Set Your Goals’ debut album “Mutiny!” turned twenty this year and vocalist Matt Wilson is here to walk us through the record. Check it out below!
First of all, how does it feel knowing Mutiny turns 20 this year?
Recording and touring around Mutiny! feels like it all happened several lifetimes ago now (because it was), but the songs still feel familiar and have stayed fresh in the rotation of our live set. It's like revisiting an old friend :)
How did you feel when the album came out?
I remember being with the rest of the band at the time, and our initial surprise at how much buzz the songs were getting online. We'd had our doubts because the recording process wasn't the easiest--we all got super sick in Seattle, our trailer had been stolen with everything in it, and we didn't head into the studio feeling like we were fully prepared to record our debut album. The album's reception made us feel like the struggle had all been worth it.
Where do you think the album fits in the band's legacy?
Personally, I see it as a fan favorite. It helped us to define our sound and has some of our most beloved songs on it. Even though we had a bigger budget and bigger sounding production on TWBTDOU and we'd honed our skills for crafting songs a bit more by then, Mutiny! represents a time and place where we were young and there were still no rules to what we were doing. For that reason, I feel it holds a great deal of sentimental value for the band and listeners alike.
How did the band approach writing? What inspired the lyrics?
We took a lot of influence from the bands we were listening to at the time, which was primarily hardcore and hardcore-influenced music. Bands like Lifetime, Reach The Sky, Saves The Day, Buried Alive, and Gorilla Biscuits. Lyrically, Jordan and I would collaborate on themes and each contribute lyrics to the melodies we'd written. We mostly took inspiration from life experiences and our frustrations with the way the world worked, i.e. growing up around organized religion ("An Old Book Misread"), processing death and grief ("Echoes"), the cutthroat nature of the music industry ("Mutiny!"), and struggles within friendships ("This Very Moment").
Do any of the themes touched on the album still hold relevance for you?
Absolutely, all of them do. We were writing from a genuine place of our perspective on the world, and that perspective hasn't changed. In many cases, it's only intensified.
What were your hopes and expectations for the record during the writing and recording process?
We honestly just hoped we could get it all done in time and have it not suck! We felt that if the bar wasn't too high and people liked the record, then it would be easy to knock the next one out of the park in terms of energy and composition haha. I feel we accomplished that.
When was the last time you listened to the record? Are there memories and emotions that come back
Probably the day before we rehearsed for Warped Tour in Long Beach last weekend. Listening to the songs evokes many memories of the recording experience in Barrett's old studio in Seattle and the writing process around the songs before that. Some I recall more fondly than others haha
What do you remember most about making the album?
The day that Barrett came into The Laundry Room (his old studio) and told us that the building had been bought out by Taco Del Mar. The company's HQ was upstairs and he was going to have to move out. He was very upset and we really felt for him. He'd put his heart and soul into this studio and it had been ripped from his hands by some wack corporation that sold mid fish tacos.
It's funny how the first memory that sticks out about a recording experience sometimes doesn't have anything to do with the record, but still creates a ripple effect that undoubtedly impacts the vibe regardless. Boycott Taco Del Mar!
Were there any bands in particular you enjoyed playing with while touring for the record?
So many. The Warriors, Turmoil and Make Move definitely were great people to tour with and we are all still friends to this day. We actually met Audelio when he was playing with Make Move and he obviously ended up joining the band shortly thereafter. Oscar from Make Move was hanging at Warped on Sunday with his family.
Our upcoming East Coast leg of the Mutiny! 20-year anniversary tour features The Warriors playing their debut full-length War Is Hell, and they're still incredible live. Jon Gula ended up doing guest vocals for Gaia Bleeds on our next album and we're still tight with those guys too.
How did things change for the band after the album came out?
Everything kicked into high gear. We had to figure out a plan for how to tour full time. We had booking agents and managers flying out to our shows, our first overseas tours, and offers to play with some of our favorite bands across the world. It was an exciting time.
Do you remember what you were listening to at the time?
We were listening to a pretty wide range of bands we'd toured with and grown up listening to. Here are a few favorites I remember having heavy rotation in the van:
18 Visions - Lifeless
Aborted - The Archaic Abbatoir
Acceptance - Phantoms
Animosity - Shut It Down
At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
Bangarang! - split w/The Wonder Years
Blink-182 - Enema of the State
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh
Buried Alive - The Death of Your Perfect World
Carry On - A Life Less Plagued
Cartel - The Ransom EP, Chroma
Crime In Stereo - Explosives and the Will To Use Them, The Troubled Stateside
Cro-Mags - Age of Quarrel
Cryptopsy - None So Vile
Death Threat - Peace & Security
Deftones - White Pony
Dying Fetus - Destroy The Opposition
Earth Crisis - Destroy The Machines, The Oath That Keeps Me Free
Fireworks - We Are Everywhere
Fall Out Boy - Take This to Your Grave, From Under the Cork Tree
First Blood - Demo, Killafornia
Gorilla Biscuits - Start Today
The Haunted - Made Me Do It
Ignite - Our Darkest Days
Jawbreaker - Dear You
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity, Bleed American
Kid Dynamite - Shorter, Faster, Louder, Cheap Shots, Youth Anthems
Leeway - Desperate Measures, Born to Expire
Lifetime - Jersey's Best Dancers, Hello Bastards
Meshuggah - Nothing
Metallica - Master of Puppets
New Found Glory - Nothing Gold Can Stay, Sticks & Stones
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
No Trigger - Mountaineer
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Over It - Silverstrand
Poison The Well - The Opposite of December
The Police - Every Breath You Take: The Classics
Polar Bear Club - The Redder, The Better
Reach The Sky - So Far From Home
Saves The Day - Can't Slow Down, I'm Sorry I'm Leaving, Through Being Cool
Surf (Local Bay Area band) - Demo
Terror - One With The Underdogs
Turmoil - The Process Of
...and a TON of Pantera.
Do you think of the album any differently now than you did when you recorded it?
The only thing that's changed is probably my standard for production quality. Growing up listening to a lot of hardcore and punk, terrible recordings were the norm. Now I've grown to appreciate when something sounds sonically pleasing.
I think the recording could sound better, and our performances could too--as we've naturally leveled up our skill set with time--but that's also a part of what makes it special. It represents a certain time and place in our lives, and I appreciate that for what it is.
Did you ever expect the album to have the influence it did?
We knew at the time that the energy around the record was so electric that it would be a big deal, but it's honestly amazing that people still listen and remember it 20 years down the road. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to continue to play these songs two decades later.
