Hey there guys, congratulations on the release of your newest album “An Exercise In Discontent” and thank you for agreeing to answer a few of my questions!
Under the Pier is quite a striking name.
Is there a backstory to it and why did you choose it to illustrate the music you make?
Jesse : I used to work at a place just off the Broadway pier in Fells Point.
On several occasions, I would come in to open, and the police would be pulling up a dead person from under the pier.
I recognized a few of them from living in the area or from personally interacting with them the night before. Our name represents the anxiety of living in a city like Baltimore.
David : I know Jesse had a lot of interesting experiences working down in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore.
When the name was presented to me, my first thought was about the flesh eating bacteria that’s in the water in the Inner Harbor here, and basically that was metal enough for me.
It also just sounded like it belonged… one of those things, when ya know, ya know.
The music you write is extremely technical and in my review of the album I referred to it as being “mathematically precise”.
How much actual musical theory “mathematics” go into writing these songs and could you talk us through the songwriting process a little bit?
David : Honestly, we are a group of musicians who know very little about actual music theory.
I grew up listening to all sorts of “math” music that influenced my taste (Frank Zappa, The Mars Volta, Tera Melos, Hella etc.) and desire to play mathematical music.
I also didn’t start taking drum lessons until two years ago (Shout out Emmett Ceglia!!!) and was strictly self taught until then.
A lot of times when Dylan comes up with a sick riff, we ask ourselves “How can we make that sound fucked up?” and it just kind of happens.
Jesse : We kinda had to develop our own way to write mathcore.
We use a white board and write down number sequences based on Dylans riffs.
Each song starts with one riff, we manipulate it and go from there.
Each of us has been listening to complex metal for a long time and use our influences as fuel to accomplish the goal of making something sound completely like our own.
What drives you to write such technical music and what do you get out of it?
David : For me it is a form of meditation. Its that idea of focusing on one thing and one thing only so intently that everything else falls by the wayside, because you have no choice when playing this type of music.
The first band I was in that played math rock flipped a switch in my brain that I can’t un-flip. Ever since then, playing anything in 4/4 is just so boring to me, and I lose focus very easily.
At the end of the day it is such a release for my brain, and allows me to get rid of all of the noise inside of it.
Jesse : I just hate mainstream music with the fire of a thousand suns.
I see our genre as something I can call home, and as long as I'm alive, I want to be a part of the mathcore scene. If you know, then you know.
From my point of view, you perfectly embody what the mathcore sub-genre is all about musically speaking.
So I was wondering, what is your own perspective of mathcore as a sub-genre and as a scene, and what does it mean to you?
David : For me Mathcore is just what the inside of my brain feels like most days.
I can’t fully explain that but I relate to it so well, and it just makes me feel something that other music doesn’t.
The ultimate outlier, that will always remain untapped and pure for what it is meant to be.
So ugly and disgusting that no one would ever truly want to commercialize it, so that it changes.
The scene is unreal. Comedic, supporting, loving, and so tight knit it blows my mind constantly. A true example of artists supporting artists supporting artists supporting artists, and we are so thankful to be a part of it.
Jesse : Thank you. All our favorite bands have a mathy side to them.
It's simply in our blood to play technical stuff.
We want to play shows with bands we look up to and be a part of this kind of mathcore revival. It's a small community but if you find yourself at one of our shows, there will be people there that have a lot in common with you.
Your music videos have a strong sense of visual narrative and you’ve incorporated spoken word samples in both your records.
Is “An Exercise In Discontent” a concept-driven album, and if so, could you tell us more about it?
Jesse : AEID is a collection of feelings that people have given us over the last year and a half.
I dont see it as a concept album because the songs are not following a narrative but the lyrics all have the same kind of vibes. Regret, self worth, heartbreak and your place in the world.
The music and song structures also feed off of each other from track to track to give it an unhinged attack on your senses that, I think, works very well with the vocals.
This album is that last desperate attempt to let someone know how you feel.
Is there a conceptual correlation between “Puff Pieces” an “An Exercise In Discontent”?
Jesse : As a band, we have grown a ton since we wrote Puff Pieces but our message is still the same.
The world is a beautiful place, people is what makes it terrible, this is how people make us feel. Those vibes are echoed on Puff but we were still finding ourselves on that album.
AEID picks up where Puff left off, but we were more polished and a lot more pissed off.
No real conceptual correlation but a more evolved UTP.
Do you think you would have put out “An Exercise In Discontent” so soon after “Puff Pieces” if it weren’t for Covid-19 or was that already part of your plan regardless?
David : Definitely not. We had 40 or so shows booked for 2020 by March, and since all of them got cancelled, we said fuck it, lets write the next one.
Jesse : Yea no chance. I have mixed feelings about it.
On one hand we had over a year to write an album that I love.
On the other hand we lost a huge tour.
Hopefully now we can reschedule those shows for 2022 and they'll be even better.
With the album release show coming up on the 21st of October followed by a short East Coast tour in November, what part of live gigging are you most looking forwards to after not having been able to perform for roughly two years?
David : There is nothing like pouring out a little bit of your soul on a live stage.
The ultimate release.
Jesse : Stage dives. I just want enough people at the shows in the front row to let me jump on them without falling and busting my face on the damn ground.
And just meeting people who have similar taste in music as me.
With Danny stepping down from the band recently, have you been able to find someone to fill-in on bass duties in time for the November tour?
David : We believe we have found a great fit and are very excited for him to be a part of this band!
Jesse : Yep we will be announcing our new bassist soon
By choosing to switch from six string to seven string guitar and working with Pedram (Frontierer) for the mixing of the new album, your overall sound as a band comes across as being a bit beefier and chuggier than your debut.
Is that something you wish to continue working towards on future releases by exploring an increasingly lower-tuned approach?
David : I think ultimately the seven string is likely where we will stay, but ultimately that is Dylan’s call. As long as he keeps writing the riffs that he does, I don’t care if its on a six, seven, or eight string.
The goal with the mix this time around was to get it as loud as possible, and nobody does that better than Frontierer.
It was definitely an experiment and something we will be exploring more of in the future.
Jesse : I think with the help of Scott Ensign, Pedram from Frontierer and Brad Boatright, we captured a really good sound on this album.
It sounds big and full which was the goal, but I think we like the idea of each album having its it's own identity, so as for the future... we shall see what happens.
What would you say are the biggest musical influences behind Under the Pier’s sound and what would be your dream line-up for a tour?
David : Ion Dissonance, Dead Kiwis, Dillinger, Converge, Gaza, Car Bomb, Frontierer, Fawn Limbs… all of the obvious ones.
My personal list of influences is wide and varied, but as a band we all love the same heavy music.
My dream line up: Converge, Ion Dissonance, Thin, Under the Pier.
Jesse : Yea David is correct there. I would love to play Furnace Fest one day.
I'd play by the porta pottys, I dont even care.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these and best of luck with the upcoming live shows!
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