Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Following yesterday’s release of Forever Undone on Sharptone Records, German dark-pop outfit Letters Sent Home is certain to dominate your ear holes. To coincide with the record’s release, TGEFM is honored to have had the chance to chat with the band as part of our Roll of the Dice series.
Congratulations on the release of Forever Undone! Let’s start it off by talking a little bit about how that record came into existence. What was going on at the time that helped kickstart and influence the songwriting process?
After four years of writing music, we had enough of writing singles and wanted to finally work on a bigger project with more of a concept. During that time I was just starting therapy and worked through my past and my emotions in a way I’ve never done before. That led to me having a lot to say. Musically, we were very hooked on YONAKA and Holding Absence, both of who influenced the sound of the album tremendously.
What album, band, or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do”? Not just an influence, but who or what made you want to start making music?
This is different for each of us but definitely Linkin Park and Bring Me The Horizon for the boys. For me, it was a German artist who was very popular back in the 2000s, Lafee. She was only like 15 years old back then and I saw her on stage and thought “I wanna do that too”.
We’ve all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?
Robin and I have actually had this conversation a few days ago and we came to the conclusion that we have no regrets. This might sound very cheesy but every mistake we made, every decision we made and every advice we took and didn’t take led us here and right now, we couldn’t be happier with where we are. Obviously, we’ve had shows that, looking back, we wouldn’t do again and songs we wouldn’t write that way anymore but we don’t regret having done them. We took this road for a reason and it all worked out (so far haha).
The songs on the record are quite personal. How, if at all, did the songwriting play into the healing process?
As already mentioned, I was starting therapy when we started writing this album, so it sort of served as post processing. Everything I learned in therapy, I worked through again when writing, which forced me to deal with it until I fully understood what it all meant and understanding is the first step to healing. I wouldn’t say I am “healed” because I actually don’t think it’s possible to be fully healed once you’ve been broken but I think the songwriting paired with therapy has helped me get a lot better.
What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences as a touring musician so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?
We recently supported a German artist called DAMONA, who is an amazing 18-year old musician with a lot of talent and a huge following. Every single show on this tour was very special. Her fans took us in with open arms and gave us gifts, waited in line for a long time to take pictures, bought so much merch and later on came to our own shows. We have never felt this love as a supporting artist before and I honestly believe we will never again. People telling you, you’re their first concert or their first vinyl is a beautiful feeling.
How did the recording of Forever Undone compare to your previous releases?
We usually write some demos at home and once we decide we have a few songs we want to finish, we drive down to Koblenz, which is where Julian has his home studio and we work on the songs together. Julian is a brilliant songwriter, so he always has new ideas to perfect the songs. He also knows exactly what buttons to press to push us to perform the best we can while recording. Sometimes, we start working on a song with him without having written a demo first. We have learned so much from him and are continuing to do so. Ever since we started songwriting in 2018, we have never worked with anyone else. We love to look back and see how not only we as a band but also he as a producer has grown so much over the years. Julian is basically the fifth member of Letters Sent Home and one of our closest friends. The recording process for Forever Undone was the same as always except we, obviously, wrote a whole lot more than we were used to and we made it the new normal to first write the vocal melody and then focus on lyrics which was the other way around in the past.
Who are some bands on your radar that our readers may not know about, but you think they should know about?
Bands that we are obsessed with right now and that are way too underrated are ROYALIST and Shoreline.
What’s next for Letters Sent Home?
We have a release show near our hometown a week after the album release and a bunch of support shows coming up in April and May, including first shows in the Netherlands and France, which we are extremely excited for. We also have a project in mind to be worked on this summer but it’s not ready to be talked about yet. But if it works out the way we hope, it’s something to be really excited about!
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Thank you so much for having us! We just want to say that we are so excited for this debut album to finally be yours and can’t wait for all your feedback. Thank you for taking this journey with us!
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
