I’m re-featuring Ocean Is Theory for UTR this week. I first featured the band in Jan. ’08. Read below for the interview with Josh Williams (vocals & guitar). The band is releasing their new EP, In My Blood Again, this Tuesday.
Most of our regulars are familiar with you guys but can you give a short back story of the band?
Ocean Is Theory is Josh Williams (vocals/guitar), Nick Novak (guitar/vocals), Kevin Cerbone (bass/vocals), and Clay Carter (drums/vocals). All of us singing is a recent change for this new record and has really challenged and stepped up our live show.
We all played in different bands in early high school and formed together before our senior year – Seniors ’08! We have been tour since graduation.
You recently recorded a brand new 4 song EP. What can we expect from the new songs?
The new songs are a step up from the last EP and we feel are a lot more mature. We’re very happy with the progression. It’s more rock and roll, definitely more raw all around.
How has the response been to the first song you put up on Myspace called “Miles Away”?
Actually, everyone I’ve heard from loves “Miles Away”. I’m so glad. We posted that one first cause it was a good summing up of the new songs, and a good crossover from the last EP to the new one. I really pushed myself vocally, with the help of our producer Matt Malpass, who pushed me a lot, and grew a lot on the new songs.
What’s the significance of title, In My Blood Again?
In My Blood Again just speaks of our faith journey. It’s like for the last 6 months of touring, we had gotten a little lazy with our faith – I of course don’t want to speak that for our whole band, I know I got lazy. But we’ve all talked about it.
There a lot of trendy indie bands these days with lyrics saying “feel you in my bones”. The lyrics to “The Motion, The Feeling” are “Everybody says they wanna feel you in their bones. Well I just wanna feel you in my mind again, in my lungs again, in my blood again, in my blood”.
Who did you record the new songs with? Was it someone you had worked with before?
We recorded again with Matt Malpass in Atlanta at Marigolds and Monsters Studios. We love him to death and he was really invested in these new songs and pushed us hard. This time however, we sent it to be mixed by Mike Sapone (Brand New, Taking Back Sunday) in NY.
What is the song writing process like for OIT? Is there a main composer for the music and/or lyrics or is it a group effort?
It’s all a very equally shared contribution. One person will bring an idea to the table, then we’ll jam it out til it works and everyone figures out their own parts. Usually we’ll finish all the music first, then I’ll pair lyrics that I have written.
You guys self-released your debut and also filmed a video. Will you guys be doing a video for a track off of the new album as well? If so, which track?
We do have some possible plans in the works to do a video for “Twenty Nine Eleven”, which is definitely the more dance rock fun track on the record.
Speaking of touring, how did the tour with All Get Out go? Did you guys play the new songs at all on tour? If so, how was the response to them?
We loved touring with All Get Out! Super fun guys and we all got along right away, plus we really enjoy their music. We played 3 new songs on that tour and had super good response every night! Now that we’re playing the whole record live, every bit of feedback from the fans and new listeners, has been positive.
So you’ve been gaining popularity over the past year and are obviously releasing the new EP independently. Do you see a label in OIT’s future or would you prefer staying independent for the time being?
Well, we had a lot of good label interest from the last EP, and really wanted to stay independent until we got these new songs out. We’re doing well on our own so we plan to stay working hard independently until the right deal comes along. We’re excited though to see who is interested after hearing this new batch of songs.
Do you view the band as a ministry or just a band that is made up of Christians?
We are Christians that love to play music. We have to take it from both sides – it is a ministry and God has given us these opportunities, and we owe all the glory to Him. We openly share that at shows. We also have to be just as much smart about the business side so we can therefore continue doing this full time and further the ministry.
What are some goals that you would like to accomplish as a band?
We just want to be able to make a long career of this. We love nothing more than traveling and playing shows and making friends. Hopefully in the not so distant future we’ll be able to go overseas and just continue to do this for years to come!
Is there anything that you’d like to leave us with before we wrap up?
Thanks so much for the interview Josh! And thank YOU for reading. Everyone go pick up the new CD “In My Blood Again” on iTunes or go check out the new songs at oceanistheory.com. Hopefully we can see you at a show soon, meet, hang out, and grow a friendship!
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