By: Jamie Steinberg
Photo By Alex Binder
Q) You’re often described as a pop-punk meets folk-punk band, but how do you describe the music that you make?
A) I never know how to categorize our sound. It feels like we’re not quite folk punk and we can vibe with other full punk bands as well. I like to call it acoustic punk, but at the end of the day, we still get labeled as folk punk because of the instruments.
Q) Who are some of the artists that you grew up listening to?
A) When I was just discovering bands, I think my favorites were The Offspring and Third Eye Blind when I was nine years old. Then, when I started playing the drums at age twelve, I switched over to metal and I was huge into Slipknot and System of a Down. And then finally when I started my first band when I was fourteen years old, I was heavily into Choking Victim and No Cash.
Q) “Zugzwang” is quite the mouthful. What was it about this term that inspired the song?
A) I love finding meaning in weird words to contrast different aspects of life or events. It’s a chess term that means whatever move you make next, it will put you in a worse position. I wanted to use that as an analogy to explain how violence and war only creates more of the same and puts humanity in a worse position.
Q) I read that “The Ravine” was inspired by your personal struggles as a band. Do you really think you’re “cursed?”
A) Yeah, we’re convinced the band has a curse. There’s a lot of incidents that happened between 2023-2025 that seemed like someone was out to get us. A friend of ours fell into a ravine, our van broke down, we saw a dead body, we lost a family member while on tour forcing us to cancel a tour, another friend who helped us through the whole ordeal died shortly after, all of our gear got waterlogged at a show and after that and anytime we played outdoors (I’m not exaggerating here) it rained. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too.
Q) Your album Exhausted Dialogue is out now. What are some themes you’ll be exploring on it?
A) A lot of our songs are usually about death, dying, war, mental struggles, religion and coping with depression or loss of a loved one. The title of the album is supposed to mean we’re beating a dead horse with the same old topics we’ve always sang about because the struggles never stop.
Q) This is your first album since 2021’s Immoral Compass. How has your music evolved since that time?
A) We started the band during COVID thinking it’d just be a recording project. After that when we realized we gotta play the songs live, we brought in Riz [Sendejas] on drums and they played the cajon with cymbals for a while, eventually upgrading to a whole drumset for ease of playing live. The songs themselves are a difficult task to write considering the instrumentation. You kind of have to write around the drums and washboard and rely heavily on rhythms to make things pop and I think this new album, we’ve really honed in on that idea. Plus, on this new album I’m playing an octave mandolin as well as a regular mando.
Q) Exhausted Dialogue was recorded in Elliot and Jon’s bedrooms. Why is it so important for you all to continue this DIY approach to making music?
A) We have a lot going on in our songs and I like to be able to hear all of the parts. But recording in a bedroom with limited gear keeps that raw sound. No matter how polished you make it in post, the DIY sound will not make it sound overproduced.
Q) What is your songwriting process? Do you need music before you can begin crafting lyrics?
A) I do the mumble method. I’ll write a riff and I’ll mumble gibberish over it to get a vocal melody to go with it. When I like it, I’ll start matching lyrics to some of the rhythm of the jibberish. It’s a very weird way to write, but after I do that, the next part of the song comes easier since I have an idea of what the song will be about and a feeling for how the song will sound.
Q) Which of the songs on the album hold a special place in your heart and what makes it so significant to you?
A) “We Were Known to Ramble” is a song that’s roughly fifteen years old. I wrote the structure and the first verse as I was starting We The Heathens with my friend Luke. We’ve always talked about finishing the song and in the last couple years I came up with the chorus. It was interesting considering what the song is about. It’s a song about reminiscing on the old days after being stuck in a life that you’re so entwined with, you don’t think there’s any way to change. And when I wrote the song when I was twenty-two years old, I was in the moment of writing songs in the attic and living the “best days of my life.” Now I’m thirty-six years old, looking back at the comfort of just hanging out with my friends and writing silly songs, only to be entirely entwined in the music business, struggling to eat and pay rent and knowing that this is what I’m going to do with the rest of my life, sink or swim.
Q) What do you hope lingers with audiences that explore this new album as a whole – either as an emotion or message?
A) I’m not sure. The album has a pessimistic tone to it. I don’t want people to be unhappy or anything, but rather they’re not alone in the struggles of life. We’re all going through it together.
Q) The band is currently out on tour. Have you already begun playing some tracks off of the new album for your live shows?
A) Yes! We’re opening the set with the new intro and also playing a few of the singles as well.
Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform?
A) I like playing everywhere. That’s a cop out answer, but honestly I love performing in general and every place I play is a treat to me.
Q What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of the incredible and inspiring music Doom Scroll keeps releasing?
A) You’re not alone! From the scope of the world, watching the horrors unfold, down to the nitty gritty personal struggles, we’re all going through it and there’s always someone out there to talk to. Don’t give up, no matter how hard it gets. You are loved and appreciated and there’s always someone who cares about what you’re going through.
All Questions Answered By Vocalist/Guitarist Elliot Lozier