Think Sanity as you know it came to be in late 2020 with Trent, Andie and Jack finding themselves in need of a drummer after some unfortunate events with a former project. After about a month of searching, they found Chris Collins. Having spent much of 2019 and 2020 on hiatus, the band returned after working to develop new writing styles in which every members' skill set was used to their fullest; while, maintaining their focus on making songs dealing topics such as mental health with the satirical style that had lead them to launch Think Sanity to begin with.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Think Sanity, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Well the basis of Think Sanity started between Trent and Andie after having worked together in several other projects, wanting to write more personal music. So while developing what would become our first album we met Jack who helped us create the sound that would become the foundation for the bulk of our work going forward. And when moving into this current era of the band Chris had helped us organize and create the general atmosphere that is Think Sanity.
As for each of us individually, we all started out musical journeys in different places, from Andie and Trent going from playing in a youth band to playing in various bands in our hometown, to Jack and Chris writing as music teachers with Jack also being an accomplished jazz performer, and Chris starting on with his family pushing him to later lead and compose music for several high profile marching bands and ensembles. We each come from very different places, and somehow managed to mesh together into the band we are today.
Are there any musicians who inspire you? What qualities do you admire about them?
Well of course we have our big influences, Red hot chili peppers, My chemical romance, taking back Sunday, Paramore, Queens of the stone age, Foo fighters and Zac Brown Band.
We've been inspired to work harder by our friends we've met through shows, such as Soul Karnival, Hassleinone, Jameson Tank, and most everyone else we've had the pleasure of meeting on the road
Your latest track is 'Closest To Happy'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
Well the bulk of the song was actually written by our singer Andie. The song follows the stress and emotions she deals with on a day-to-day basis. The initial sound of the song was actually completely different, but one day in practice Jack started tapping out a melody on his guitar that ended up becoming the building blocks for the rest of the sound.
While we were recording it there was a lot of stress because we had to break up the recording sessions of that particular song due to covid reasons, but because of that we were able to reexamine the individual parts that made up the whole of the song and in the end, we came out with a much more technical and in-depth song than what we initially thought we were going to be writing
As for the song's background: There's a lot of times when we wake up in the morning and realize we have to go to work and that's the last thing any of us want to do, Or simply the stress of existing when dealing with depression, always looking forward to the weekend to try and get to the parts of life that we enjoy, setting goals for ourselves to move forward and accept this is the closest to happiness we get. Even the smallest steps we take are still progress, and we're okay despite everything working against us and Despite the heaviness that comes with the day-to-day monotony of pulling yourself through a hard situation.
Which skills have you gained that help you perform effectively as a musician?
I think for us, taking the time to make sure everyone has an equal part in the songwriting process and going out of our way to use each member's abilities to the fullest has been a big step forward in the right direction. I guess another would be working together to build a solid personality and stage presence for the band. When we perform live, we want to make sure everyone feels like they're welcome and like they can relax and enjoy being with friends and family. Getting to perform with bigger bands like in 2021 we had the chance to perform with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, We learned how important it was to develop our set to not only sound clean but show off each member's skill in their own unique way. The way we write songs, we also tend to challenge each other as musicians, so steel sharpens steel.
What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?
(Trent) I tend to like Emo rock, Pop punk, post hardcore, singer songwriter stuff, grunge, etc…
(Jack) I stay around funk, metal, and rock, but I will really foray into any genre. There are gems everywhere.
(Andie) I tend to listen to most forms of alt rock, although I do tend to be a bit biased in favor of female-led bands. I dig an eclectic mix of electro-swing, lo-fi r&b, indie pop and folk rock. I love to discover new music so I try to branch out a lot.
(Chris) I’m pretty eclectic but I don’t really have the patience for doom metal or really slow developing songs/pieces when listening for pleasure.
Describe your creative process when you write new music.
The creative process is a very interesting one; everyone in the band has a unique skill set they bring to the table. For example Jack, Andie and Trent are constantly writing new music and lyrics. A bulk of the music you’ll hear on the upcoming album involves Trent and Jack sitting down and building a solid body of music first, often simply throwing lyrics at the wall until something stuck. From there we pass our lyric editing off to Andie. in the past we have jokingly called her the lyric ATM, since she regularly gets sent a set of lyrics from the band and is able to apply it to most of the concepts we throw at her. After all of that Chris has an amazing ability to help arrange everything to where it fits sonically that helps give the music that social feeling that is unique to Think Sanity. We direct an equal effort from everyone in the group and push ourselves to constantly try new ideas we hadn't before.
What are your long term goals?
Long term, well Think Sanity is about making music that helps you deal with issues from depression, anger, and several other topics dealing with mental health. Our goal is to not only write songs that are fun and have impact in the moment but to create something that inspires others to go and create, whether that be music, art, writing or whatever really. Sure with any band there's always the goal of having a successful career where you get the tour and write thousands of songs and be a driving force in the music scene, But on top of that we want to be able to have our fans look back and say, “this music helped me”.
What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?
I think we've said in the past that music is therapy and also that, Think Sanity is serious music for people who struggle to be serious. We've always strived to be passionate in making music that goes a layer deeper than just what you hear on the surface. there's always something to draw on and learn from. It’s the physical feeling of “locking in” with an ensemble and the vibe from the crowd. Being able to share our deeper selves with our listeners is a driving force that keeps us passionate about music.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
It's definitely changed a lot from when we were younger. We've actually had several discussions about not even producing physical CD's due to most of our listener base being online. (Trent) I've personally learned more people find new music on Spotify and other streaming sites more often than they do through media like radio, at least for us anyways. Probably in the years to come the internet will play an even bigger role in music. Just in the last year alone several large touring acts changed to have streaming-only concerts in the wake of the pandemic. But as Chris also said; I think if you look through a monetary glass you’ll see a lot of negatives for artists and producers but I think that the largest impact is extremely positive and that is the unmatched accessibility of music today compared to any point in the past. So it'll be interesting to see how the music landscape evolves further.
What are your plans for the future?
Well, first off aside from our upcoming shows across the southeast US, We have our second album "Think Safely" releasing on all digital platforms February 19th.
We are also working hard on a few collaborative efforts, as well as beginning the writing process on our potential third album. So be sure to follow us for any updates on releases and shows we have coming up.