I spoke to Nat, from ‘If I Die Tonight’, in anticipation of the band’s debut single release, ‘Exodus’. The track is set to be released on Valentine's Day this year, so whatever your plans are on the ‘Lover’s Day’ be ready to make time for the duo’s entrance into the world of post-grunge. If Deftones, Nirvana and Thrice are your kind of thing, it’s time to give ‘If I Die Tonight’ a listen...
‘If I Die Tonight’ hail from Manchester and the duo is composed of Nat and Jacob. ‘Currently only studio based’, the pair share instrumental duties, with most of the drum parts played by Nat, all the bass played by Jacob and the rest of the parts tending to be ‘recorded by whoever feels like it at the time’.
Forming pre-pandemic, ‘If I Die Tonight’ and their first single were born from the demise of the duo’s previous band. Nat and Jacob actually met when they were around 15 years old; both growing up as ‘church kids’ this is where they met. The pair didn’t start playing music together until they joined their first band, ‘Dear Caroline’. Whilst making up the rhythm section of their first band, the duo would ‘sporadically write some tracks together, but nothing major materialised until after the end of “Dear Caroline’.
When the end finally came, Nat and Jacob had the fuel for their new project ‘If I Die Tonight’, as well as the inspiration for their debut track. As the name implies, ‘Exodus’ is a song about withdrawal or, perhaps, more appropriately, a song about departure. The departure from their former band has informed much of the lyrical content of their debut release, set to be released tomorrow. Nat spoke on the subject matter of the upcoming release: ‘The lyrics speak about how we felt during this time. When they were initially written they were coming from a place of anger and desperation which can be heard in the track. I personally felt quite lost during this time as the band had been a massive part of my life for quite few years’. Ultimately the creation of ‘Exodus’ and the emergence of ‘If I Die Tonight’ itself, for Nat, has had a largely cathartic effect.
The duo has a wide variety of musical influences, ‘ranging from Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar to Radiohead and everything in between’. But one of the most valuable bands, that actually inspired the name ‘If I Die Tonight’, is Foo Fighters. The name is taken from a lyric from Foo Fighter’s ‘In Your Honour’- ‘in your honour, I would die tonight’. Nat explained that, for him, the lyric ‘speaks about leaving everything on stage for the audience and ‘dying’ to give the audience the best show possible’. Liking the sentiment of the lyric, the band name was settled.
Delving into ‘Exodus’ itself, here’s what you can expect from the single... The track is full of passion, especially the lyrics. Hopeless emotion, captivating desperation in the vocals; raw honesty and authenticity. Nat revealed that on a personal level, his proudest inclusion on the single is his ‘scream at the end of the bridge’. In fact, the scream that you hear on this track is Nat’s first and only time successfully screaming. Regarding the duo’s creative process, Nat said that ‘A lot of the time our creative process works by meeting up, drinking some wine, setting up a mic and just seeing what happens and that was 100% the case for when we wrote that bridge’. The effortless emotional honesty that can be heard in this track is something that ‘If I Die Tonight’ aim to bring forward into future releases. Afterall what is music without anger, sadness, and euphoria? In the words of Nat: ‘I just want to feel something!’
Work on the track has been in motion for about 2 years, in fact, the initial recording of the song began whilst Nat was still at university. This proved largely beneficial for the duo as they were able to utilise the uni studio. However, since that time, ‘pretty much everything, except the drums, has been re-recorded'. Nat proudly emphasised that, through using home setups, ‘The track was produced and mixed entirely by us’. Speaking on this process, Nat said that ‘The ability to have full creative control was fantastic but also daunting as we really had nobody to tell us when the track was finished and the temptation to endlessly tinker with the track was always there.’ Regarding the mastering stages of ‘Exodus’ Chris Coulter was a vital asset. Having worked with the likes of ‘Arcane Roots’ on their album ‘Melancholic Hymns’, Nat was extensively honoured to work alongside Chris Coulter granted that ‘Melancholic Hymns’ is in fact one of his ‘favourite albums ever’.
As for the next steps for the band, there will be no rushing into any headline shows, Nat says this is until there is ‘a real sense that people want wanna see us live’. However, you can look forward to seeing ‘If I Die Tonight’ at ‘the odd support slot, festival slot, and maybe some acoustic performances’. But in terms of hearing more releases from these promising up and comers, you shouldn’t be in anticipation for much longer, as the band have got ‘quite a few tracks ready to go’...
Remember, If I Die Tonight’s ‘Exodus’ will be released tomorrow, so be ready to give this post-grunge pair a listen.
You can find the band’s socials below, be sure to give them some support.
Also, if you would like to pre-save the upcoming track, you can do so by following the link below...
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