It’s not everyday a band can take inspiration from the works of Edgar Allen Poe, and Netflix’s Haunting of Hill House and create a record that is deemed “coming for a healthy place” or creating a “happy, healthy vibe.” However, with their new record Phantoms, multi-platinum Canadian pop outfit Marianas Trench, that’s exactly what happened.
Recently, we caught up with Mike Ayley, the band’s bassist, to talk about the impetus and inspiration of Phantoms, the creativity the band felt during the recording process and their upcoming “Suspending Gravity” tour which makes a stop at The Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, New Jersey tonight.
Your new album Phantoms dropped earlier this year. In a press release Josh Ramsay described the writing of the record as “I was thinking about someone falling into madness while living in a house haunted by the ghost of a former lover. As dark as that sounds, and for me that also means a rebirth, and that comes from a healthy place.” Can you talk about how this idea became the creative framework of the record?
It started in New Orleans where we had a day off when on tour. The vibe of that city is very cool and oozes the culture and has hints of voodoo and spirits. A cool thing about that culture when it comes to death is that they celebrate the life more than they mourn the loss and it’s a very optimistic perspective to come at an experience like that. On that same day, some crew guys were watching a movie in the bus, The Adams Family. The two ideas literally melded together in that moment and all in one day as the zenith for the album concept.
You said the setting of the album really opened things up creatively for the album — can you go into further detail?
If you listen to the album from a reconstructive perspective you may notice things like a harpsichord off the top of “Echoes Of You” or the Theremin use as well. Those are instruments that wouldn’t have worked on any previous album.  The sing writing also gets direction automatically. So as much as the concept opens up creative options it also takes away some and starts fine tuning the song choices even before they’ve been written.
Outside of the theme, how do you think Phantoms stands out amongst the rest of your catalog?
I’m sure all bands say this about their most recent album but, in all honesty, I think this is our best album to date. I love every song. I think the album tracks are very on point with the theme. Â
You’ve poured so much of your life into Marianas Trench. What is it about this band that you love, that keeps you motivated and hungry to keep creating and touring?
The creative change and growth always keeps the music fresh. Seeing the turnouts at shows growing and seeing everyone having such a good time at the shows keeps touring fun and exciting. Our crew are like an extension of our family and we have lots of respect for each other as band mates and friends so the vibe is always healthy when we tour as well.
What are you most excited about for Marianas Trench in the near future?
I love touring! We’re just beginning another US tour as I type this and it’s always very exciting for me. We have Europe coming up in November as well and then more touring early next year. We just shot a video the day before we left for tour too and it should be a very fun one for people to see. I can’t tell you anything about it but it is very different from anything we’ve done in the past and we had so much fun shooting it!
