOZZI PHOTOGRAPHY DANI WILLGRESS

With the COVID-19 pandemic, many bands had to find a way to survive it just like all of us. With social restriction, bands had to reinvent themselves to stay active in the best possible way. It was like this with the guys from InRetrospect, who started their work in 2019, released the first single in 2020, the year the pandemic spread around the world. James, (guitar), Jerome (guitar), Nathan (vocals), Tobias (bass) and Geromme (drums) were not shaken by the problems caused by COVID-19 and used the time to connect themselves even more and in a harmonious way as a band, providing, as a result, singles and more singles. Enjoy what InRetrospect has to share about all of that.

InRetrospect started in 2019 and released its first single Sun Settings in 2020, demonstrating a versatility that it is not possible to define the band in just one musical style, but the presence of modern metalcore is undeniable. How did InRetrospect get started and what were

your influences?

Originally InRetrospect was a band birthed by James and Jerome who have played in bands together for a long time. Since our inception we’ve found the missing pieces this band needed in Nathan, Tobias and Geromme, formulating our final line up to date. Once we initially started the writing process for this project, Sun Settings was the first song we took a step back from and thought, this is where we need to start and build from here. Throughout the band, there are a lot of similar influences, the main one being that unforgettable metalcore sound that started to really surface in the mid 00’s to 2010’s, but our individual background in music varies from nu-metal to thrash to classical in some respects as well. We want to utilize every element of our musical character to give life to something truly unique.

InRetrospect released the first singles during the pandemic. Making music in the period of social restriction must have been one of the biggest challenges for the band in its beginnings. What has the band been through, and would you like to tell us about such a turbulent period?

Following our debut single, Sun Settings, we were incredibly keen to jump straight back into the studio and continue where we left off. We recorded six tracks, formerly to be an EP but due to the nature of the pandemic and us as a band being so new, we decided that releasing it single by single instead would be the best way to help us continue to grow when everything came to a standstill. During the pandemic there was a lot of time for us to work on things like chemistry between all the members and develop our writing techniques, structures and styles leading us to the new music we’re releasing today. Being able to tour now is something we’re so grateful for now considering we never knew whether we would be able to, due to such an unpredictable pandemic.

So far, you already have almost 200k in streams on Spotify since the first single in 2020. Did you

imagine receiving such prominence in such a short time of being a band?

200,000 streams is quite the milestone and since Sun Settings, we as a collective have been truly appreciative and humbled by every single stream, ticket and piece of merchandise bought and everyone who has joined us on our journey, from day one to today and we will be forever. Without people to share our experience and music with, artists and bands would be nothing.

The single “Choke” is the song that has the most streams. The lyrics are as heavy as the song in the excerpt “Endless torment, you’re obsolete; I’ll find my peace of mind in your own suicide”. How was the process of this composition?

When it came to writing the lyrics for Choke, I listened to the instrumental and was hit with the feeling of anger. There was nothing melodic about this song, just aggressive riffs and a heavy breakdown. I always try to link a song to a personal meaning or one that as a band we want to be talking about. This specific song was written about bi-polar, but it speaks as a metaphor rather than a literal sense. ‘With your hands around my throat, stealing what’s left of the air that I breathe’ this line in particular relates to how your own body is taking your last breath away. The sense of being choked by the hands of this mental state.

One of the possible interpretations of the music video for “Substrate” (which premiered in 2022) when analyzed together with the lyrics demonstrates a conflicted mind that does not seem to let the person (Nathan) be able to leave the same place without suffering the “same” pains. Where did the inspiration for this song come from?

The meaning behind substrate actually relates to addiction. It speaks about how sometimes no matter how

hard a person tries to help them self; they always find that they fall back on the path they recently stepped off. It speaks from a 1st person sense in regard to ‘I’m taking the same damn road I always took before’ and ‘I’ve tried so hard this time I swear’. It speaks from somebody who wants to be helped but can’t hold on to that light at the end of the tunnel. People don’t always realize that addiction is something that can’t always be helped. I think deep down everybody wants to be helped in that position no matter what they say, but not everyone is strong enough to turn it around.

Finally, what are the band’s plans for this year?

Currently, we have shows lined up across the whole of the UK, alongside Death Blooms, Tyrants and many more on the horizon. We’re in the middle of releasing our brand-new EP “current_state”. We’re incredibly excited to share all of this brand-new music with everyone and this era of InRetrospect.