Interview by Annette Hansen / Photo by Megan Leetz
Growing and evolving is an essential part of life, but the process is not always easy or pleasant. When Real Friends set out to make their third record, Composure, they aimed to challenge themselves as artists, but also quickly realized that they would have to challenge their own personal relationships with one another. While the end product of the experience was the band’s most captivating and dynamic record yet, it was not an easy ride to get there.
When it came to the creative process, Real Friends knew they wanted to take things to the next level with Composure. The band wanted to craft a sound that was more ear-grabbing than anything they’d done before.
“We were really focused on making things as catchy as possible, and have it be very based around the vocals,” bassist Kyle Fasel explains. “We just wanted to expand ourselves as songwriters and be able to also appeal to more people.”
But it wasn’t just the catchiness of the record that they wanted to expand on. The band also aimed to craft songs that fans, not only enjoyed listening to, but were able to pour themselves into.
“I think the lyrics are very relatable,” Fasel says. “We tried to keep some of the lyrics a little more broad at times so people could kind of attach to them in their own way. I’m very big on the listener sort of coming up with their own definitions of the song.”
Ultimately the band were able to craft an album that listeners really gravitated to and, more importantly, that they themselves were proud of, “We’re really happy with the record,” Fasel relays. “We’re really excited about how it turned out.”
Fasel explains that the album seems to have succeeded in bringing more ears to their music, “There are people on tour that said that’s the one album they know the best. That’s really exciting. It makes you feel sort of hopeful for the future, like ‘alright, people are still discovering us.’”
But before the album was ever released, behind the scenes tension nearly kept Composure from ever seeing the light of day.
“There was one point where we didn’t know if we were going to release this record,” Fasel expresses. “A lot of signs were sort of pointing to the band being done.”
During the creation of Composure, the band found themselves having to work through long-held frustrations and personal conflict. While their troubles didn’t stop them from recording the record, it also didn’t stop them from having their doubts.
“Communication is so important and it’s like one of the simplest things, but when you’re so busy and when you’re gone and you’re on tour and you’re on flights and you’re on a bus, all this stuff, it’s like it can really get lost,” Fasel explains. “Through all of this, I kept saying I understand why a lot of bands break-up.”
But the band decided to work through their struggles rather than cave into them, “We recorded [Composure] and then we took time off after we recorded it which was supposed to be time to figure out marketing,” Fasel says. “We actually had some down time because we were like ‘alright, everything’s on hold, everyone has their issues they need to tackle.’”
The band found that honesty would play an important role in working through their struggles, “We’d have sessions where we were like talking to each other, and there were a lot of things said that have never been said before for years,” Fasel describes. “When you’ve been a band going on almost ten years, it’s like if you don’t communicate some things, they tend to get a little built up in there. I think it just made us stronger because now our communication is as open as ever.”
Ultimately, the whole experience has changed Real Friends for the better, “Now, being on the total other side of that, it feels great. I feel like we’re stronger than ever as a band as far as our friendships go within the band,” Fasel expresses.
Now with Composure in the world and with the band continuing to maintain their newfound strength, Fasel says they are looking forward to future of Real Friends, “We’re definitely not going anywhere,” Fasel says. “We are here to stay and definitely stronger than ever.”
