Strung Out
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Strung Out

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2015’s Transmission.Alpha.Delta is Strung Out’s first new release in six years, and Kiley can’t wait to play the fresh tracks live when they hit our shores next month. “The response has been really good since the record came out – oh wow, nearly a year ago now,” Kiley says. “We’ve been on a lot of really great tours, so we’re excited to bring it back down to you guys. We always have a great time in Australia, and this time we’re bringing Pears and they’re a killer band. We plan on sort of showing them the ropes.

“This will be their first time in Australia so we’re going to take them through all the major cities and some smaller cities that we haven’t been to in a long time – and some of the places we’ll be going to for the first time as well, so it’s going to be an awesome run.”

Kiley is clearly excited and enthusiastic to be out on tour. After the Transmission.Alpha.Delta recording sessions, time away from the studio was exactly what the doctor ordered. “You always have to take time for yourself to recharge and get ready to create another album,” he says. “And that’s true of any artistic endeavour. So we spent a lot of time on retrospective touring. We were playing a lot of our old albums for our 20th anniversary and we put out a boxset,Top Contenders: The Best of Strung Out, in 2011. It gave us a break for a year or so, so that was nice.”

Work began on Transmission.Alpha.Delta in 2012, and it is arguably Strung Out’s best release to date. Lead singer/songwriter Jason Cruz is a man on a mission, pushing the boundaries by lyrically tackling taboo issues of faith, politics, drug addiction and brain washing via technology.

“Once we all got back together and got into the writing mode, we were all very receptive to each other’s ideas, and we were all on the same page,” Kiley says. “The general consensus was that we wanted, hopefully, to make something better than we had before. And we’re all really happy with how it turned out, and the fans seem to like it, so it was worth the wait, I think.

“We were all very involved in the writing process,” Kiley adds. “I would come in with an idea pretty well worked out, and then each person would take it and play over it, and add whatever they wanted. I think that makes our music more creative. I like our songs when everyone has their place in it, and we like to make it as inclusive as possible.”

Transmission.Alpha.Delta was produced by Kyle Black (New Found Glory, All Time Low, Paramore). “It was cool to work with someone who was a fan of the band,” Kiley says. “Kyle is also a little younger and newer to the process of making an album. Don’t get me wrong – every producer we have worked with was good at their craft, but Kyle was a great experience all round. He definitely brought a fresh approach to it.”

Australian fans can expect to hear most of Transmission.Alpha.Delta at their upcoming shows. “It’s nice to add a bunch of new songs to the set that people want to hear and not have people only care about our old stuff. It’s been a positive response all round and we haven’t played these songs a million times like some of the other ones, so is a little more fun for us.”

The best news is that we won’t have to wait another six years for a new Strung Out album. “No, probably only one or two more years and you’ll be hearing another release from us,” he says, “but in the meantime we’re going to enjoy the last days of summer in Australia!”

BY NATALIE ROGERS