Interviews: Rob Moran (Narrows)

One of Deathwish Inc's latest signings, Narrows, is getting ready to release their first full-length, which is due this winter. You may know the members from their many influential projects, like Botch, Roy, Some Girls and These Arms Are Snakes.

In the meantime, you can check out their recently released self-titled seven-inch and this interview between our own Ryan Raffin and the band's bassist Rob Moran.
You can click Read More for the interview.

How did the band form?
When you are old like we are, sometimes you need to get some things off your chest. This band was started to do just that…let some things out and have fun while doing it.
When is the full-length being released?
It is completely done and a track for the album is up now on Deathwish and our MySpace page. We are working on the layout now and expect the album to be released around March/April. The album will be called New Distances.
Do you have any plans for touring in 2009?
We have numerous plans for touring, but we don't know if any of them will actually work out.
How did you get involved with Deathwish?
I had worked them before, when they released a few of the Some Girls records…when the band was put together and we wrote the first EP, I figured it might be something they would be interested in. I had sent Tre and Jake some tracks (the EP songs actually) and they were into it. Everyone in the band is extremely happy with them on multiple levels. They are great people running a great label.
Will you be doing Narrows full-time? How difficult is it to practice, record and tour when the band members live very far away from each other?
This is a huge challenge, but it makes it pretty exciting at the same time. The band cannot be full time ever due to everyone's schedules. Full time jobs, wives, other bands etc, it makes it hard to try and be a full time. Practicing is impossible for the most part, but through the internet we are able to right songs and send files back and forth. The EP, all three songs were written in two days and then recorded. With the album, Jodie, Sam and myself sent probably 15-20 something tracks to each other over a three-month period. We flew Jodie out from London, and went to a practice space for five days straight for about four-six hours each day. We took all the tracks we wrote and got them down to eight songs that we really liked. We then went to the studio for 4four days to record just the music. In the last day we had for recording the music, we made up a ninth song in the studio and pretty much recorded it as we wrote it.
As for touring, it happens when it happens. If we have some vacation time, and we can afford to fly the band members to a place to play, we will do it.
How did the West Coast tour get organized?
We really wanted to try and play some shows and I wanted to see if Trap Them would be into it. They said yes, then These Arms Are Snakes had wanted to play some shows around that time and joined the tour too…needless to say, it will be one hell of a tour and we are all excited for it.
What is the setlist going to be like on the tour? How many songs from the full-length are going to be played?
We actually aren't sure yet. We are having band practice together on Monday and we will figure it out then. For sure the 3 songs from the EP will be played, and like 4-5 songs from the LP as well. I know we won't play more than 8 songs though.
Did you feel there were/are expectations and pressure on the band based on the previous groups you have all been members of? Or is playing in a new band refreshing, a chance to start from scratch?
Yes, there are expectations, but I'm not sure why people do that to themselves. This is something that has come together out of the blue and will never be like any of our previous bands. How can you compare this to Botch? Aside from the voice, they sound nothing alike, and it shouldn't.
People should just take this for what it is…people you may or may not know playing music. It is a new band and people will either like it or not.
Which new hardcore bands have impressed you?
Numerous bands actually, Trap Them, Ceremony, ON, Northern Towns, Vanguard, Life Long Tragedy, Outbreak, Lewd Acts. Hardcore has some really great things going on right now. I'm just happy that there are still bands that continue to bring things to the table and it has kept my interest in hardcore pretty strong. ON is probably my favorite hardcore band right now. I got to see them a couple times and they kill it.
What has changed in hardcore since you first got involved with it? Has anything changed in how you personally view hardcore, or does it mean the same thing to you that it always has?
The biggest thing is the Internet. It is insane how much it has changed punk/hardcore. I feel it has made things more sterile and very easy to get into. Before you had to go to record stores, dig for music, talk to people, find shows etc. Now, you can download albums in minutes without leaving the house. I feel that some of the human aspect of hardcore has changed/died a bit. In most cases, you are no longer holding a piece of art in your hands as it used to be, it is now in MP3 format and can be taken with you anywhere you go. On the other hand, it is easier to spread the word about shows, bands, and exchange ideas in real time. It has done wonders as well, I just feel that some of the art of what I think punk is gets a little lost in translation with all of this convenience.
Some great things are always there, fun, new ideas, politics and new sounds. I've been able to find hardcore in everything. I don't (and haven't for years) see hardcore as just this little bubble in which we see it now…Shows, records etc. I see it in books, paintings, movies, conversations…I can look at a painting from someone like Posada or see a movie like Milk and see how fucking punk that is. I think punk/hardcore comes in all hews, and it is not limited to the "Hardcore Scene." It is so much broader than that.