Augustines - A natural way of moving forward

To mark the release of their third album “This Is Your Life”, we sent Augustines a few questions by email. The answers, provided by drummer Rob Allen, reveal the band's conviction that their path remains consistent and natural, with no change in the nature of the project, despite the many new elements present on this record compared to the past.

In the chorus of “When Things Fall Apart”, essentially, you're saying you're heading somewhere else. I don't think it's about the music, yet you did do something musically different on this record, so maybe choosing this song as the first single was a kind of warning to fans…

I don't think this single represents as strong a departure as people seem to believe. Throughout our career we've used different kinds of piano, synths, strings and other elements, just maybe not to the same degree. So sure, it's a bit different, but it's still very much Augustines. We chose “When Things Fall Apart” because we thought it was the right choice to build some anticipation for the new album, and we're proud of how the song turned out.

And how did the idea of doing something different from the past start to take shape?

Doing the same thing all the time is boring. You don't learn anything and you don't grow. The urge to push your own boundaries and experiment is natural, at least for us. For me, that's a natural way of moving forward.

You mentioned there are a lot of collaborations on the record. I imagine that's also connected to the fact that you explored new musical territory. Did you want to collaborate with other artists from the very start, or was this an idea that came up after you'd already been working on the album for a while?

It's something we've always wanted to do, but it's often not easy to find the right person or the right group to work with. We've always loved African music, and when the opportunity came up to work with Pape et Cheikh we couldn't let it slip away. It took a huge amount of work to get to what came out of it, but we made it happen and it was worth it. Aside from that, I wouldn't say there were a huge number of collaborations, but we did manage to work with some really talented people on this record.

The sonic spectrum is much broader on this album, with more elements and more harmonies, both vocal and instrumental. Did you rely only on these collaborations to expand your sound, or did you also work on that when it was just the four of you?

First of all, we're still a trio. We took a look at ourselves and our music and analyzed where we thought we could improve and what we could experiment with. Vocal harmonies were definitely something we had fun with. We'd never really done that before now. Another thing was focusing on the groove… I mean, it was always naturally there, but we paid a bit more attention to it on this album.

You've described the album's lyrical content as posing "questions about what this life means here and now, as we move forward through a time of uncertainty". Do you think your lyrics are deeper and more meaningful than in the past, or do you feel they carried just as much weight on your earlier records too?

Bill is a lyricist, and it comes very naturally to him. If you know our story, you'll understand that the lyrics in our songs matter more than anything. They're rich in meaning and real, drawn from real experiences and feelings. That's one of our strengths as a band, and we put an enormous amount of work into crafting these lyrics. I don't think that will ever change: Bill, myself and Eric are all very passionate about it.

Plenty of fans will probably be surprised on first listen to the album, and some may not like it. Did you ever think about that, or did you simply go ahead and do what you wanted to do, without worrying about how fans would react?

That will definitely happen, but again, for me this record is a natural way of moving forward. It's still an Augustines album, in my view. It takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication to write a record, and all we can hope for is that people like it. Personally, I consider it our best work.

You seem to be more popular in the UK than in your home country, at least judging by where you'll be playing next. Do you have any idea why, or do you just go where you have a bigger fanbase without asking yourselves why?

For whatever reason, people in the UK and Europe have taken more of a liking to our music. Keep in mind, though, that America is bigger than the whole of Europe, so there's a lot more ground to cover and a much larger number of people. We do well in certain regions of North America. Over time, we're confident people everywhere will come to know us for who we really are.

Can we hope for dates in continental Europe after the UK tour, maybe even in Italy?

We'll be touring Europe later this year, and we're hoping for Italy too. Fingers crossed.

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