Rambling Man's Reviews: ROCK INTERVIEW- PROGRESSIVE ALT- ACT TROPE DISCUSS THEIR NEW ALBUM "ELEUTHEROMANIA"

Progressive Alternative rockers' Trope released their debut effort, the tantalisingly titled, Eleutheromania today (March 31st).

The band formed in 2016, spending the next couple of years recording demos for this exact album. This attracted the attention of Mike Fraser, the renowned record producer for acts like AC/DC and Metallica, who agreed to engineer the album. Trope has built quite the following with appearance on the main stage of Summerfest, as well as performing with King's X. I spoke with producer and multi-instrumentalist Moonhead about the new album, working with Mike Fraser, performing at the iconic venue and much more.

Hello Trope, could you introduce yourselves to the readers?

We are Trope! We are not from planet earth as far as we remember, and we are very happy and honoured to be here. We are enjoying our stay on your wonderful planet and are learning your ways. Hopefully we blend in just enough to not stick out.

How would you describe your style of music to new listeners?

Trope is an alternative progressive rock band with various influences, most notably the 90’s alternative rock scene. But other influences creep in, like Peter Gabriel, Jeff Buckley etc. We have a heavy focus on polyrhythms with the music, which gives every song its own inherent groove. Especially the vocals, Diana sings in a groove that sometimes is totally unique to her, which creates an awesome push-pull effect with the rhythm. I can’t say enough good things about working with Diana on this project, I’ve never met a more determined and focused artist in my entire life. With that determination and focus, comes a talent that isn’t specifically natural. It’s been really hard work from both our perspectives in getting better as musicians and artists, and I love that I can work with someone with the same work ethic.

Eleutheromania is the name of your debut album, what can you tell the readers about it, and what to expect?

The album delves into all things human experiential and discusses them in ways that pack a punch and at times, gently caress. There's quite a cross-section of music on the album, basically half of it is proggy riff rock and the other is 90’s cock-rock without the flamboyance. Lots of influences from Filter, Deftones, Soundgarden and Tool, to Peter Gabriel, Jeff Buckley and even Coldplay. Really hard focus on rhythm, especially the drums, with a heavy smattering of melody. These aren’t songs you can hum on first listen, but maybe in a few days, you’ll start hearing things in your head asking where you heard that idea…

Did you feel any nerves about making this debut? And were there any expectations on yourselves to make it?

No nerves at all, only excitement. The album is basically a high-definition version of what the demos were, which I spent a lot of time on. The songs hardly changed from demo to finished record, so there were no nerves about that. It was only going to sound better. It was actually easier tracking in the studio than doing the demos all by myself, because I had Mike there to make sure everything was done correctly.

What is the meaning behind the title of the album?

Eleutheromania means a manic zeal for freedom. It's that intense need to escape, to fly, to be free. It's in our DNA to want that.

I can hear elements of 90’s alt-rock and acts like Tool when I have listened to the album, did you feel like there was any of these types of influences making the album?

You know, as the guy who is solely responsible for coming up with all the musical parts on the album you hear except for lyrics and melodies, I have a lot of influences that are at times subconscious and at times really obvious to me. I love Tool, but the Tool that I've heard on the radio. I also love Rage Against the Machine, but again only the songs I heard on the radio. Same with Deftones, or Metallica. I don’t own albums by these artists, I don’t study them. But the influences are so obvious because I had obviously heard them many times on the radio and that influence creeps into the creative process. I definitely don’t sit down and say, ‘I’m going to write a Tool riff.” The songs exist in their time signatures because that’s what feels right to me, what feels natural to play. I have started writing the new Trope album, and it is quite different in the sense that it will be way more progressive with different time signatures, and feels, happening all over the place. I’m really excited about the next stage of Trope because I really feel it’s new musical territory, where-as Eleutheromania feels like a homage to so many great bands I love.

You have chosen to record a cover of “Shout” by Tears for Fears, what was the reasons behind recording this particular track?

I was working on a remix of ‘Shout’ for a label, and actually have all the individual tracks for that song. It's amazing to hear what went into making the original version of ‘Shout’, especially when you hear these incredible vocal adlibs that Roland Orzabal did at the end of the song that aren’t really that audible on the released version. So as I started working on the remix, I found that I wasn’t as excited about remixing it as I thought. I left it for a few years and revisited and approached it as a way more stripped-down rock version, and then showed it to Diana and she loved it. We demo’d it and just loved the version we had and wanted to include it on the album. We want to have a cover on every album of a song we both love and that means something to us. ‘Shout’ feels very timely right now.

“Pareidolia” and “Lambs” are your two other singles, could you tell me about them, and how they feature on the album?

‘Lambs’ was one of the first songs we ever wrote, and actually come from 2 different demos stitched together. I had the first part down, Diana had her awesome melody and lyric idea for it but I just didn’t know where to go with it musically. Then I had this other idea that Diana had just nailed again melodically and lyrically, and I stitched them together and it just worked. A lucky accident for sure. ‘Pareidolia’ on the other hand is quite proggy as it changes time signatures constantly, but doesn’t seem to. Its only when you dissect it you realize it's changing from 7/8 to 6/8 to 8/8 all over the place. It’s a lot fo fun to play, easily my fave to play live. I also mixed and mastered the single released version of ‘Parediolia’, entirely on a laptop in an Airbnb in Europe on headphones. Also, we released ‘Hyperextend’ as a single, albeit with no video, and again I mixed and mastered the single version on a laptop while in eastern Europe, using plugins from Universal Audio and Plugin Alliance mainly. I can’t say enough good things about the technology and what these two companies are doing. It's incredible.

You have enlisted Mike Fraser, who has worked on albums by AC/DC and Metallica, to engineer alongside Ted Jensen and David Bottrill. What impact did they have on the recording process, and how much of a boost was it for you to work with them?

Mike Fraser is an absolute beast of an engineer. I knew working with him would be a masterclass in tone, signal path and attention to detail. And it was. I learnt so many valuable things as a producer from working with him, and everything I have learned I have taken into each new song I demo and create. It raises the game exponentially working with guys like Mike, hands on, as we were in the studio for six weeks side by side. I will forever cherish the experience and appreciate the opportunity greatly. With David and Ted, we weren’t in the same space, so the experience wasn’t the same. I can’t talk about it from that perspective but I do greatly appreciate their talent and contribution to our album.

What was the writing process going into the sessions into making the album?

I had the demos done for most of the album, but three days before we were going into the studio, we were still short one song. That’s where "Seasons Change "comes from. That was a ringer that we built right before entering the studio. Everything else you hear was carefully recreated in the studio from the original demos, except for the drum solos which were dealer’s choice on the day. Trope is a tight ship, and very exacting, we don’t leave things to chance, it is all mapped out and delivered as written. We don’t improvise, we galvanize.

You have performed at Whiskey A Go Go, The Viper Room, as well as appeared on the main stage at Summerfest in Wisconsin. How did it feel to feature on such iconic stages?

You know, it's awesome. We loved playing at these places. One venue we really feel blessed to perform at is a venue that isn’t associated with live music, and that was the legendary Hollywood Improv, which is a famous venue for comedians. I mean everyone. Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle. Actually, when we performed there, Chappelle was in the next room doing a set. Just an absolutely iconic place that has a rich history and amazing vibe. We played there in a stripped-down acoustic format before the comedians would do their sets, so we opened for comedians including Steve-O (Jackass) Iliza Shlesinger (Netflix, Spencer Confidential) Harland Williams (Something About Mary) and David Koechner (Anchorman) to name but a few. We even saw Post Malone in the audience at one show.

I read Trope were named in HEAVY mag’s the top 40 female rock acts alongside such acts like Halestorm , Jinjer, and The Runways. How did that personally feel as a fast-emerging band, and how has that helped shape Trope as a band?

It's always incredibly flattering to be included in such esteemed company, there is no denying it. When your peers give you a co-sign, it makes you feel like you are doing something right. We can only just stay true to ourselves and get back to work, which is always the focus. The work is what matters, nothing else. We aren’t in this to be famous, we love music and want that to be the focus. Music First is our motto, and it's so rewarding. I remember Sting receiving an award at the Grammys one year, and he got up there and said, and I paraphrase “I have five words, music is its own reward”. I will always remember that powerful statement, because it shows in his work. The person who said it lives and breathes that; you can tell. So yeah, it's the music that matters but yes, if our peers see value in it, that is awesome, and we greatly appreciate it when they acknowledge us. It affirms what we believe, that our music is awesome ;). We live in our heads about how good we think we are, and then when others affirm that, it feels good.

And lastly, what is next for TROPE?

The next thing for Trope is tour, tour, tour. We also want to have an album ready for a Fall 2022 release, so knowing how long Trope albums take to make, I’m spending every day now working on the next album for that deadline. It’s gonna take a minute, but what else am I going to do with my time?

Interview by Anselm Anderson

Eleutheromania is available now via all major streaming platforms.