How Teenage Wrist "grew the f*ck up" and learned to celebrate life Kerrang! – Kerrang!

Its anew dawn, its anew day and Marshall Gallagher is feeling good. Yesterday, the United States drew aline under four years of Donald Trumps inflammatory rhetoric and divisionary reign, swearing in its 46th President, Joe Biden. Today, Teenage Wrists singer and guitarist has woken up with abounce in his boots, filling his lungs with the fresh air of optimism as he heads out for awander around the sun-dappled streets of Koreatown, Los Angeles. The grim, sobering reality of the bigger picture still looms large over everything, but this isnt amoment for dwelling on the negatives. Today is for celebration, for renewal, for life and forliving.

The sun is out, its abeautiful day and Iget to go outside, which might not sound like much, but thats pretty rad, the frontman beams. Its about trying to stay positive. Im so happy that Trump has gone. Well, from office at least hes not going anywhere until he goes to fucking jail. Its all about squeezing the silver lining out ofeverything.

Mixed metaphors aside, Marshall makes avalid point, irrespective of politics. For reasons that hardly need explaining, optimism can be in short supply right now, but its important to cling onto the little things that get you through the day to recognise the glimmers of hope for abrighter tomorrow. He speaks from the perspective of contrasting prior experience, having been someone prone to pessimism in the past. But thats the old Marshall. The person talking to Kerrang! today is aman who has taken along, hard look at himself and made changes to become someone better, more positive someone to believe in. It makes his bands new album Earth Is ABlack Hole acomforting soundtrack for these strange, dark times were all experiencing, positioning Teenage Wrist as not only one of rocks best new bands, but also, maybe, an importantone.

If youre looking for any sort of meaningful change in the world, it seems like you have to start with yourself before you can work on anybody else, Marshall begins, before breaking into aself-aware cackle. Its like John Lennon said, man, You gotta free your mind instead!

This behavioural audit and newfound optimism didnt start out as alaughing matter, though. Alittle over two years ago, Teenage Wrist made waves in alternative music circles with their debut Epitaph Records full-length, Chrome Neon Jesus amelodic, modern take on grungy, shoegaze-soaked ennui. As Marshall and drummer Anthony Salazar began work on Earth Is ABlack Hole in 2019, however, much had changed. Having said goodbye to two band members, each faced up to some uncomfortable truths about themselves the natural culmination of a number of things according to thesinger.

Both of us had started this super-necessary journey of self-improvement in our personal lives, he explains. We made adeparture from negative energy, pessimism, ignorance and all the stuff that had bogged us both down. We were stuck in old cycles. We needed to start the process of growing the fuck up, and not being such bummers all the time. Oblivion and apathy took atoll on me, and it took atoll on some other people aswell.

In tandem, musically the band were edging away from their heads-down, naval-gazing origins, opting for more of aradio-friendly pop style of songwriting akin to Jimmy Eat World or Third Eye Blind, making a concerted effort to write faster tempos and working with co-writers to bring in outside perspectives. At the root of all this renewal was honest self-assessment, throwing out that which they had outgrown and attempting to become the band and the people they wanted tobe.

Im not an asshole, but Idefinitely recognise my tendency to just kind of shut down, says Marshall, reflecting on the beating he gave himself as part of this process. I used to accept the way that things were with an overwhelming sense of nihilism. For the first time, probably ever, Irecognised that as anegative thing in my life. Then we wrote the bulk of the record and well everythinghappened.

Had things gone according to plan, everyone would have heard these songs way before now, singing along with the duo in shared sweat-drenched spaces, as the band spread their carpe diem message and buoyant spirit around the world. Alas, that was not to be, despite the record having been wrapped in springtime last year. When producer Colin Brittains computer got hacked in the middle of it all, jeopardising the security of the recordings, theyd have been forgiven for assuming they were cursed, and the universe wasnt exactly backing this bold new upbeat direction. But theyve stayed resolute and doubled down on their determination to be the best versions of themselves. Marshall has started exercising and meditating and hes been busy with new music, writing songs for pop artists, and recording and producing an album with his dad and working with ex-Teenage Wrist bandmate Kamtin Mohager on his new Heavenward project. The devil makes work for idle hands,evidently.

Staying positive is always abattle, Marshall admits, being frank about how hard it can be undoing the habits of alifetime. As ahuman who has settled into behaviours and learned something over and over again from childhood to now, to break those cycles is tough. So obviously you fall back into the destructive things that hold you down sometimes. This record is about releasingthat.

[The song] Wear You Down is relentlessly negative, he offers by way of example, Im feeling so apathetic in it, Icant seem to find that spark within myself, but at the end of the song Im pleading, like, Please, somebody help me. Ineed to get out of this. Ifeel that way about the title track and Stella too. All these things on the surface appear to be prettymelancholy.

Shy not from that which tests us, appears to be the underlying message, however. Only through challenging ourselves will we discover what were capable of and who we reallyare.

I hope people read between the lines and catch the irony or the sarcasm in my lyrics, the frontman asserts. I hope they take the sadness thats being evoked and appreciate it as an important thing. We need to take events in our lives that are difficult and recognise them as the formative experiences that they are. Imean, obviously sometimes shit still happens and it just sucks, but you have totry.

If all goes well and taking aleaf out of Teenage Wrists book, lets hope they will across the course of 2021, life might return to something approaching normal again and the band could yet play this record in rooms surrounded by friends and fans. But what will those who havent seen Marshall in over ayear make of his new attitude and demeanour? Does he worry they might think, Who the hell is this guy?

I hope they do, he nods. I kind of hope to see that in afew of my friends as well. Ihope to affect some positive change: in my own circle, my family and my little unit. Istill maintain asense of pragmatism and cautious optimism. Im not about to become amotivational speaker, but maybe Im somewhere in the middle, for the sake of myself and the people around me (laughs).

What that means for you is up to you. Whether youre free to walk down your street today, regardless of how optimistic you are about those in power, or whether the sun is shining or not, try to find something positive to put your faith in and build from there. The sun might shine tomorrow, afterall.

Its fucking difficult, man, Marshall accepts of the challenge holding onto hope can be during all of this. Its really hard, but its not that hard. Ifeel like its okay to release some of the negativity and to talk about the things that are bringing you down on the journey of getting to aplace of acceptance. Youve got to acknowledge your problems to fix them. Thats what this record is allabout.

This too shall pass, then. Until it does, though, let Teenage Wrist guide you through the worst ofit.

Earth Is ABlack Hole is released on February 12 viaEpitaph.

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Posted on February 10th 2021, 1:00p.m.

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How Teenage Wrist "grew the f*ck up" and learned to celebrate life Kerrang! - Kerrang!