The week on Kaleidoscope, WYSO music and culture contributor Greg Simms Jr. spoke with David French from rock band Life In Idle. The band released their sophomore album, Continuity Errors, on August 18th. In the interview, French described how Life In Idle’s sound has evolved over the years, and talked about recording their new album with one of their musical idols. Life In Idle features David French on guitar and vocals, John Garybush on guitar and vocals, Joe Friend on bass, and Al Hall on drums.
Life In Idle started playing together in 2015, when the members were still in high school in Kettering, Ohio. They released their debut record, Out To Get Me, two years later. According to French, the band initially sought to emulate pop-punk bands like Blink-182 and Green Day, but has developed a more complex musical sensibility.
“We stumbled across a more mature-sounding version of what we were doing, and we brought the lyrics to fit our lifestyles and the problems that we faced. We talk about poverty, and we talk about what it feels like to be raised in the Kettering-Dayton area. We talk about love.”
In addition to centering more personal themes in their lyrics, Life In Idle has developed a more sophisticated tonal palette since they began playing together. Unlike most bands, which use standard tunings for their instruments, Life in Idle uses open tunings on their guitars and bass. French explained,
“We have an open-based tuning, which means when you strum the chords it’s already a chord. We build off of an F-major-9, which is a jazzy chord. It sounds pretty mature. It can sound happy, it can sound sad, it can sound very emotional, and we use that to our advantage as we write lyrics around our song.”
Greg Simms Jr also spoke with French about recording Life In Idle’s new album, Continuity Errors. The band recorded the album last year with producer Gary Cioni at Sound Acres Recording Studio in New Jersey. Chris Freeman, guitarist for the band Hot Mulligan, also joined Life In Idle in the New Jersey Studio, and co-produced the album. Over a 3-week period the band recorded 9 tracks, which appear on the album.
Continuity Errors is available now on all streaming platforms. Life In Idle will perform at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati on September 9th as part of the Ohio Is For Lovers festival. Details about the festival are available here. More information about Life In Idle, including upcoming tour dates and releases, is available on social media, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Several music videos for the new album have also been released, including for the song "Catch 22."
