Interview: We Set Sail on New Album Ritual and Ceremony

Brisbane emo band We Set Sail has dropped the latest singles—“The Valium Phase” and “Well, That’s 13 Years of My Life I’ll Never Get Back”—from its forthcoming album Ritual and Ceremony. Due out on March 31st via False Peak Records, the self-produced third album continues the band’s penchant for coupling melodic, emotional alt-rock with classic movie samples. A follow-up to studio albums Feel Nothing (2016) and Rivals (2013), Ritual and Ceremony—which clocks at 60 minutes—aims to bring back the lost art of listening to a record as a whole. Below are some highlights from Good Album Friday’s chat with vocalist and guitarist Paul Voge and drummer Ben Breitenstein ahead of the album’s release.

How was the band’s 2020 experience?

Paul: My work totally stopped … I remember starting the year and watching bush fires and my kids making things to send to the injured animals and we thought things really couldn’t get any worse. Well, here we are. We did not play a single show in 2020 but we did finish this record and we have started writing again. Personally, it was great to just stop and reset. But also freak out like crazy the entire time.

Ben: I was super lucky in that I wasn’t affected that badly, as in, I didn’t get sick and I didn’t lose my job. I also got engaged and had a son, so in amongst all the ugly 2020 shit, it was strangely a great year for me. And getting the record done was another reason for that. Hearing it in total for the first time was amazing.

What rituals kept you sane?

Paul: For me, kids keep me sane. Getting together to jam or write or record or just talk to each other helps. I’ve somehow become lazier if that is possible. I feel now we are in the ritual of trying to get people to know we have a new record coming out. Doing it all ourselves keeps us busy. Being in this band is a ritual (laughs).

Ben: Just going for walks around the neighborhood really seems to be a consistent thread for me and my girlfriend. That, working on the record and working on promoting the record, gearing up for dad life and trying to squeeze in some computer games where I can … While there was a long period where the band did literally nothing—I think it was about six months—at least the text thread was always going off and we shared a lot of music with each other. That sort of shit is why I love these guys. That’s another hallmark of this band—that we do stuff whenever we can get around to it. We always get there eventually.

The band has a DIY approach to making music. What was the process making Ritual and Ceremony?

Paul: The DIY element is something I think we are most proud of after 13 years. Jimmy recording everything, mixing it all, years and years of work per album. Ben doing all the art design and packaging and photography. Ben and I do our videos … But before all that stuff, it is and was the ritual and ceremony of getting together each week when we can. More than once a week if we can. Sometimes life just takes over and we may not see each other for a few weeks, but the fact that we all take time to do this band at this point in our lives is a big thing to us. We work on this tiny band every day. It would be a great full-time job but the pay is so shit (laughs).

Ben: We’re just lucky that between all of us, we have enough experience to make it almost look like we’re a “real” band. But the main reason we do it all ourselves is that no one cares about the band as much as we do, and without a marketing budget, we can’t really pay anyone else to care enough either.

“Well, That’s 13 Years of My Life I’ll Never Get Back” sounds like an ode to the band itself. Tell me about this track and what you’ve learned about yourselves since forming in 2008.

Paul: Totally an ode to the last 13 years. The track is just “us.” The video is us at the room where we wrote [and] recorded that song. Honestly, we may have gone over the top about making this song about us (laughs). I feel music wise we have learned a lot over the years. [We’re] a little bit better than we were in 2008. Jimmy’s recording skills are next level now. Ben’s design stuff steps up every record. But I always feel that after 13 years still having the same line up—except for a bass player every five years—just staying together for this long, we have learned a lot just about each other. And even with all that information, we still stay in a band (laughs).

Ben: We were talking recently about how weird it is that in 13 years, a Tuesday night has rolled around and none of us has ever felt like heading to the shed to play felt like a chore. Pretty amazing shit really.

I’m really digging “Resolutions” right now. What is your favorite track from the new record?

Paul: “Resolutions” is one of my favorites for sure—probably my fave sounding song on the album. Something about a song with no chorus that I just dig (laughs). I’m also a fan of “Hurry Up, I Wanna Fuckin’ Leave” mainly for the ending sample and wave of guitars over the top. It sounds like “Jet Black” by Jawbreaker (laughs).

Ben: It’s a tough choice. I love all our songs so much. We had been talking about how, if you’re in a band and you don’t like the music, then what the fuck are you doing? But it’d be “Palm Mutant” for me. It’s the one I’m most proud of. That song is so different in my eyes and is a wild ride how one part flows into the next and has great momentum. It’s also the funnest to play.

What were your favorite records of 2020? I was really into Sprain—they’re experimental and Slinty—and this electronic dude George Clanton. 

Paul: 2020 had some great records! Sprain sounds rad—will have to check it out. For me I listened to new records from Nothing, Novo Amor, Violent Soho, Be Well, Gleemer, Seer Believer, Touche Amore, Phoebe Bridges.

Ben: I’m bad at not really keeping up with trends and coming to the party really late. I think the only two releases I really listened to a lot from 2020 was from Misery Signals and Bring me the Horizon. I’m a sucker for heavy music and big riffs. I really feel like BMTH is the second coming of early Linkin Park. It’s just so fucking catchy. But other than that I listened to mainly old stuff.

You described Ritual and Ceremony as an attempt at capturing the magic of your favorite albums from your youth. What albums and bands influenced this album, and what is it about them that resonates with you?

Paul: So many bands. I also feel in our youth we had to buy the record. It was expensive and you invested money, which in turn invested your time into getting to know a record more and more. So, we wanted to make it a double LP with a big booklet and things to read and look at—something you can invest time in—which I know is harder and harder these days. I think we listen to so many bands that there could be 100 influences on this record. But at the same time, we have been a band for so long that we are almost an influence on ourselves if that even makes sense (laughs).

Ben: There is no worse feeling than buying a record based on one song that you like and finding out that the other nine songs are shit. It’s really a crime. But then, when an album you’re listening to is really doing it for you, you don’t want it to end, and that was the feeling I wanted to impart with this record—that if you like the first song, then you’re really going to like going on the journey with this record—and at 60 minutes—it’s pretty extra. But we won’t know whether we’ve succeeded in that until people get to listen. Whether it’s good or bad though, I’m keen to hear what people think.

Pre-order Ritual and Ceremony here. Follow We Set Sail on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.