The Cast Before the Break’s third album has eluded them for ten years. After several personal ups and downs, the acclaimed post-rock quintet regrouped from three different areas of the country to polish off a half-finished record rooted in 2012. Via their new label partner in Mint 400 Records, the band will be releasing Where We Are Now on March 11th, comprised of plenty of fanfare for both listeners who have been yearning for this record for the better part of a decade, and for listeners who may have never listened to the band prior. It is hands down the most dynamic, heartfelt and epic release of the band’s career. We caught up with vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter TJ Foster to discuss the journey.
It’s been ten years since you guys started making this record. How did we get here?
How long do you have? Haha. The cliff notes version… In 2009, we self-released our second record, Still. The following year we began writing for the follow-up and ran into what I remember being creative differences, so we gave ourselves a little break. Then we got a call from Deep Elm Records. Our friends in the band Athletics passed them a copy of that record and they wanted to re-release it, along with our debut (As Your Shoulders Turn On You). It felt like a second chance. So, with that as motivation, we got the ball rolling again.
In 2012, we drove down to a lake house my family owned in Connecticut and began self-tracking what became Where We Are Now. Looking back, our footing probably wasn’t as stable as it ought to be and using a record contract as a driving force behind making music probably wasn’t the smartest of moves for ourselves, or for the quality of the art itself. Heading into 2013, the record contained only drums, bass guitar and my guitars. That’s when we broke up for the second time. Life happened, some of us relocated, and we were never in the same room to work on this record again.
Not even to finish it up last year?
Nope. Everything was done remotely. Jordan [Stewart, guitars] and I from our homes in Albany and Jeremy [Carter, guitars] from his in Rochester, which is also where Ryan [Crosby, drums] resides. Lars [Ewell, bass], who mastered this, is out in California.
So, why finish this now?
Every couple of years I would dig out these semi-finished recordings and listen to them fondly, coming up with ideas. Jordan and I first started playing in this band, but we’ve played together in every other band since. And so, we occasionally talked about revisiting things ourselves, but the timing just never made sense. Jeremy would also reach out on occasion to discuss what it might look like to polish these songs off. Speaking solely for myself, it just wasn’t ever a priority. It almost felt like dredging up ghosts, and I think the album had given us enough disappointment. We just started referring to it as the Chinese Democracy of post-rock. Would it ever see the light of day? I think we all started assuming it wouldn’t.
Then the pandemic hit. I think everyone’s headspace became quite a bit different and so after a year or so of obligatory hibernation, it suddenly made sense to give it a shot. I think we were all understandably skeptical, but after actually finishing the first couple songs, the creative juices started flowing in ways none of us had experienced in years. Also, during such a tough time, it felt like a tiny little glimpse of good to be able to finally deliver a record we began promising fans a decade ago.
What was the hardest thing about finishing recordings that were started in 2012?
You know, overall, it was a lot easier than it had any right to be. But I’d probably say, from an engineering perspective, balancing the quality of recordings from 2012/2013 with that of present day. Not only have I gained a plethora of knowledge in the last ten years, but I’ve also acquired way nicer equipment. We all have. There were times when it made sense to almost ‘dumb down’ the quality of a part just to sonically match ones from ten years ago. Other than that, recording vocal parts that I wrote in my twenties was a bit tough. My voice obviously behaves very differently now than it did back then.
Were there any other songs written and considered for this album?
There is one other song that was written specifically for this record called ‘Reports of Bad Weather’ – we’re nearly finished with it, but it just felt unnecessary to the overall track listing. It’s also a song that’s given us trouble since the beginning, so we thought we’d let it breathe a little longer and come back to it at some point. Maybe in another ten years we’ll go through this exercise again.
The rest of your discography (As Your Shoulders Turn On You and Still) were released by Deep Elm Records. Where We Are Now is coming out on Mint 400 Records. What influenced the change?
Oh boy. This feels like a gotcha question. Haha. What I will say is that we are eternally grateful to Deep Elm for taking a chance on us back in 2011. Both of our records were already released, so for them to express interest in signing us to their roster with the only guarantee being a couple of records that were already somewhat readily available was flattering. Not to mention, their roster and their legacy are things we are all big fans of.
Over the last ten years, we’ve grown as people and musicians, and I think Deep Elm has grown as well. They have found great success in a more cinematic, orchestral realm where The Cast Before the Break doesn’t fit in. My current band [E.R.I.E.] got connected with Mint 400 in 2020, and not only do they have an equally fantastic roster, but they are mega supporters of independent/underground music. Knowing how they treat and support their artists, we honestly didn’t give it a second thought. Where We Are Now falls somewhere between the stuff we put out on Deep Elm, and the indie-rock stuff I’m putting out now with E.R.I.E. so, Mint 400 just seemed like a natural home for us at this point in our career.
Compared to those first two records, Where We Are Now marks quite a sonic shift. Was that always the intention?
I don’t know if it was necessarily the intention, but it aligned with how my songwriting was shifting at the time. I found myself becoming a bit disconnected from the slow, meandering, heavily instrumental stuff that we were associated with. I’m even further removed from that now. But I did always think there was a place in our genre for post-rock esque soundscapes with, for lack of a better term, pop-rock sensibilities. Not sure if we hit the nail on the head, but that was always my goal.
There are quite a few “nautical” references in the track listing – ‘Ships Passing’, ‘Lighthouse’, etc. Was that a conscious, artistic choice?
Definitely not. Some of those titles – ‘Seaward’ and ‘Slice of Life’, for example – were actually joke titles referencing TV shows we were really into at the time. Not sure what our intention was, but after all these years, it just felt wrong to change them.
The record ends with a song called ‘Hindsight’, a theme I presume permeated throughout the finishing of this record. Looking back, what’s one thing you would have done differently?
I probably would have tried not to take myself so seriously. When you’re in your twenties, I think those dreams you’ve had through adolescence can both seem more attainable and more necessary than ever before. It’s like there’s this invisible clock in the back of your mind, and you’re racing against it for no real reason. I always believed in this band – what the five of us could do together was magical. And when that was validated by a big-time producer and an iconic label, I felt like we needed to up our game however possible. It was all very serious. Now, I’m having more fun musically than I’ve ever had before, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I’m putting less pressure on myself to make things happen and to perform above my raw abilities. I did that a lot back then. And so, looking back, I wish I allowed myself to savor those moments more, instead of letting the various stressors of adulthood interfere. That being said, revisiting Where We Are Now through that lens was great; I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of finishing it last year. It inspired me creatively in some different ways, rekindled some old lines of communication and I think that definitely had a positive impact on the final product as well.
Where We Are Now is out March 11th on all major streaming platforms - including Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal – via Mint 400 Records.