Singer JT Woodruff of Hawthorne Heights joins Audacy's Morgan Freed this week on Emo Nite to discuss the band's recent release of their eighth full-length album, titled The Rain Just Follows Me, which arrived on September 10, 2021.
Offering up a full collection of songs rather than taking the singles route this time around was a conscious decision says JT, and something the band had to figure out while constantly on the road.
"When we got in the studio, this was the first time in a long time that we were really, I don't want to say unprepared, we were just willing to figure out the songs together while in the studio," says Woodruff. "Before, it's like, you want to be really professional, you want to be really prepared, you want to have everything perfectly mapped out and scripted. This time it was a little bit more organic in a way that we were pushed to the limit in a great way."
JT adds, "basically the overall theme is just trying to dig into the absolute worst times of your life, because life is hard. It really is; it gets you through the night when you think about the difficult things."
"The funny thing about our record is we recorded it directly before the pandemic happened," Woodruff explains. "We're treating it like our entire career has been a pandemic. We've gone through everything you could possibly go through. Very early on in our career, our best friend and guitar player passed away; we were on the road with Johnny Beats from Bayside when he passed away; we had a massive lawsuit with Victory Records; we just had a lot of things that kids just having fun being in a band had to go through. But the way that we got through it was to just pack it up and put it behind your brain and just stay on the road."
Those specific hardships can obviously translate into a view of the world that we are now living in. "This album, it's really about unpacking all the bad stuff that we've been through that we never had time to talk about -- and it's great to hear a nice, reactionary record to what people are truly feeling."
The pandemic, JT says, "allowed a lot of bands, first of all, to take the time that they needed for themselves to get off the road and refreshen themselves mentally, but maybe also refreshen themselves as artists... I think in a lot of ways, the pandemic was what some musicians needed to be able to take a new lease on life."
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Emo Nite is not a band, and they’re not your usual DJs – Host Morgan Freed throws epic parties and now has a radio show for the music they love. Listen Sundays from 7PM - 8PM on your favorite Audacy Alternative stations. Stay tuned for even more exclusive conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.
Listen to more of your favorite music on Audacy's Emo Kids,'80s Underground, New Wave Mix Tape, '90s and Chill, and ALT Roots exclusive stations -- plus check out our talent-hosted Kevan Kenney's Music Discovery, Megan Holiday's My So Called '90s Playlist and Scott Lowe on the Go's Post Modern Music Box!
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