Blood Is Blood

It’s a reflection on childhood and realising some twenty years later how I have been forever changed by my upbringing and relationship with my father. It’s about being accountable for all the things you do in life and having empathy for those who are unable to do so. It hooks you with a simplistic and attitudinal chorus of “oh oh” that will get even an unfamiliar crowd encouraged to participate.

This track was one of the first tracks we completed but once recorded something about the chorus just didn’t work for me. We were running out of time, it was the final day of recording and there was only a small group of us left. They all quizzed me on the song’s meaning and from that our crewmember and good friend Nath came out with the lyric, “Ignite the past and watch it burn.” Even though it wasn’t something I would write myself, it fit perfectly and encapsulated the meaning of the song as a whole, so it stayed. I’m often quite stubborn when it comes to laying down other people’s words but I’m happy I relented on this one.

In the midst of the chaos on the album, ‘Surviving Life…’ offers a more relaxed presence. Initially this was more of a subdued instrumental track but after hearing it back in the studio I felt that it was missing something in order to make it special so we decided to incorporate the chorus line from its partner song, “…And Getting By” to give it some more energy. We all agreed that it really served its purpose in making a subdued instrumental that bit more meaningful and enjoyable.

Following on from the previous track, this one is about memories of passed loved ones. How they can be both a source of comfort and happiness but can also cause distress and hurt. That distress and hurt form the motivation to learn from their wrongdoings and history… Well after lashing out and dishing some dirt but we’re only human aren’t we!? It shares a positive message.

The shortest track on the album, WMD is pure aggression compressed into one minute and 49 seconds. A favourite amongst the band, especially Batty, this is a standout track on the album: pure energy, rage and excitement. All a bit of fun in an otherwise very heartfelt and serious album.

The relationship with my late father was a tumultuous one. This track is all about the betrayal, failure and distrust that regrettably existed between us when he was alive.  Ultimately, it serves as a reminder to strive to be a better person, something that I from time to time lose sight of. I’d likely call it the angriest track on the album and I hope that you all can hear that. This one feels very raw to me – full of emotion.

It’s about saying what needs to be said before it’s too late which was something that I was unable to do, but not through lack of effort. I often question whether those words would have accomplished anything but I came to realise that was the manipulation of grief. In grief, we often block out the negativity and don’t see the truth – I know that those words would have most likely fallen on deaf ears. It’s a song about not glorifying someone in death but preserving who they truly were, just without the resentment. It’s something that I had to do during the eulogy. I remember Ryan being very reassuring during this time by letting me know that I kept it true, respectful and told no tall tales.

The song that wasn’t even meant to be on the album brings it all to a close. Originally shelved for being too “different” or more “oldschool OHG” we fought the urge and committed to including this track and we’re very glad we did. This was the perfect track to close such an emotional album, to us it just felt epic and full of energy. We got everyone together for this one, the entire crew to belt out something of the most emotional words on the album:“…Even though I thought I didn’t I still loved you like you loved me.” These were words that I spoke at my dad’s funeral.