I can imagine that it’s really different knowing you want to write for an album and not just an
EP or a single.
How did that affect the songwriting process?
When we were putting this together, I didn’t necessarily want there to be a story or whatever, but
there’s definitely a theme and when you start to see it all fit together, it feels like a much bigger
body of work, right? When you’re doing singles, they can sometimes feel disjointed or not fit
together in the same way. So it’s really helped us find a sound quite quickly as well. It’s going to be
really exciting making another one. I’m already thinking about that. But yeah, it’s been really, really
different to how we would usually just put singles together or put songs together.
It’s nice that there’s kind of more of a feeling to them.

Yeah it’s beautiful that you’re talking about friendship, hope and supporting each other through hardship.
You also felt like you needed a new beginning, did the dynamic change now that you are Bottlemoth and not Bridges anymore?

It’s a different dynamic for sure. I think that when anything changes in such a big format like that, you start to rethink about where you are and what you want to create.
That was a big conscious change, we wanted to make something different and we wanted to produce it differently.A big part of what this album is, is finding what our sound is going to be.

You did have a show the day before yesterday in Wiltshire did you perform the whole album there or just the snippets we already have?

We performed everything there. That was the first time we’d taken it out live from start to finish.
It went pretty well. We’re adding quite a lot of new tech elements to the show, which we haven’t done before. A couple of little blips that went wrong, but I don’t think anyone noticed, you know, and it was really, really fun and a good chance to finally play these songs start to finish. We’ve played a couple of them live when we’ve done shows earlier in the year but not the whole album so it was very special.

Did you get the chance to talk to anyone after the show, see what they thought of the album?

Yeah, a few people came up afterwards as well and it was really nice to chat with them.
I think that we’ve got a few more shows planned that will be more like an album launch.
This was more like an album trial to see what it feels like live.
But we’ve got a couple of shows coming up over the next few months.
So I think we’ll start to get more into that, to sharing the record itself as well as the vinyl, that won’t come out until this thursday, I’m really excited to have that.

I was also wondering, you are five people in the band and it’s a very personal
album, it feels very intimate and with personal topics like that is it difficult for everyone to relate instantly with what you’re giving them?

That’s a good question, i think that we are all going through similar things and also people find their own meanings in the songs as well.
I guess i’ve never really asked that question, it’s more like, i’m bringing forward a song and then, fortunately, they’re all super talented people and come up with really great ideas that make the song better. As we come to, maybe, the second record we’ll be thinking more about adding more of each other’s spin on it but they also sort of see me as Ethan is the lyricist and it’s kind of his domain.
And I think if there was anything in particular they didn’t like, they’d let me know quite quickly.

Is it also sometimes a little bit scary to show them your work and to be that open and vulnerable?

Yeah, it has been in the past.
Definitely in other bands as well, growing up and writing songs, it’s a very vulnerable thing to do, right? Particularly with this record, it’s got a lot of personal story through it and about what it’s like going through your 20s.
There’s a lot there that people can relate to, I hope. But it is scary anytime you bring something forward because if you say something too vulnerable you’re putting yourself a bit on a chopping block. But it’s also good, it’s always worth it.

If that’s fine with you, I’d like to talk with you about your song ‘Numb’, which felt really vulnerable to me. You created this, kind of, Crime Scene. Could you tell me a little bit about it?

I’d say that it’s the only, I guess, socio-political driven song that I’ve ever written.
And it’s very much about my feelings towards the UK leaving Europe
and how we all sit in England at the moment. Everybody’s a lot poorer, everybody’s a lot sadder. And definitely the last few years, we’ve all grown a bit numb to it. That’s where the song came from.
So whilst a lot of our songs are about being there for each other and friendship and the things you’ve picked up on, right?
This song is the only one, at least on this album, that went a little bit deeper than just ourselves.

It feels really impactful! A very powerful song! But I have to say, with every song on this record, after listening to it, I thought this is my favorite, no this. I just couldn’t choose.

That’s so good to hear, thank you! It’s a very strange thing, when you finish an album, to know when it’s done and it took us a long time. It took me maybe a bit too long, but there’s an element of worry that you’ll fall out of love with it later and I feel very lucky that we haven’t felt that with this, so it’s nice to hear.

Was it difficult to find an agreement in knowing when to stop? Did you all think the album was finished at the same time?

We recorded everything ourselves and I was really excited to try a lot of new things and I made a very, very long list of things to try.
We, admittedly, didn’t get to everything on that list because it just got to a point of where it felt like it’s already done, why are we trying more things?
Ultimately, at the end, we ended up taking more away. There’s a load of my guitars that just didn’t make the album because we just didn’t really needed them yet and that taught me a lot of less is more sometimes and you can say a lot without saying a lot, so that was a big part of the process.

You said you are already excited to do the next record but do you have other plans and wishes too for the near future of the band?

Yeah, I’d love to be getting us more on the road in 2025. We’ve got a couple of shows coming up the end of this year, trying it all and the record for the first time.
Then into 2025, I’d like to hit a lot of new territories, a lot of new countries, but also finally to get out on the road for the whole of the UK rather than just a few key spots
that we know we can sell to.
Hopefully we can pick up a lot of new fans with that.
And then, yeah, getting back in recording, making more music.
I’d love to be releasing a record every couple of years.

You said in another interview that you didn’t intend for the album to have that mostly positiv outlook it now has and you went with the flow in the end.
Do you already have plans for how your next record is going to sound or do you want to go with the flow here too?

It’s difficult to say, i think, the next record is going to be quite reflective again, from the songs that we have so far. I would love to make a rock record but, again, i don’t think it’s going to be a rock record. It’s going to have rock tunes on it but it will be quite varied.
We have about 12 or so songs at the moment that we like and i’d like to get to 15-20 and then whittle it down to 10 favorites. It’s probably too early to say but I think it’s always better to go with the flow.
If you try and force something, then we might just end up sounding like something else.
We have really broad influences from loads of different styles and I hope we find our own position in that space rather than just sounding like another band.

I think Even Us Ghosts already has it’s own sound and it’s really a body of work.

I really appreciate it. We worked really hard on it, we recorded it all here in my house but it doesn’t sound like it. It feels fully studio worthy, and that encouraged us to know that we can do a lot ourselves.

And you also don’t live close to each other, right? That must’ve been difficult.

We’re all about an hour to an hour and a half. So it’s a bit tricky to do that, it’s a challenge but that’s just part of all of it.
We’ve played with each other for a really long time, in different bands and it makes sense to keep the group tight.

Is there one song in particular that you are excited or scared for everyone to hear?

We talked about ‘Numb’ earlier, this one is a bit scary in the sense that I haven’t made a song that is divisive.
And ‘Hold Me Like You Know Me’ is probably my favorite on the album at the moment, that closes the record, so maybe that one. But I’m interested to see how people will listen to the record as well, right?
Whether people are going to be listening to the whole thing back to front, as we hope they are, or whether they’re going to pick out their favourites.
So it’s probably just going to be a new experience with that. My favourite changes all the time though, which is probably a good thing.

It definitely is! ‘Hold Me Like You Know Me’ kind of ties everything together. It feels like the equivalent to ‘Everything Works Out In The End’.
Asking for help, for someone to be there.

Yeah, I feel like it’s very easy to feel like you’re a bit lost in the world.
So that’s what we’re trying to lean into. Being okay to chat with your pals about stuff.

Yeah totally! That’s a beautiful message to end on! I hope I see you one day in Germany, I’d love to come to a show!

Oh, we would love to make that happen! It’s an amazing place. We’ll keep our fingers crossed!