Last year, I had the chance to chat with the Missouri based band Squint in support of their performance at Flyover Festival 2022 (read the interview here). This interview was just months after they made their first post on Instagram introducing the band and releasing their debut EP Feel It via Sunday Drive Records. Featuring various members from Missouri bands Time and Pressure, New Lives, Soul Craft and Choir Vandals, Squint has a nice palette of sounds ranging from hardcore to alternative and indie rock.
Largely influenced by a shared liking of Rites of Spring and Turning Point, their debut release Feel It takes the sound of melodic-leaning hardcore with their own spin on it. Fuzzed-out guitars and big riffs—recalling tones heard from bands like Seaweed and Sugar fill the tracks. If you enjoy more recent bands like Drug Church, Fiddlehead, and One Step Closer, you will enjoy Squint’s music, too.
Each word is passionately shouted by Wilkinson, and with the backing of huge guitars and hard-hitting drums, all you want to do is shout-along, bang your head, and of course—feel it.
On July 28, they released a brand new single, “All,” with their two 2022 EPs for the record titled Feel It All Wash Away. The title connects the three releases together and it allowed the band and Sunday Drive Records to release the songs on 12” vinyl for the very first time.
Squint has an amazing sound that’ll appeal to a vast amount of listeners. Before doing the interview with them last year, I listened to their music and was instantly hooked. I knew I had to do the interview with them and I’m happy that we were able to make a second interview happen for this year!
So, with that being said, the band is back at Flyover Festival for a second year in a row and I caught up with the band about their music, recent releases (the single “All” and the record Feel It All Wash Away). Read more below and make sure to catch them this year at Flyover!
Hey! It’s so great to be chatting with you again! How has it been? Can you give any new readers a quick intro to Squint and what may be new?
Hello! Thanks for having me back on here! Squint has been around a little over a year now, our first show being at the end of April 2022. Since then we’ve been hitting the road and writing pretty consistently. We just recently wrapped up a little run with our friends (and fellow flyoverians) Sign Language on our way down to the Sunday Drive Records showcase in Texas. We’re currently writing a new full length record that we’ll be recording out in New Jersey in the weeks leading up to Flyover.
You just released a new single called “All” with a music video to accompany. Can you talk about the song a little (meaning, writing process, etc.)?
Lyrically, “All” is about feeling like you can’t seem to keep up with life at the pace everyone else seems to. With it being such an upbeat and catchy song musically, I knew I wanted a strong hook with a relatable message. “All” was among a batch of new songs we had in mind for the new record, but decided to go ahead and release it as a single, so it should give a pretty good indication of our direction.
I don’t think I’ve seen many music videos like this one before. It stands out to me, in a super fun and good way. What was the thought and creative process behind the video?
Thank you! Wil our drummer is to thank for that, he made our last video as well and always has concise and fun ideas. This one took some convincing but once we saw his vision we were all on board. Shout out to our support team for all the help with the dolls and shooting. I think wil had said his biggest influence on the idea was a culmination of Sum 41 videos he had watched and the “Harry Potter puppet” videos on YouTube, haha.
Watch the music video for “All” below.
Along with the new single “All”, you also re-released your two EPs “Feel It” and “Wash Away” as an album titled so coincidently titled “Feel It All Wash Away.” As I was typing out these questions, I finally made the connection between the titles of the releases, haha. Feels like a puzzle! Was it planned from the beginning?
Ehh, sorta. “Feel It” and “Wash Away” were both imagined as individual pieces of work, but once we decided to compile them on vinyl we saw the opportunity for the name. I had the general “I can’t take it all” hook floating around in my head while the fellas were jamming the song, and while the vinyl was coming to fruition so was the song. It just made sense to include it in the release.
Is there anything else about this release that we might not have talked about that you would like to bring up?
That pretty much covers it I think! Sunday Drive is sold out of the vinyl, I believe BrooklynVegan and Revolver still have variants at the time of me writing this. Get one before you can’t!
If you had to share some of your favorite 2023 releases so far (hardcore or not), what would they be?
I really love the World I Hate record, “Years Of Lead”. Nothing has topped that in my book. Skourge, Dead Last, Sign Language, Home Front have all been in constant rotation as well. There are some younger bands that have surfaced this year in the St. Louis area that are crushing as well. Volition’s “A World Redefined” is an incredible straight edge EP in the vein of Strife, Snapcase, Indecision. Maladjust just dropped a demo that reminds me of Merauder, Cold As Life, maybe a little Everybody Gets Hurt in the mix. Check those out!
What are your favorite recent releases on Sunday Drive Records?
Sign Language, Feverchild, and Wrong Man have all been on fire this year with their new stuff. I also have listened to the song “SWAT” by Juan Cordero probably over 2000 times since it came out. Anklebiter, Money, All Under Heaven, Glare, the list goes on. We love our family so much and are so proud to be a part of Sunday Drive.
Flyover discussion time! How does it feel to be included on such an amazing festival lineup for a second year in a row?
It’s very exciting! As I said earlier, Squint hasn’t been a band for all that long, and Flyover last year was one of our first big milestones as a band. It’s very humbling to be among the bands asked to return this year. Last year was one of the funnest sets we’ve ever played, we have no choice but to go even harder this year.
Let’s talk about playing the fest last year. How was your experience? What were your favorite sets of the fest?
Last year was incredible, I saw so many old friends and made so many new ones. It’s a really surreal feeling to chop it up with absolute maniacs you’ve known for a decade plus while also establishing new connections with new people. Weekends like this make me fall in love with hardcore all over again. I transform back into a moshing angry 16 year old for 72 hours and leave Monday Brennen to deal with the repercussions. Favorite sets were seeing all my friends absolutely kill it, Snuffed, Prevention, Strange Joy.
What were you able to explore in Tulsa around the fest? I remember you said you are a big sandwich person! Were you able to find a cool spot?
You know I did! Chicken and The Wolf seems to be the band favorite, they do Nashville Hot Chicken and have options for the vegan members as well. We also hit a late night spot on our last trip to Tulsa, we’ll see you at Trenchers after the fest. We are known to hunt down the best cup of coffee as well, so when you’re caffeinated from a Cirque or Notion cold brew, find me in the pit and thank me.
What bands on the 2023 lineup are you excited about?
World I Hate. I am also really hyped to see Wreckage, Bib, Public Opinion, Sour, and all my fellow SDR family…but that World I Hate set is gonna be insane.
If you had to share one last thing with us, what would that message be?
Create and don’t look back. If I had listened to that negative voice in my head, I wouldn’t be doing this interview. It’s easy to compare yourself to others, but this world is a lot better off with your mark in it. Don’t let insecurity stop you from leaving it. Thanks for the interest, see you at Flyover!
Watch Squint perform at Flyover Festival last year below.
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