We have an album, Butterfly In Black And White, coming out September 18. We are so immensely proud of this album. We want people to listen to it and hope they like it.” - Hyrum Russon
I was so happy I got to chat with Carson, Asher “Shredder” (thankfully, he plays drums), and Hyrum, who make up the blistering trio Riff Wood. They just finished their HEADLINING tour of the UK and US before their new record, Butterflies in Black and White, drops on September 18th!
Oh, and they are finishing their senior year of high school. Wild.
These three were sitting lined up behind some professional, podcast-looking mics on screen for our interview, and I couldn’t help but feel a little outdone since I was talking into my laptop – apparently, I need to step up my game.
MSM: “Hi! How are you guys?”
RW (All of them): “Good, how are you?”
MSM: "I'm great. You guys have been busy!"
When I asked them how they have been managing school, writing the record, and touring, they reminded me that senior year is the year to do it.
Russon: “Well, senior year is a good one because we got most of our credits done, so we just have three or four credits left.”
Groves: “Last year was much harder to manage both the band and school.”
Winegar: “We tried to do as much as we could last year in school, so this year would be easier.”
Sensible.
I didn’t know it, but I was settling in for an enlightening, emotionally grounded interview that was also just as silly and hilarious as I had imagined with this band. They talked about their newer writing style, which brings in more musical complexity and new musical influences; the invaluable ongoing support from their family and friends, and, importantly, how they tried not to fall asleep on the football field for the “senior sunrise” all-nighter. Ahhh, school days.
I could tell right away that these three had some solid band chemistry, which is surprising because they are still teenagers; and not surprising, because they have been playing together since the age of eleven and are releasing their second album. When I asked them about songwriting, they laid it all out about their inspirations and how important it is to trust one another when there are differences of opinion.
MSM: “So music, writing, you guys all contribute. What’s different on this album from last album, musically?”
Russon: “This album is like you said, it’s a little bit more of a mature sound, I would think. We’re taking from different influences than we took from on our first album. We started finding new bands; for me, the biggest inspiration for writing new material on the second album was the Beatles and Radiohead.”
MSM: “Lyrically, do you find that you pull from other people’s experiences too, or things that you hear about?”
Groves: “The ones that aren’t personal to us are usually observations we’re kind of making as we’re just looking around and seeing the world around us. There’s a song on this record called ‘Manufactured Tragedy.’ My good friend Dan came up with the title, and he was like, you should write a song about that. It’s about how we all sometimes create our own tragedies by blocking out too much of the positive, because we’re so focused on the negative in front of us. Everyone on this planet struggles with that from time to time.”
When pushed a little more on their writing process and how they handle creative differences, the trio talked about how, at the end of the day, it comes down to trusting each other and checking egos at the door. I'm pretty sure that's a life lesson for all of us right there.
Russon: “We have to put a lot of trust in each other. If someone’s been sitting with a song for a few months and you’re hearing it for the first time, it’s always valid to have ideas to tweak it — but the more you sit with something, the more you get to know it. So listen a little more before you decide to change something.”
About compromising on Bittersweet from their first record, Groves said: “That was a very important moment for us, because it proved that the version you think is the best version of the song may not always be the best version. Both of us were like, 'This is it — what are we doing here?' And then we hear it, and I’m like, wait, this is way better.”
MSM: Because I have to ask uncomfortable questions, “How do you handle hate comments?”
Russon: Comes in for the win, “It doesn’t really get to me, and the reason is because I’ve responded to some of the hate comments and just completely disregarded what they say and said something nice. Sometimes you’ll go to their account, and they’ll be a musician, so I’ll say, you’re great at guitar; that’s awesome. Keep going. And they’ll be like, ‘I’m so sorry, I was in such a bad mood.’”
Goves: “A lot of times they’re just people having a rough day themselves, and they’re looking to take it out on someone. With that in mind, when we get hate comments, it does not get to us at all.”
I had to know which moments blew them away in these last couple of years. They took off without even trying when Blur went viral on TikTok; they got to work with their dream producer, Rob Cavallo, right out of the gate; and they have been touring on two continents. You know what they said does it for them? It's when all of you, the fans, sing their songs back to them.
All. the. feels.
Groves: “A few months before, we had shows where there were maybe less than five people. There was one that was super windy, and it was just people walking past. Then a few months after we go viral, we play a show, and it’s the complete opposite — 500 people smushed in a barn together, all screaming our lyrics back to us. And we’re like, what is this? This is the craziest feeling ever. Watching it back, I still get butterflies in my stomach, just because I’m like, that was such a crazy moment. You write a song for whatever your intention was, and then people sing it back, and it means something different to everyone. Hearing a room full of people singing is just goosebumps.”
After talking with them, I am even more stoked to check out Butterly in Black and White when it comes out, and I hope they head down to Florida on their next tour so I can catch them live! Make sure you follow them on socials so you don't miss the next tour dates!
MSM: What songs were especially meaningful for you?
Russon: "Beyond A Tree is one. I’ve never written — like a fully acoustic song. When I wrote that, it was definitely a change for me. I was being pretty vulnerable in the lyrics as well.”
Russon: “But every once in a while I write a song about girls. That’s like half of what our songs are about.” (laughs)
MSM: "That's like, what half of all rock music is about." (laughs)
These kids are doing alright.
