Riding With Killer’s new album, Full Circle was released on December 9th. For the occasion, we asked vocalist Taylor Roberts to tell us about each track. His commentary on the album can be seen below.
Do This On My Own is about me being lost on an island in the Bahamas a few years back. I had gone to do some work with some friends of mine from New Orleans and we were staying on the island of Grand Harbour Cay. I ended up going to a private beach by myself after work and got dropped off by locals.
Next thing I knew the sun had set and nothing looked the same and I had gotten lost on the way back to our house we were staying in. I barely had battery left on my phone, so I called the island taxi driver, and he basically told me to fuck off because he was having dinner with his wife… which looking back now, is hilarious… at the time, not so much.
So I wandered around in the dark for a while until I found a local, who helped me get back to the crew safely. It was a very surreal feeling being told to basically figure it out, or else, all while walking in the pitch black on that island. It was such an uneasy feeling walking by myself, it almost felt like something was behind me the entire way. Some locals we befriended told me I was incredibly lucky as there are snakes, big BIG spiders, and pigs that roam the island.
Hostility is about a few different people I’ve encountered in my life. It’s those people that belittle you, tear you down, and rip your confidence apart. They somehow find a way to get inside your head and make you second guess yourself. This song is the pushback against those people in your life and how they’re not welcome in your world anymore.
World Apart - This was a really fun one that I did a co write with Paul Mccoy of 12 Stones. This one was influenced by a very specific period in my life and someone that consistently walked all over me and went behind my back on more than one occasion. I was so angry when I was writing this one that I gave myself a mental block, and luckily Paul helped me fill in the gaps.
DNA is about a very close friend of mine who almost died from alcoholism. The title is actually his initials and luckily he’s still around and was able to start a family. I used to struggle with weight and this person helped me start my weight loss journey and when he fell into dark times; it was my turn to be there for him. The song is about our phone calls and the struggles of addiction. Don’t give up on the ones you care about.
Novelty in a nutshell is about being nothing more than a plaything to another person. We wrote this one from the perspective of being a doll on a girl's shelf that only gets played with at random, all while the doll watches her life unfold without him. She comes back every now and again to play, but ultimately the doll gets thrown away in the end.
What Comes Next - ah. This is the result of working a really corporate job and enduring the soul sucking environment that it provided. I felt like I wasn’t a person, and I was starting to ignore all the things that made me, me. It was almost like a prison.
Vultures was such a fun song to create. In short it’s about dealing with all of your issues, but you still have to keep living life, so it’s almost like you have an audience around you watching you deal. And it’s like hey I get you’re there, but fuck off with judgements, I’m dealing with my shit. I wanted to approach this almost like a wrestling/boxing match with the opponents being depression, anxiety, and other issues life throws at you.
In Silence is about a relationship not being reciprocated and how someone’s silence says everything. And even if they did say the right things, it still wouldn’t be enough. I was very fortunate to have Jennie Nord from Rave the Reqviem guest on the song. Having her do vocals really got the song to where it needed to be.
Don’t Fade Away is about my grandmother and her battle with dementia. There’s a point when you’re speaking to someone with dementia where it just materials and becomes physical. It’s almost like you can see the reset button being pressed. One of my favorite things about this track is My producer Matt Laplant recorded him reading the definition of a memory in the interlude before the bridge and made it sound like a bunch of voices speaking in there background. It was honestly incredibly thoughtful of him and really added a wonderful element.
Every Day - Obviously I didn’t write this one, but this is one of my favorite songs of all time. It was such an honor to cover this and recreate it as more of a rock song than its original electronic elements. I feel like blocks of my life have had this song as the background and I had such a strong connection to it, so I wanted to Cover it.
Floating is a song I wrote about laying in bed next to my partner, and more specifically about a time when we were in New Orleans. We stayed in bed for 2 days straight and there was a point where it felt like I was floating with her in an ocean. It was the most at peace I had felt in a long time. This song was an attempt to capture that feeling and those moments in music form.
Self Destruct - is about being your own worst enemy and preventing yourself from succeeding and moving forward through your own action. I’ve definitely been self destructive in my past and this song is a constant reminder that the only thing holding me back, is me.