Unarmed is a Portland, Oregon, quartet comprised of current and former members of the seminal melodic hardcore outfits It Prevails (Rise), Scars of Tomorrow (Victory), and American Me (Rise). Embracing their musical roots, Unarmed explores the post-punk soundscape that's inspired each member throughout their musical careers. Their debut EP, It’s Like That, is layered with thick, intricate, melody-laden guitars, rich rhythms, and cathartic lyrics seamlessly woven between memorable hooks and melodies, which vocalist/bassist Ian Fike delivers with gut-wrenching passion and sincerity. Ryan Furlott (It Prevails, MxPx) produced and engineered the album, which was mastered by Mike Kalajian (A Day To Remember, Hopesfall).
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello Unarmed. What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
I’m unsure if anything makes me a great musician personally, but what I will say is what I believe makes the rest of the guys in the band great musicians. For instance, Aaron Marsh, our drummer has a natural way of understanding what will serve the song without over complicating or pushing some masturbatory, self-indulgent drum part. What makes Brian Blade, our guitarist, a great musician is his versatility. That man is proficient across multiple instruments and is an incredible sound guy, which makes him truly great, in my opinion. What makes, Ian Fike, our singer / bassist a truly great musician is his natural propensity towards melody and songwriting as a whole. He’s a true renaissance man that can write just about anything and it turns out amazing.
Who inspired you to make music?
My mom! While she wasn’t a musician per-se (She did play drums as a child), she was however, a very musical person; always smiling and singing. I have these fond, vivid memories of her putting on records, dancing and belting it out when I was a kid. She made music feel fun, and I think that’s how music became so important to me. She consistently nurtured my creativity and was my biggest champion and there’s no bigger inspiration to me than her.
Your latest release is 'It's Like That'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
The band started after Ian’s and my band It Prevails went on a bit of a hiatus. I was living in Texas at the time that Ian Fike, our singer / bassist started building skeletons of songs with our drummer Aaron Marsh. As things started to develop and everything becoming more than just a couple of dudes writing and jamming in a basement, Ian reached out and asked if I’d be into joining which was pretty great timing, as I was already in process of moving back to Portland. At that very same time, our other guitarist, Brian Wilson had just moved back to Portland from Hawaii and because of his past in It Prevails, it felt like the perfect fit to fill out the band. From there, we put the finishing touches on the EP and fast forward to today, ‘It’s Like That’ is officially out now! The only unusual thing I can think of happening, is that at the 11th hour before announcing the band / record we changed our name to Unarmed from another that shall not be named.
Can you shortly describe each of the tracks that are on the EP?
Home
This song is an absolute microscope look at a period of about 5-8 years of Ian’s adolescence. Skateboarding was everything. His entire life. And he was surrounded by brothers who lived wholeheartedly for the exact same thing. They held it. They held the feeling of living their lives without fear, or repercussions. At no other point in my life did he feel more invincible.
The Perfect Summer
This is one of those songs where the lyrics kind of wrote themselves. Ian had a set idea and theme for the lyrics, and they fell on the paper. Giving yourself up too short to people. Too fast to give your heart away. Ian’s done that of his whole life. And having to live with the results of those snap decisions. Those memories always line up with the summers of his young adulthood.
You Said
It’s a song that Ian wrote as a shout out to his step mom, Leslye. She showed him what resilience is, the epitome of strength. Yet the kindest, soft hearted person he’s ever met. The best advice in your youth can only amount to so much if you’re not willing to listen. Oftentimes we learn the hard way. One of the anthems of this EP.
It’s Like That
Is the only love song Ian’s ever written. Only one person he’s ever felt the need to do so for. An intimate look at young, flailing love. And not knowing what to do with it. Often making mistake after mistake with it. Somehow ending up on the right side, for at least a moment or two. No better feeling.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
I get a lot of solid recommendations from friends or just by going out to shows; there are so many incredible bands out there. Oh! Also, of course, by religiously checking Lost in the Manor.
What makes you different from others?
I think that we share a lot in common with other bands, and our strengths lie in our subtle differences. I’m unclear of what those specifics might be, but what I do know is that at the end of the day, we’re four people writing songs we want to hear, and if others like them too, then that’s the tops.
What’s an average day like for you?
I’m an early riser, well…my dogs are early risers, so I guess that makes me one too, but I’ve got a day job running a contact center that takes up the majority of my time, but outside of that, my average day involves a lot of coffee, dog walks, working out, home renovations, working on new music, photography and “family” dinners.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
Keeping up with social interactions can be almost a full time job in and of itself, but It’s typically myself or Ian who is interacting via social media. I don’t think the other guys really use the internet, which is pretty cool, if you ask me. To limit the amount of time we spend on social media we’ve intentionally limited ourselves to using Instagram and YouTube. I’m pretty active on Twitter personally, but I refuse to split my time on there doing band stuff! Not enough hours in the day, I tell ya.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Spend more time on your craft! Perfect practice makes perfect. Learn to communicate, collaborate and be open to feedback and suggestions. Something that definitely hurt me when coming up was my inability to communicate effectively, collaborate with others, and not being open or willing to try something that wasn’t mine. I think I felt like the idea I had in my head for how something should be or sound had to be executed that very way or it wasn’t going to work, but as I grew I realized how very wrong I was and sometimes wonder how things would have turned out had I adopted better skills when I was younger.
What are your plans for the future?
We’re just taking things as they come right now, but ultimately I think we’d like to play some Festivals, do some cool weekend warrior tours with friends and put out a full length this year.