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ands + Gear<br />
Read the full features on<br />
<strong>Deli</strong>cious-Audio.com<br />
TAKING MEDS<br />
<strong>Brooklyn</strong>-based four-piece Taking Meds boldly advocates<br />
their distinct musical style, ascribing to the ’math-punk’<br />
label. After producing their debut album My Life as a Bro<br />
in 2016, the group returned to the studio earlier this year<br />
to begin recording EP My Moon Is Always Full. Many of<br />
their songs like “Blue Shirt Boogie” and “Comfort in Poor<br />
Planning” fuse aspects of classic, dissonant post-hardcore<br />
with the relatable edge of indie rock, creating a combination<br />
of hard-biting lyrics and rhythmic complexity that<br />
penetrates the spirit of punk rock. With vocals that err on<br />
the side of Four Year Strong or Neck Deep, blended into<br />
layers of Balance and Composure-esq post-hardcore instrumentals,<br />
you are left with a cutting mixture of intense<br />
yet complex loudness. (REBECCA CARROLL)<br />
What inspired for your 2018 EP?<br />
Skylar: Lyrically “My Moon Is Always Full” was highly personal.<br />
I had just gotten sober and was reflecting on that. A lot of our<br />
previous release, My Life as a Bro, addresses some extremely<br />
inebriated experiences. Sobriety was new ground.<br />
Jon: Musically we’ve spent a lot of the last year really digging<br />
into the Polvo and Shudder To Think discographies. To me,<br />
[Top] Jon’s pedalboard: BOSS ODB-3 / BOSS DD-7 / Adventure<br />
Audio Glacial Zenith / BOSS PH-3 / BOSS TU-3<br />
[Bottom] Skylar’s pedalboard: Adventure Audio Dream<br />
Reaper / Adventure Audio Whateverb / ProCo RAT /<br />
Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Nano / MXR Carbon<br />
Copy / Fulltone OCD / BOSS TU-3<br />
Math Rock Alt Rock<br />
“Discount Furniture” has a bit of a faster and more cross-eyed<br />
Chavez vibe while “My Moon Is Always Full” has a more melodic<br />
Drive Like Jehu quality to it.<br />
What’s about odd tempos that excites you?<br />
Jon: We seldom if ever think in terms of making intentionally complex<br />
music. We naturally lean that way as listeners and instrumentalists.<br />
Skylar: When I was first entering high school, I liked playing in<br />
bands a lot but was pretty self-conscious and easily defeated<br />
when it came to my abilities. My friend was like “I bet you can’t<br />
play this, it’s in 7/4” and he was all stoked when I could and I<br />
guess I felt like latching on to odd tempo parts has always come<br />
more quickly and naturally to me.<br />
Was there a specific pedal that kind of changed your life?<br />
Jon: As a guitarist and a studio engineer I love my ’80s Memory<br />
Man. I got it about 10 years ago and It was the first time I disc<strong>over</strong>ed<br />
a pedal that really extended far beyond that of simply an “effect”.<br />
Another pedal I really love is the BOSS GE-7 EQ. Pushing or pulling<br />
midrange before/after dirt boxes can bring extra focus to the guitar.<br />
Skylar: I really love my Fulltone OCD. It fixes so many things I<br />
used to struggle with in my tone, and I’m learning how to gain<br />
stage that against my AC30.<br />
28 the deli Winter <strong>2019</strong>
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