An Interview With the Post-Hardcore Band, LIMBS!

Photo Credit- ElioMarini

Get to know the post-hardcore band LIMBS! The band recently announced that they’ve signed to UNFD, an Australian-based label that’s home to Tonight Alive, Hands Like Houses, In Hearts Wake, and more. LIMBS is the first US-based band to sign a worldwide deal with the label.

On April 27th, LIMBS released their debut full-length album, “Father’s Son.” They released their latest EP “SLEEP” last fall via Equal Vision Records. This collection was produced by Tim McTague of Underoath, and received high praise from Revolver, Outburn Magazine (perfect 10/10 review!), Rock Sound, and Metal Injection, amongst others.

They took to the studio with Beau Burchell (Saosin) in late November to record their follow up: a moving record that tackles the weighty topic of religion and more.

Learn more about LIMBS in the following All Access interview:

So how has 2018 been treating you all? What is one musical goal that you have had for this year and how close are you to reaching it?

A: So far it’s been great! We announced our signing to UNFD, got offered an insane tour with UnderOath which just ended not too long ago. Some gnarly things have been happening, and we have some other things that are on the horizon right now as well. Hopefully we can keep the gnarly things coming and score a tour with Deftones, haha. Thats probably one of my personal biggest musical goals for every year if we’re being honest, but I don’t think we’re very close to achieving that just yet.

Can you recall the moment when you thought you could be in this group together? Has anything surprised you about it all so far?

A: I guess way back at the beginning of 2014. Chris approached me about it and sent me some songs he had put together in GuitarPro. It was a different style for me, but I was very excited about that. When we first met to kinda jam together, we just meshed really well as individuals. Everyone else who is in the band currently, I feel the same about. We all have a solid chemistry together.

How difficult was it to come up with your band name? What other names were you considering?

A: Honestly pretty difficult. I can’t even remember what other names we had picked out, because the process was such a blur to me. We had to actually change our name within a certain mount of time due to some copywrite issues with our first name, so everyone was pretty stressed to find one that fit our style and the direction we were planning on heading in. But I do remember not liking LIMBS at first. After a day of discussing different ideas though, it just made sense and seemed very different from the kinds of names that bands we’re currently using.

How do you think your hometowns have influenced the sound and how you all carry yourselves in this group? If you don’t think that it has, why is that?

A: I think it has, but not how you would think, haha. Around the time we were cutting our teeth with live shows, a lot of “beat down” bands started popping up around the local scene. Then eventually it was either you’re a “beat down” band or you’re a hard core band. There we’re and still are some other bands that break that mold, that we’re friends with locally. But I think that really made us strive to be different and kind of break out of the local scene with our own sound.

How did you go about deciding to sign with UNFD? Why do you think they are the right place for this group and your music today? What does it mean to you to be the first US-based band to sign a worldwide deal with them?

A: Deciding to sign with UNFD was a no brainer for us. They have a global foot print, and everyone that we have worked with there has just been the best. To be the fist US-based band means the world to us, because it means they genuinely believe in our art and who we are as a band. So it just made sense to us that this should be our home.

What was it like releasing your debut full-length album, “Father’s Son”? Did anything surprise you about putting that collection together? What was it like working with your producer Beau Burchell on it?

A: I was shocked at how diverse the music on the record is. It’s heavy, but still has its softer and more eclectic moments, which were trying to potentially have more of on future releases. But the release has been rad. Beau really killed it with the record too. He was very fun to work with and really helped us hone in on our new “sound” as did Tim McTague. But yeah, numbers have been good, and thats all we could ask for.

While it’s difficult, can you pick out a few of your favorite songs on the album and talk about the inspiration behind them and how they got to be on this collection?

A: Abba is one of my personal favorites. It slaps live, but also was heavily inspired by Norma Jean in a lot of aspects. It was one of the first songs that, after writing, we immediately knew we wanted it on the record. Sacrament is a close second. It was heavily inspired by Radiohead and was also a song that we immediately knew we wanted on the record.

Where do you think you are all happiest- in the studio recording new music, on stage performing or elsewhere?

A: In all aspects, we are generally pretty happy people. But I would say when we’re out on the road playing shows. We all have the most fun when we’re jamming out on stage.

Do you have any upcoming tour dates this summer that you would like to tell our readers about?

A: We’re actually playing the three Warped Tour dates that are hitting Florida! I believe its August 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Orlando is on the 3rd, Tampa is on the 4th, and West Palm Beach is on the 5th!

How do you think being a musician and in this band gives you all the most joy in life today?

A: For me it’s just a really good creative and emotional outlet, as cliche as it sounds. There’s a lot of garbage going on in the world today, so it’s nice to have some sort of distraction that keeps you positive.

We are currently living through a very trying and politically charged time right now so I am curious to know how your own music is reflecting this time period? If you don’t think it is, why is that? Would you say that other musicians are making music that has been influenced by this climate?

A: We’re not a very politically charged band at all. “Father’s Son” actually tackles a lot of religious problems. I don’t personally write the lyrics, but I do know that Chris writes a lot of lyrics based on personal experience and past life circumstances. That’s just more of an inspiration for him as a writer. The Fever is actually doing some rad things right now though. If you haven’t checked them out yet, you should!

How important do you think social media has been to this band? Do all you help to maintain all your sites or is one of you more into it all? Or do you rely on your PR/management team to handle it?

A: It’s extremely important, but I think that goes for every band unless you’re Glassjaw, hahaha. Josh, our bassist, actually handles all of our social media accounts while Jordan, our guitarist, handles our band website design and layout.

Who would you love to work with in the future? Who are some of your favorite artists right now? What do you think would be a dream collaboration for this group?

A: I mean, I’ll say it again…but other than Deftones, I would have to say Nine Inch Nails for me personally, haha. Trent Reznor is a huge influence to me. Our music isn’t really his style, but who knows. I would say he’s one of my current favorite artists though. Him, Vince Staples, and Sunn O))). Vince Staples released a solid record last year called Big Fish Theory that you should check out if you haven’t yet. Sunn O))) is just ambient yet heavy riffage, but I’m heavily into it at the moment. Although if I had to pick an artist to collaborate with, I would have to say Post Malone. A LIMBS x Posty collab would be the collab of the century!

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs?

A: Not only inspiration but also that they aren’t the only people who deal with the kinds of things that we write about.

Where can our readers connect with this group?

A: On Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter! We also have a band website which is whoislimbs.com. You can find all of our tour dates, music, lyrics, and music videos.