Interview with ROSIE JACOBSON, vocalist with Gold Coast alt rock trio IN EYES

Hi Rosie, it’s Davey from Maximum Volume, How are you doing?

Yeah, I’m good, man. How are you?

I’m great thanks. How was your Christmas and New Year ?

Yeah, really good. Nice and chill. I graduated and had my birthday just a little bit before it. So it was very hectic leading up to it. But yeah, it was nice to have some time off.

Oh nice, what did you study?

I got a Bachelor of Popular Music with distinction, so it’s exciting yes.

Congratulations. Who did you do that through?

Griffith University

I didn’t even know there was such a thing, a Bachelor of Popular Music.

Yeah it’s dished out, like Ian Perez from Wolf Mother and Amy Shark and a bunch of those people have gone through and done it, and unfortunately this year that’s coming is the last year of it. It’s been integrated into the Bachelor of Music in the Conservatorium in Brisbane. But yeah, I’m one of the lucky ones that got to come out and finish it off.

That’s so cool! Now, before we talk about current happenings with the band, I want to go back and find out more about the band and how it started. I did have a bit of a look on the band’s Facebook page and saw you guys started in 2014. The usual band things happened, members come and went etc… Can you tell us more about those first few years of the band and like the hurdles you faced, such as band member personalities and the band trying to establish it’s own signature style and sound?

Yeah, totally. Well, basically In Eyes came out of my past band. I was in a band called Here’s to Neverland in Brisbane for a couple of years and that band broke up. And then the bass player from that band and me wanted to go in like a sort of heavier direction. So he and I created In Eyes, found our remaining members at the time, and had a pretty decent first year.

Then that bass player and the drummer at the time left. So then we were a three piece. And then they came back and we were five piece again. And then we kicked out our guitarist, and then he came back. And then he and the bass player left, and then we’d got a new drummer. And now it’s just me, Kris and Dylan. And that’s how it’s going to stay (laughter )

The joys of making a band, it’s a crazy ride

Yeah, I know, I know (laughter )

Everybody goes through all that sort of stuff.

Yeah, definitely!

In December 2018 you dropped your single “Silver Lining”

We did.

And citing the Facebook page once again, because I couldn’t find out alot of information about the band.

No, it’s fine, it’s been a roughie.

You have been quoted on there, that marked the beginning of a new era, a new chapter for the band. So basically when you recorded that, is that when you became that three piece that you are now?

Yeah, so basically what happened was we recorded it in September of 2018, and then that was the last time that our bass player and our guitarist rejoined the band. We were like, “This is our a year, it’s going to be amazing.” We ended up recording that song and “Time Won’t Wait” in the same session, released the song and then shortly after we released the song, the bass player and guitarist came to us and said, “We’re really sorry. We actually don’t want to do this.” Which was a shame, because we loved them, and we still do love them. We’re still on good terms and have a great rapport with them and everything.

So that kind of slowed things down in our plans to release Time Won’t Wait, because it was supposed to come out in February/ March, and it’s only just now come out. So it definitely slowed things down. However, I still think it did mark a new era for us because the sound was bigger and better, and we’d put thought into it, and we put thought into the image, and who we’d record it with, and a plan.

Now, as a band you can definitely hear the influences of bands such as Paramour and Tonight Alive a lot in the music, and more so with your vocals. Apart from that, what are your personal influences, and what about Dylan and Kris, their influences? What does everyone bring to the music table?

What we listen to, is really different to what we make. Like one of Dylan’s favorite artists ever, and he will argue this point into the ground, is Taylor Swift, He loves Taylor Swift so much. And I’m just starting to kind of like Taylor Swift, but he absolutely loves Taylor Swift. My favorite band, one of my favorite bands, is One Direction, The 1975, all that kind of stuff.

And then Kris is into like everything from Gojira to American Football and Tiny Moving Parts, so we do have a very wide range. Yeah, but in terms of like what we all agree on that the band should sound like, it’s things like Hands like Houses, Northlane, Dream State, all of those sort of bands, which we’ve all loved forever.

That’s a very interesting mix. I do like that some metal got mentioned in there though (laughter )

Yeah, I mean, me too. Growing up, I started with Alien Ant Farm and the Offspring and Linkin Park, and then it came up through Bring Me the Horizon- Count Your Blessings record. And then I went into a Suicide Silence route, and then Mastodon, Every Time I Die, Lamb of God, all that kind of stuff just built up. And now I’m like, “Oh yeah, One Direction.” Like, where did that come from? But here we are (laughter )

That is awesome you have such a wide range of musical tastes.

Now when it comes to writing lyrics, composing the music, who does what in the band?

I am the lyricist, I love to write lyrics. I’ve always written songs creatively and all that kind of stuff. Musically, it varies. At the moment Kris and I have been writing some stuff together. In the past, Time Won’t Wait was me and my old guitarist, and then we took it to the band and hashed it out.

Silver Lining was the five of us at the time, and we’ve got some songs that we’re hoping to release upcoming that were written by our past bass player in full, and then I just put the top line on it. So it kind of varies.

But I’m enjoying writing with Kris at the moment, because he’s got that mass core, algorithmic way of writing where things sound like they’re in different time signatures, but they’re not. It’s like really cool stuff, I really enjoy it.

The big news, and the main reason for the interview is the band released their new single titled “Time Won’t Wait” a couple of weeks back on the 12th December 2019

As mentioned earlier I love my metal music, but this is an absolute ripper of a song. I love it! When that first chorus kicks in, it’s game on !!!

Thank You

It’s got groove and it’s just really, really catchy. Tell us more about the story behind the song, the lyrics, and how it all came together.

Totally! So the writing session was just me and my old guitarist, like I said before. And we would just sit in his tiny recording room, in his tiny apartment that he had at the time, and we would just kind of like, “All right, we need a new song. Because we’re going to be the biggest band in the world.”

This was a while ago, like 2016 or something, or 2017. And we were like, “We need to write a song that’s really heavy and really good that shows people what we can do and everything.” And then, I’d been told previously by some people at the time who I thought were the industry ride or dies… Foreshadowing, they’re not … basically told me that if I wasn’t signed by the time I was 25, I would never make it in this industry and I should give up and try something else.

That’s a bit harsh

Basically yeah, and me being 17 and on my first tour and all that kind of stuff, I believed it because I didn’t know any better. But now with my degree I’ve learned a lot better, thankfully. But yeah, at the time of writing Time Won’t Wait, I was fast approaching my 25th birthday.

I was only like a year and a half out, and I just thought, “Oh no,” like, “We have to do this now. We have to make the perfect record because I have to be signed in the next year and a half, otherwise it’s not going to happen,”

And it occurred to me that we have to do it now because time isn’t going to wait. And that’s essentially how I came up with it. I was just like, “Time won’t wait for you,” and the whole thing is kind of a look at how I was feeling at the time and my experiences with mental health and self-deprecating ways of thinking and all that kind of stuff.

But since its release it’s kind of changed meaning for me a little bit. It’s now about going out and doing the things that you want to do, and just making the time to do them and not being afraid to do them. And I think, I guess that comes with the anxiety and all that kind of stuff is being afraid to do things. But time’s not going to wait, so you may as well do them now or you’ll regret it forever.

Yeah, that’s really cool. You read the words and the lyrics portray issues with mental self worth, however the music comes across with a positive vibe.

I’ve noticed a lot of bands, especially a lot of upcoming Australian bands, whether it’s poppy bands, alternative bands, metal bands, a lot of them have been writing about mental illness recently, which is great that it’s out there and being talked about.

Yeah, I think it’s really important because that conversation is being started and it’s actually starting to be prevalent in the industry and it’s being heard, because artists go through it man.

Oh definitely. I mean, look at people like Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington. Those guys looked like they were having the time of their lives, and obviously they weren’t.

I know, it’s insane, and I think those two in particular really sort of shook, especially our genre, a lot of bands in our genre, and of our age group and everything as well. Because like I said, I grew up listening to Linkin Park, and Hybrid Theory is, in my opinion, one of the top three albums ever made. Probably the best debut album ever released by anyone.

It’s a great album. I love it too!

Yeah, I’m like, “It’s so good.” I think I was like seven when it came out and I’m just like, “This is the best record I’ve ever heard. Like it’s so good.” So that was really shocking. But I think it’s definitely, it’s great for us as artists to be able to express that through our creative outlet, which is music, but I think it’s also important that fans and listeners and consumers of the music are hearing those messages. And I think it’s helping people, which is great.

Yes so true! Even if it’s only one person, that’s still one person you can help, right?

Yeah, exactly.

Now going back to last year, which is what, only a few days ago. Any personal stand out albums for you that were released in 2019?

Of 2019… Yes, I’ve got two and they’re very different. My album of the year is “Alien” by Northlane.

That’s a huge album!

That record was phenomenal !!! That’s stepped up the game for not only Northlane, but that whole genre. It’s like new metal art, it’s so good. That was my album of the year. And right snuck in the day after we released Time Won’t Wait, was the new Harry Styles record, which regardless of my One Direction past and everything like that, it’s just a fucking good record, man. It’s really good!

What a massive difference in genres with those two selections!

Oh dude. Yeah. Music is the only thing I’ve ever cared about. So my range of everything is insane. But yeah, those two were probably the two best records of the year for me.

Oh, that’s cool. So stoked that Northlane released such a killer album. There’s so many big Aussie heavy bands at the moment as well, Parkway Drive, Amity Affliction, Polaris, Thy Art is Murder. Heavy Aussie bands are big worldwide. That wasn’t the case that many years ago.

Yeah, not at all, especially in the hardcore. Australian hardcore has really pushed off now. It’s really cool!

Yeah, it’s like Parkway Drive is one of the biggest heavy bands in the world right now!

Dude, they’re so insane. I saw their set that they did at River Stage in 2018, I saw them just recently at Good Things Festival. I’ve been seeing them since like … I saw them at Twin Towns in Coolangatta in 2009.

Oh, man. But their progression and everything, and I’ve met them all and they’re the nicest dudes ever. They’ll sit down with you for ages and just chat about whatever you want. They’re the nicest, most down-to-earth dudes ever and they’re just setting the bar for metal across the Earth. You’d be hard pressed to find a metal band now that’s better than Parkway Drive.

The production on their latest album Reverence is so crisp and flawless, not to mention their live sound and stage production is ridiculous!

I know, fucking insane!

Speaking of live shows, what were your favorite concerts from last year?

Oh God, I … oh. Yeah, okay. I’ve been to a lot of shows in my time. I think I lost count of how many bands I’ve seen in my time at about 400. Who did I even see last year? At the beginning of the year I saw Hands like Houses play the Tivoli and that was amazing. I saw Northlane on the Alien tour. I saw Slowly, Slowly a bunch of times and they were great. I think my favorite of the year was probably The 1975 at River Stage. That was really, really good.

Good stuff!

Yeah, it was a great show!

So, the big question here, now that In Eyes have dropped the new single and it’s making people open their ears and eyes to the band more so than ever before. While you’ve got this buzz happening, what are the plans for the next few months? Are we going to see a tour from you guys? An EP? A full length? What’s the plan?

My hope is that by the end of next year, this time, or not this time next year, because that was the January, but December-ish, I’d love to have an EP out and have a tour on the way, but looking at the history of the band and all of the sort of road blocks we’ve gone down, I’m trying to think realistically about it and set a couple of smaller goals that are more achievable. So yeah, I’m personally wanting to get back into the studio to do a song probably in February, maybe early March, get a song out in April and then just play a bunch of shows. I miss playing shows.

Definitely !!! You’ve got the momentum there with the new single and it’s really catchy. You’d be mad not to jump on that opportunity and ride that wave.

Now that I’m finished up with uni, and I went through uni with Kris as well, so both of us were doing full-time studying and all that kind of stuff. So now that we’re both graduated, we have so much more time to sit down and write and really put our skates on and get this thing happening, which is a blessing, I think.

Well, I wish you and the band all the best for 2020.

Thank you.

Looking forward to hearing the bands next offering!

“Time Won’t Wait” is so very catchy, it’s not really my kind of genre, but the chorus just sucks you in, you can’t help but like it.

Oh thank you! Well that’s what we want. We want people to be surprised by us, which is a good thing, and sort of leave them wanting more.

Yeah, I didn’t really hear any One Direction in there, so it was all good (laughter )

Yeah, I’ll do something poppy on the next one. Don’t you worry ( laughter )

Thanks for talking to us today Rosie, have a good one

Yes you too

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Buy the single “Time Won’t Wait”, and check out the bands Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and You Tube pages https://linktr.ee/ineyesmusic

Interviewer/ Writer: Davey Rintala