of that . We sort of knew what we wanted to be when we were that young and knew that the band was an outlet for us to just express ourselves . But as far as know-how and wherewithal and how to be technically proficient musicians and songwriters and all that stuff , it just wasn ’ t there . We were punk kids . So , I think in the years that we continued to be in a band , we got better , and I think you can hear that in the records as they went on .”
There are obviously many things that set Alexisonfire apart from other bands , but to Pettit , one of them is the fact that they ’ ve never stopped seeking out new music and art and finding unexpected sources of inspiration .
“ Maybe the normal trajectory of successful artists is that you get a bit of success , and then you fall off the planet , and you stop paying attention to what ’ s going on around you or paying attention to what ’ s going on in culture and art and music ,” he explains . “ And that ’ s one thing that I can say about Alexis , is that we ’ ve never stopped being music consumers .”
MacNeil , whose time spent away from Alexisonfire involved scoring films , says he was able to bring elements from that realm into the band ’ s new work , adding some new depths to the songs on Otherness .
“ I think there has been a ton that I ’ ve
PHOTO : VANESSA HEINS
learned from composing for film and television that I brought over to the recording of this , just having a larger knowledge and sense and being able to include that in a tasteful way ,” he says . “ Then also bringing some sound design elements to the parts that we wanted to be dreamy or more ethereal , to make them sound a little bit more dramatic and visual , almost . I think that was a marked difference in my contribution to the songwriting this time around .”
Pettit also remarks on the fresh approach MacNeil brought to the record with his newfound skills , and this is far from the first or last time one of the musicians opts to speak about the accomplishments of their bandmates ( or the band as a whole ), rather than their own as individuals . Something MacNeil touches on is the letting go of egos he and his bandmates pushed themselves to do to better serve the music and stay working as a unit — a sentiment both Green and Pettit corroborate .
“ This was probably the most open and creative process that I ’ ve ever been a part of ,” says Pettit . “ We were all trying on a lot of different hats .”
What Pettit means by this is that each member of the band was practically involved in all aspects of making the album . They chose not to bring on a producer , and instead Green acted as the main driving force behind the recording , with constant input from each of his bandmates .
“ Back in the day when we were making records , I think there was a little bit more privacy to what everyone was doing ,” Pettit continues . “ Everybody does everything separately , we try stay in our lanes — and his time around , it just felt wholly collaborative and really , genuinely positive the whole way through .”
Once all the songs were written and demoed and it was time to enter the studio together , the band finished tracking the album in seven days .
“ It was done before it even started ,” says Pettit . “ And I think that had to do with the general positivity , the openness we had with one another , and then there was newfound confidence in what we were doing , that maybe we didn ’ t have on some of the other records .”
In the past , it could have taken just as long to track a single instrument , but yet another thing Alexisonfire did differently this time around was recording each song in full before moving onto the next , rather than recording the drums to the entire record first , before putting the bass and guitars overtop , and so on .
“ We took each song individually , and we worked on that song until it was finished ,” Pettit explains . “ So , at the end of the day , we would have this finished product of a song that we could listen to in the studio , and we could feel excited about it , that we captured this incredible thing that we ’ d written . And then we rolled all that energy of feeling good about that song into the next song .”
For Green , this approach was helpful when it came to keeping up the positive attitude , healthy morale , and general excitement of being back in the studio with his bandmates . He didn ’ t want anyone to have to sit around bored while he and MacNeil discussed which of their “ thousand delay pedals ” they ’ d use on a section of a song . Instead , they wanted everyone to work together on every component of the record for a common goal .
“ If you keep that kind of energy going and try to build a song each time , everybody ’ s invested in wanting to hear what it builds to ,” says Green . “ I think that was very helpful for the energy in studio .”
Learning to see eye-to-eye and having trust in his bandmates ’ creative decisions and different areas of musical knowledge , and vice
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