Sometimes when band members reunite, it's as if no time has passed and nothing has changed. That couldn't be further from the truth for 10 Years. And, that's a good thing. When guitarist/drummer Brian Vodinh and guitarist Matt Wantland returned to the Knoxville, Tennessee alt-metal/post-grunge band for their eighth album and Mascot Records debut, (how to live) AS GHOSTS, they burst through their comfort zones to create something new. Something better. Something career-defining.
"It's funny, I named our last record, [2015's] From Birth to Burial, because I thought it was our final record because it just didn't feel like 10 Years without Brian and Matt. But having them back is really a reunion of the core writing team and this new record actually feels like a real rebirth for the band," says singer Jesse Hasek.
While Vodinh handled drums and guitar on the new album, he's switching to just guitar for the live shows, moving Chad Huff from guitar to bass, while Kyle Mayer stays on drums. "We're bringing it back the way they should be," says Vodinh, who left the band due to family commitments in 2013. "It feels great to be back with these guys and we're in such a better place musically and creatively than ever before."
That better place stems, in part, from a more collaborative writing process. "It used to be that just Jesse and I would write the full song, and the other guys would add a little spice to it. This time, we're starting the writing process as a full band. Sometimes it starts with a riff. Sometimes it starts with a vocal. Our formula is no formula, and it kind of works. And, we work together in a more constructive and healthier environment now," explains Vodinh.
The sixth collaborator was Grammy award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, Deftones). "Nick made us step outside our comfort zone," explains Hasek. "It made for a different sounding record. The one thing we never wanted to do is recreate the same thing over and over. We have always been musicians that love to explore and venture into new horizons."
The result is 10 Years' most dynamic and multi-dimensional record to date. Raskulinecz encouraged the band to strip away some of the vocal production they've grown accustomed to in order to reveal a more intimate side of Hasek. "Historically, we like to orchestrate a lot of vocal parts. We'll have harmonies and layers. This time around, Nick had us strip a lot of that away. There are a lot of moments where the only vocal is just Jesse, and not this big freaking epic thing. It makes Jesse more human. And I think the more human Jesse comes across, the more relatable his lyrics are," says Vodinh.
On the first single, "Novacaine," Hasek looks inward. "Six albums and a hundred songs in, I wondered if I've already written my best stuff," he admits. "But at some point, you start to get real adult problems. Life has such a numbing to it. You see people go from such optimism in their 20s to having life just beat them down later. I think we all kind of get desensitized and numb to life on some level. That's what this song is about."
"We self-produced our last few records, so it was good to give the reigns over to someone else for the first time in awhile. We had to really let go and trust and I think in doing that, it opened us to new ideas and helped us stretch creatively," says Hasek.
(how to live) AS GHOSTS might be the band's 8th album. But, to them, it feels like a new start. "There was a heavier, darker tone to our last record because we weren't in a good place," adds the singer. "Ghosts has a brighter side to it because we're all in a really happy, optimistic, and excited place about music and life. We're ready to see how the world embraces it."