'The Light We Can't Escape': In Angles open up about new record

Today I sat down with self-proclaimed New Jersey four piece mathy pop punk band In Angles to talk a little about their new album The Light We Can’t Escape, which comes out November 22nd, 2024 on Choke Artist NJ. We muse about their eclectic sound, adapting to modern expectations, and we finally determine what Swancore really is. Responses have been edited for clarity.

Let’s get some introductions first, and for an icebreaker how about you guys all give a classic Lambgoat comment you’d leave under this article.

Joe Scala: I'm Joe. I play drums and I would comment: “send these whooshy haired freaks back to the 2000s with their tight pants music.”

Tom Etts: Hey, I'm Tom. I play guitar and I sing in the band. If I were commenting on this, I'd say, “Send nudes.”  

Brian Liddy: I'm Brian, I play bass and do some vocals. I would say: “bring back Alex Lang.”  

Nick Santoro: I'm Nick, I play guitar, and I would say: “these guys are seeming like they're assholes.”

In Angles have been a band for about 10 years now. What has changed for you guys since you started out?

Tom: I think the biggest change is when we first started, we were trying to write the craziest  guitar shit we could possibly write. It took ten years, but by now we're trying to make good songs and kinda dial it back a little bit.

Nick: Yeah, when we started it was just Tom and I. There was no drummer, no bass player. All the drums were programmed, we were putting songs together. We were right in one little room. We were trying to make music that if you had ADD you'd still listen to it. If you only gave it the first five seconds, we'd try to grab your attention. And now we got the full band. We definitely write more in the same room together. Like Tom said, we're trying to do something on this newest record that we've never really done. We usually just make songs, but we tried to do something this time.

Joe: Yeah, I think when we started we were heavily associated with Swancore. Which was fine, I guess it fit at the time, but I think now we're like pop punk/metal or somewhere in between.

This is your second record working with producer Randy LeBoeuf after Cardinal in 2020. What made you guys want to work with him initially? And how did this second time differ from the first?

Joe: Randy did some local metalcore bands that I fucked with pretty heavily. There's a band called Heroes from Staten Island.

They're so sick.

Joe: Yeah, they're cool. And I had some buddies in the band Illusionist and it felt like a fresh, clean take on producing this type of music. The biggest difference with this record was the location because they relocated that whole studio and now it's, where was it?

Nick: Newton, right?

Joe: We knew what we were getting into the second time around, and I think the songs are stronger because we wrote more. For Cardinal, once we had 11 songs, we were like, alright, cool. Two of them are interludes even. I think we had more this time around to work with.

Nick: I mean, the process up there is pretty immersive. Like Joe said, you're driving very far to be in the middle of nowhere. But you're also there for a month, so it's a lot of time spent on songs, which is much different than the past people we've worked with where you bang everything out like in a weekend, or a week.

Tom: I would say that Randy kind of gets the best out of us when we're writing and recording with him. We came a lot more prepared this time around, not just in the amount of songs, but we actually had good sounding demos for the first time ever in our history.

Brian: I was going to say the demos definitely helped. I think it being more simple allowed Randy to almost be like the fifth member. He was literally tracking on some songs and really giving a lot of concrete ideas that someone who was a writer in the band would give as opposed to just a producer. He seemed to have more fun with it than Cardinal; it was just so technical.

So, speaking of the record and technical stuff, pop punk, metal, all those wonderful words, is it difficult to balance your influences?

Tom: Honestly, I think at this point, In Angles kind of writes itself. There used to be a time where we were trying to balance that out. You know like riffs versus pop punk stuff and breakdowns or heavy parts. But now it just kind of gets written. It's weird. I can sit down and come up with new shit that I know is just In Angles.

Brian: I think Cardinal is when it started getting a little more flowy and now this record in particular is super flowy. I remember sitting in the room and you guys would have parts and then you would consciously say “Okay, now let's fuck it up. Let's make it an odd time.” It would be done on purpose as opposed to jamming it out and saying, “Okay, this feels right.” Like purposely making something a little more heavy or math rocky, but now, like Tom said, they feel like natural songs.

Nick: Yeah, this record feels like the most one record that we've ever made if that makes sense. Every song fits together. There were a couple songs we deleted because they felt a little bit out there, which kind of goes with what you're saying. The record really feels like the songs go together. It's one piece.

Let's talk a little bit about the concept behind The Light We Can't Escape. Is there any sort of central theme to the record lyrically?

Tom: I lost my father about a year and a half ago. Actually, I guess it's been two years now. And that was probably the most impactful event of my life. That's a lot of the record. I think there's a back and forth between some of the real grim aspects to losing someone so close to you, but then also this hope or this general feel that somehow they're still there and they're still with you, and trying to venture into the positive side of celebrating somebody's life and how much they meant to you. The Light We Can’t Escape is really about something you'll never be able to escape, but it's still a light; it's still something that can be positive in a weird way, even though it is losing someone that's the most impactful person in my life.

If you could pick one song off the new album to show to someone who's never heard you before, which song would you pick?

Joe: I would go “Open Season.” That feels the most OG In Angles to me, with some of the new flavor, but I think that's the core of the band. Fast, techy, pop punky, major chord, chuggy, shreddy.

Brian: I'd probably do “Portrait.” I think that would be a cool one because it's short, there's a consistent very chuggy riff, very catchy, and it thematically represents the album very well too.

Nick: I'm trying to think between two right now. I think I would say “Unguided.” Lyrically it's a song where you don't necessarily have to even like this type of music at all, you kind of listen to the words and then it takes you through it and that's kind of the goal of what we've always been trying to do.

Tom: I think along that line, I feel the same way about “Last Summer.”

Nick: That's the one I was gonna pick, dude.

Tom: I think it doesn't matter who you are, if you listen to that, you would probably say, damn, it's pretty good, cause it's got everything. It's got dynamics. It gets quiet and it gets loud. There's a story to it. The lyrics are very smooth and cohesive. It has this grand ending to it, but it's also got some other cool stuff. It's got classic In Angles type riffs. It's one of those that I don't think we initially thought would be such a bread winner of the album. That's how I kind of feel about it now. We almost cut that one.  

Next question. Who is this record for?  

Joe: 35 year old fat Furnace Fest dads?

[Laughter]

Brian: Yeah, I have to go to Emo Nite.

Joe: We get called a throwback band a lot. Even when we try to have a new sound we still get called the throwback band and I guess we're just true to our influences. I think this is our most accessible album as far as having choruses and a little more linear song structure. I think if you were into anywhere from emo to metalcore-ish adjacent music, early 2000s type stuff, I would say it falls somewhere in there.

Nick: Agreed. I think it's for the pop punk person who wants a little more grit to their music, and a little more oomph, you know? A little deeper than just basic stuff.  

Brian: It's like if you like Counterparts, but you're sick of all the screaming. I don't know, maybe that sounds pretentious.

Tom: It's a band’s band type of sound, you know? It does take a certain kind of person to like it. It is that guy who's into those kinds of bands that riff a lot but still have a melodic overtone to them. We just do it with zero screaming.

Brian: I would even say, if you really dig into the lyrics, it's definitely going to be for someone who's going through something similar.  

Tom: I agree with that. Lyrically, I think this album went to a better place. And it can connect, I think, with some more people.  

Brian: Yeah, I always loved the lyrics. I thought they were really cool. There were a lot of songs where we would kind of find the theme as we were writing it. And it would end up, you know, it would be interesting. We've had songs about death and all those before, but they were just kind of generic and not as specific to an experience. It's cool that Tom was able to open up. It's crazy to sit down and read it but it'll be interesting to get feedback on that part of it.

What's your single favorite contribution or moment that you created on The Light We Can’t Escape?

Nick: Well, there's many riffs that are cool, but for me, the last stretch of making a record, I just wanted to write one more song and it was becoming such mental gymnastics for me to just get one more in. We were in an Airbnb and we're trying the whole weekend, finishing stuff up, and I literally just locked myself in the room alone that day for hours trying to get a riff out. That became “Backbone,” and that whole experience definitely makes me like that song a lot.

Brian: I liked “Unguided.” In the bridge, when we were recording, the way that I laid down the bass made it sound like a heartbeat. That song also has a decent amount of dynamics in it and that's one part in particular where Randy and I just kind of looked at each other, and we were kind of stoned out of our minds, but looked at each other and just said, Oh shit, this is the bass song. It really just, it rounded it out very well.

Joe: I was working with Nick on “Two Weeks.” That riff at the end was a joint collaboration. He was fucking around with those notes and I was like, “yo, try it like this” and I would sing the riff. It reminds me of Christmas. I don't know how to explain it, but I did want to throw some like bells on it in the studio and then we were all like what the fuck.

Tom: I think it's gotta be “Trench.” Just the riff that I came up with at like three AM that one night at the Airbnb. It just randomly came out and then within 30 minutes, it felt like I had a whole song written with Joe.

Brian: And even the lyrics, dude. I don't even remember you recording them because you must have just been doing it in bits and pieces in the living room, and then we sat in your car and listened to the demo and I thought, “holy shit, this is like a hit song, this is fucking nuts.”

The Light We Can't Escape is going to be coming out in a couple weeks, and it's going to be released on Joe's own record label, Choke Artist NJ. I was just wondering if you guys have any thoughts about keeping it DIY (Do It Yourself) over a decade in?

Joe: I think everyone in the band feels differently than me, but I love doing it DIY and seeing it pay off. Even on this tour I'm on right now [playing drums for Floral], people have been coming up to me. A guy was gushing in Vegas last night about how much our music means to him and shit. It was really nice. We've done DIY for a long time and it's hard to find a crowd to fit in because DIY typically is twinkle emo bands or hardcore. We don't fit. We definitely got the short end of the stick doing DIY sometimes. Playing a house show, and kids are like, what is this? So for this one, it makes sense because we've done it for so long, we have a fanbase that we've carved out from touring and releasing music for 10 years. We can keep all the money, which is nice because it's not a huge amount, but it helps us do more music stuff.

Tom: Yeah, I agree, like we're able to self fund the whole thing pretty much, which is awesome. I think you really earn all your shit when you do it DIY, like you fucking grind for it. Every fan we've gotten, we worked hard for those fans. It would be cool at the same time to do some other shit too and I think we're all a little sick of playing with twinkly emo, instrumental, two piece bands that we don't fit at all with, you know? And, some of those shows can really not turn into a fun experience. But with that said, it does kind of build something in you, you know?

Brian: Resentment?  

Nick: Heh, heh, heh. Yeah man, we did a three week country tour together, DIY. It was probably one of the best three weeks that we'll ever have in our lives. There's some terrible shows, but I think we all respect DIY. We did a lot. We'd love to play for as many people as we possibly can. The biggest shows as we possibly can. That's like part of evolving and chasing things.

Joe: I was going to say like the industry landscape now. It's like a booking agent is almost more important in some ways than a label, unless your label is clouted or a tastemaker type thing, which I arguably think Choke Artist is. Recently this guy started booking for us. I think that's cool because he's got us on that Tiny Moving Parts show, which will be cool to play to that room in that crowd.

Speaking of shows and tours, I'm going to ask the stereotypical interviewer question of: if you could pick any bands current, retired, active, canceled, whatever, what would your dream tour lineup be?

Joe: Are we talking dream tour just as far as musical acts, right? I would want Lower Definition, but I don't know. I guess that'd be one of my picks. Belmont.  

Nick: I want to go back in time, I’ve seen some giant Limp Bizkit shows. I'd love to do that.  

Brian: That's what I'm talking about. I want to go back. I want to be older. And play music sooner.  

Tom: I go back and forth between that kind of like 90s, early 2000s Blink-182, or just Lower Definition.  

Nick: Yeah, Lower Definition or like Warped Tour. Good Bamboozled days. The Story So Far. It's a nice, fun, big show that's outside for some reason. Four Year Strong would be cool. In 2007. Even now it would be cool. I mean a lot of people I see make references to them with us because it's like a heavier pop punk guitar focus, you know and that's like kind of the only band people go back to when they try to put those things together.

What were some of the acts that when you were growing up made you want to play in a band?

Nick: My brother showed me Rufio when I was younger. I was like I want to play guitar like that. This is insane. Never heard of it. It's just so sick. Them and Blink. I still think about how I just wanted to be them, musically and everything.

Tom: I've actually recently reflected on this a little bit. It obviously is Rufio, like when I got serious into playing guitar.  But I think the band that made me even like rock and roll was Linkin Park. That first album, I was obsessed with it as a little kid.

Nick: They were so sick though back in the day. They're great. They're always sick.

Brian: Yeah, Hybrid Theory was. I mean, no one wrote music like that. Like most kids, I just wanted to be Tom DeLonge. But playing shows and taking it seriously, probably around the era of 2009, Title Fight, right when pop punk was on the verge of becoming a little more grungy, that made me really want to play shows and tour.

Joe: As far as playing music, Travis Barker was why I wanted to play the drums. I liked alternative rock, pop rock before that. And yeah, then it just kind of evolved to like whatever my friends were listening to. Growing up and getting into all the Ferret, Trustkill type bands. The early to mid 2000s just kind of made us start playing shit like this.

Thank you. You guys mentioned the term Swancore a couple minutes ago. What is that? And also, how did you escape getting associated with it?

Joe: Who wants to take this one, boys? I like some of it. I'm gonna be honest, I still like some of it, so that's what I'll say.  

Tom: What I'll say is I think Swancore is basically Will Swan-core, if that makes sense. It's all bands that are just like that. It's spin offs of Dance Gavin Dance and I think it's a shame to me because the early DGD stuff is awesome, and was a big part of me being in bands back then. I'm not saying that I don't want to be associated, I don't think that's like our MO not to be associated with them. There are still cool parts of it. We love Hail The Sun, they're awesome. We love Kurt Travis. We love all that shit. I just don't think it's really us. I get that a lot of kids who like those bands also like us, and I love that, but I think we're just different.  

Brian: I think even our early shit was very different from that. It became less of what we sounded like and more so who we were associated with. We did that one tour with Kurt Travis and then I think we just kind of got lumped in with that genre, but I don't even think it's a genre. I think it's just a group of bands that all fuck with each other. They're all cool and we kind of got lumped in one way or another.

Joe: Yeah, which is cool. We definitely appreciate that stuff. It's for sure an influence. I feel like Swancore was west coast post-hardcore of a certain era when Rise Records was doing it big.

Nowadays the music industry is really weird, you know with social media marketing and TikTok virality. You guys have been around for about a decade, you've seen the end of Myspace and that sort of phenomena to where we are today. How do you feel being in a band who pretty consistently releases music and just does the thing without chasing viral moments?

Joe: I'm having fun with my friends. I'm glad we can still do this and be older. It is funny that the guy at the show last night also was like “I love you guys so much and then like I look at how many fans you have on Spotify and I'm like, oh well, they can't be doing this full time,” and it's like, I'm grateful that we can do it at all. And this is fucking weird and like, I don't mean this with any ego, but we get a lot of comments of people saying “why aren't you guys a bigger band?” It's like dude, I clearly don't fucking know or else we would be.  

Brian: We're making a powerpoint: “No, this is actually why we are strategically hiding our content.”

Nick: Yeah, I think there's two there's two folds to it though. I think you're referring to some of the more onliney bands. We've never been online ever. There's one side that you can do corny things or you know make meme posts or whatever. But the other side is like, there's a lot of great musicians that are posting very high quality videos that everybody sees so fast and those are grabbing a lot of attention. We're coming to the realization that if we're not going to be the super online band, we at least have to make ourselves accessible and take the time to make a good video that anybody can digest. We're just starting to realize that we shouldn't be fighting that part of it, you know because you just have great guitar players who aren’t even in bands but they just recorded an awesome little snippet and that gets millions of views.

Tom: Yeah, we definitely adapted a little bit because we never used to care at all about online presence. But obviously you have to do something. We've been trying and it is annoying sometimes. You see a band just take off or something from one of those, like you see bands do a million videos on TikTok of them pretending to sing the song or whatever. It's just like an entire TikTok page of the same song clip, but with different scenery, and that just blows my mind, the time that you would have to spend doing that. We're never gonna be that band. Like Joe said, we've all been friends for a long time, and it works so easily that we're all just gonna keep doing this. You know, if there's a lot of people that get attached to it, and we can make something even greater, that'd be fucking awesome.

Brian: Yeah we're really banking on someone finding us in ten years, and figuring out that we're good, and then we cash in that way.

Getting the Furnace Fest ten year reunion money.

Brian: Yeah a ten year reunion band, but ten years ago, we were never popular or big. One of those situations.

Nick: You gotta hope the records outlast the 30 second videos. When you're, you know, 30 years from now, I don't think that's what people are gonna be looking at or listening to.

Joe: When we were listening to early mixes of this album, Tom said to me like, “yo, we can't ever stop doing this” because I think we all believe in it. Whether it's slow and steady or we're just making the music we like, I think we're sentenced for life to doing this.

Brian: Yeah, it is a curse. We're trapped, but it's fun though. All of our releases sound pretty different. I would be interested to see what it would sound like in five years, ten years because I don't think we're ever gonna not be friends. So even if it's mostly just one of us contributing, it would be pretty fun to hear what comes out of it.

Thank you guys for your time.

Make sure to check out In Angles’s new record, The Light We Can’t Escape, out November 22nd, 2024 and preorder merch on the Choke Artist store. Find tickets to catch them live opening up for Tiny Moving Parts December 13th at the Brooklyn Monarch here.