With their third album, ‘Everything That Got Us Here’, San Diego post-hardcore outfit Secrets have delivered a crisp statement of natural progression that marks a new chapter for the now quartet. With Wade Walters coming in and taking over bass and unclean vocals, songs like ‘Left Behind’ and ‘Learn To Love’ roar with Walters’ growls only to be countered by Richard Rogers’ clean, hook-y vocals. Whilst lead single, ‘Rise Up’, proves to be an infectious, sonically-pleasing highlight.
The album also sees the four-piece working again with producer Tom Denny, whilst Andrew Wade (Neck Deep, A Day to Remember, The Ghost Inside) also assisted on producing duties. The end result is a set of chorus driven songs that hit all the right marks.
In the days leading up to the release of ‘Everything That Got Us Here’, Already Heard spoke to vocalist/guitarist Richard Rogers who discussed the making of the record, how Wade Walters joined the band, and working with Tom Denny and Andrew Wade.
AH: So your new album, ‘Everything That Got Us Here’, is finally released this week. Having started the making of the album back in January, you must be relieved to finally have it out?
Richard: I am beyond stoked to finally release this album. It’s been a long time and a lot of work. I’m also very excited to start touring off of the record.
AH: This is the first album with Wade Walters in the band. How did he come into the band and what does he bring that wasn’t there before?
Richard: I knew Wade for awhile, he actually asked to join the band via Facebook during our first album! I did guest vocals for the band he was starting prior and thought he was a great screamer so when Aaron (Melzer – former vocalist) left I knew he was the guy. Wade brings more versatility to the band. Not only is he a great vocalist, but he knows how to play instruments so we can play our poppier songs live without him just standing there awkwardly.
AH: In terms of sound, where did you want to take the band on this new record?
Richard: We just like too many different styles of music. I think people will hear that in the record. We have everything from accapella, acoustic, metal, pop punk and active rock tracks, because it’s all stuff that we love. We didn’t go into this record thinking of one specific style. The one thing we knew is that we wanted to move towards utilizing more singing and a little less screaming.
AH: Tom Denny took on the production duties once again on this album. Does it make the album-making process easier when you’re working with someone you’re familiar with?
Richard: I work well with pretty much anyone, but musically Tom Denney is just the man. He keeps Secrets sounding like Secrets. Even if we wrote a whole different style song we’ve never done, if we did it with him you would still know its a Secrets record.
AH: You also had Andrew Wade on board too for this record. How was it working with him?
Richard: Andrew is a vocal genius and he’s super funny. Definitely want to work with him again. He essentially took everything I wrote and made sure it was both catchy and that people would understand what I was feeling and singing about.
AH: At the time of writing, the album has been streaming online for 24 hours. What has the early response been like?
Richard: I try to stay away from the YouTube comments, but it seems like it’s going well. We’ll find out after we get on the road for a few months how the response is haha.
AH: Are there any tracks where you are concerned about the reaction?
Richard: Not really, I’m just stoked for people to hear it.
AH: I understand one of the aims of the album is to show how far the band have come, and being persistent with the challenges you’ve faced. Do you think this has been achieved lyrically?
Richard: I think so, I talk a lot about rising above problems and we try to lead by example. Our time as a band has not been easy, but we’ve never given up. We’ve lost some baggage along the way and each time it only made this journey easier and better.
AH: Looking ahead into 2016, what can we expect to see from SECRETS? Plenty of touring?
Richard: Lots and lots and tons and loads of touring!
’Everything That Got Us Here’ by SECRETS is out now on Rise Records.
SECRETS links: Website|Facebook|Twitter
Words by Sean Reid (@SeanReid86)
