Alter The Press!: Feature: Tell It To The Marines - 'Bridges' Track By Track Guide

Feature: Tell It To The Marines - 'Bridges' Track By Track Guide

Recently Surrey 4-piece Tell It To The Marines released their debut EP, 'Bridges' on All Aboard Records. Timi Hyland from the band, recently spoke to Alter The Press! and gave us a track by track guide to the EP.

'Bridges' by Tell It To The Marines is available now on All Aboard Records.

Flareguns

Flareguns i think was the hardest one to do vocally as we kept running into problems with random things. I remember me & Dan pretty much nearing on to a fist fight because he made a comment about my vocals, which i took unnecessarily personal. I remember making him going outside whilst i sat at the dinner table over eating darylea dunkers out of protest. Not the most rock & roll story, but oh well. It felt like a chance to just really write a bunch of ramblings about some honest truths. I guess it's my most honest lyrics in the sense that it's not all hidden away with lame imagery or obvious references.

I don't think i noticed how dark some of the lyrics are until i heard it in the car on the way back. However I think alot of it is just about, how whilst sometimes I'm a complete miserable bastard, there's a part of me telling me to shut up being such a little girl & to get on with life. The chorus chants involves everyone who came to the studio on the last day. Our best friends Sam & Adam, as well as my Brother Matt joined us in this huge room which was supposedly a converted kiln. We all stood round in a circle and just shouted our arses off. Makes it mean that much more to everyone I think.

My New Best Friend

I really wanted to write about my childhood & really vivid memories i had from it. I set out to write it as if i were still 8 years old - jumbled up & almost child like. I went through a phase where i basically became addicted to a rubbish Battleships game, the sort where it's just a bunch of black dots on a green screen.

I really liked the idea of making this the centre point to my lyrics in the chorus. As a kid I had a really vivid and weird imagination so i tried to use some of them images in my lyrics, which I think worked alright. These lyrics are sided a bunch of self involved lyrics referring to my outrageous laziness, my fear of coming across in a certain way to people & my lack of strength in certain situations. The whole 'your so overrated' is just a very nice bitter cold line I thought I'd throw in there in case any bands I dislike were listening.

8:06

This song was really different to anything we had ever set out to write before. It all happened very quickly before going into the studio & after doing the guide tracks we realised we really didn't no what kind of song it was going to be. It turned out quite good & we were all really happy with it but it still put us into a huge panic & taught us alot about what not to do. The number is taking from an anniversary I shared with someone & the lyrics are really based around being in a relationship & the memories we shared together. The main lines 'lets grow old together' were an ode to an artist called Lior & this song is really the first and easily the last song I'll ever write about a personal relationship. It makes it awkward and uncomfortable to sing, or even listen to... How did Lionel Richie ever do it eh?

Bridges

Lyrically & musicially this is my favourite of the EP. We had all set out to write a really "big" track & this song sort of came together when we put ourselves in that mind set. It was all very natural & I remember our first practise hearing each one of our guitar parts individually and grinning like a mad man. The lyrics and melody came together really naturally and doing the main chanty "wo-oh-oh-oh-oh" in the studio with everyone was one of the proudest moments of Tell it to the Marines.

The lyrics are basically about my confusion about the concept of religion, god & in general, me. During these 19 years old my life I found myself becoming increasingly angry & bitter towards not people, but god. I found it easier to blame something which i can't talk to or touch rather than the protagonists who seem to be interrupting my happy childhood. I guess this is all reflected in Bridges.

Fireworks

I remember the first time Dan (lead guitarist) showed me the main foundation to Fireworks & me getting really really excited. It was the first song we wrote after our "change" from our old pop punk self. It was strange setting off to new venues playing it as some people had memorised the lyrics before we had even recorded it. I think there was 2 shoddy distorted videos of us playing it, and i guess that sparked something in a couple of people. That was the nicest feeling.

We shot the video with a good mate of mine from home called Adam Powell (Jamie T, Architects, King Blues, Bring Me The Horizon) for it as well. It was shot in my university town of Portsmouth & we we're all hungover & tired. He is an outrageously good film maker & we were so honoured to work with him. I think the only brief I gave him was that I didn't want any thing artificial or Americanised which quite alot of bands were doing and are doing. I think he did a great job giving it that classic 'British' feel.