UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT WITH ALLITERATION
Alliteration sat down with us to talk about the details of how they created their new album Reject and what it was like waiting to release it for over a year.
Alliterations new album Reject was released in November 2021. Reject is an album that touches the surfaces of the hardships and personal struggles within the band and has garnered plenty of praise and reception. Several songs on the album have their own specific meanings and stories, as the album doesn’t box itself to one central theme.
Guitarist and lead vocalist Xavier Anderson spoke about this, saying “Most of the time we avoid themes for full projects and focus on things happening around us.” With names such as “Roadside Memorial,” “10 Years,” and “Grieving,” it’s clear that each song has its own story.
Ryan Kealty, bassist and backing vocalist/screamer, reflects on some of the songs he took part in writing. “[The song] ‘Roadside Memorial’ is about the time I fell asleep driving at like 4:00am and totaled my car because I was stretching myself too thin for other people without giving myself any rest. ‘Grieving’ is about helping my now-ex through the grieving process after the death of her father. My part in ‘I Don't Know’ is about clinging on to a relationship because of the time invested, even though I knew it wasn't best for me.”
Back in February 2020, the band had finally finished recording the album and was excited to share it with the rest of the world, but then the pandemic struck. They received the masters from local sound engineer Jake Albi for the album in May 2020. Discouraged by the lack of live events due to the pandemic and concern for everyone's health, the band was unsure how to go about a ‘lockdown release’. Ultimately, they had decided to wait another year before releasing the album.
Finally, in November of 2021 the band finally released the album. In honor of the release, Alliteration decided to put on a show featuring several local acts. The bill consisted of the bands Salutations, No Momentum, Fuzzy Coleman, and Dephcat as well as special guest performances by Dractic, Waveless, and King Piccolo.
When asking Alliteration what they thought of the show, they only had good things to say. “It was the best night of our life so far. Getting to that point was very stressful due to so many unforeseen problems, but once we got through the hard part, everything worked like
magic,” drummer Mike Rodriguez explained.
Bassist Ryan Kealty had also agreed with this and was surprised to see how many people had come out to the show, as he explains “It feels like we've finally been able to hit our stride and gain momentum in 2021. The release show felt like the culmination of all of that hard work paying off. It blew our last release show out of the water! Seeing so many people come out for us was unreal, and that memory is something I'm going to carry with me forever.”
At the show, the band played the album front to back, giving them a chance to play some of their new favorite songs – but when it comes to performing an album, sometimes there are songs that the band is not fond of playing. Ryan Kealty explained how “Grieving,” the closing track of the album, isn't his most favorite song, “I showed it to the person I wrote it about/for and they didn't like it, which hurt. I ended up changing some lyrics to appease them, but I regret that. I feel like the song became less authentic because I wasn't being true to how I felt when I originally wrote it.”
With a successful album like Reject, there will be many more chances to see Alliteration perform. Xavier went on to tell us about Alliteration’s plans for the future, stating “We’re mostly focusing on playing better shows and doing some weekenders. Before, we would play anywhere and rarely turned down shows, but now we’re trying to make sure that we’re playing with bands we like and want to grow with,” which is a solid plan to help Alliteration reach larger audiences and grow further as a band.
When asked what’s next for Alliteration, the band went on to share the excitement of writing more songs as well as the possibility of another album. Mike Rodriguez said the band has already started writing again and planning out their next project, explaining that “We will try to never stop moving forward if we can help it.” Alongside their own personal projects, Xavier revealed that they’ve been talking to their friends about putting out a split, but that’s all he would tell us.
Finally, Ryan Kealty revealed that he’d like to put out a holiday EP for the 2022 holiday season. “I've been talking about writing a Christmas song since we started the band, but I’ve never done it. I finally started writing one this year so I just need to commit. Plus, I'm publicly saying it in this interview, so now I can be held accountable!”
You can find the band on streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp. Head over to alliteration-ny-bandcamp.com to find out more about the band and to listen to the new album, or scan the QR code to be brought straight to the album!
