The Neighbourhood Interview

The effortless creation of intuitive and soulful compositions are what The Neighbourhood’s music is known for. In fact, their lyrical explicitness has only flourished with the release of their second album, Wiped Out!. The band approaches each track with emotional rawness, showcasing the naked truth of a dark tale. With Wiped Out!, they have created a way to further explore the forms of depth and honesty that can be relayed by placing the right words in the right places. With this, they take their fans to the root of vulnerability, revealing the impact of moments that, until now, have been concealed. The Neighbourhood has never been one to sugarcoat their words, and with Wiped Out!, it can be argued that this isn’t going to change anytime soon. We got a chance to catch up with guitarist, Zach Abels, to find out more about the makings of the album and you can purchase the full album on October 30!
Cliché: When we last spoke to you guys (August 2013), you had just wrapped up your first headlining tour, The Love Collection! A lot has definitely changed since then, but what is something you find has remained constant?
Zach Abels: Making music.
You guys have mentioned in a recent interview that the love songs on this album aren’t as “juvenile” or “stream of conscious” as they previously were. If you could, would you rewrite or change any of your previous lyrics? If so, what song(s) come to mind that you would change/rewrite?
No, I wouldn’t take any of it back because you have to try things out and learn from them.
“R.I.P. 2 My Youth” is a song where lead singer, Jesse Rutherford, opens up about his father’s death for the first time. Was there any signifying moment that led you guys to make the decision to include it in your music?
Well, when Jesse’s dad passed away, he never really talked about it, and as he got older, I think it was just something that he felt like he needed to talk about. “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” was the right moment for him.
“R.I.P. 2 My Youth” is also the last track in Wiped Out!, as well as the first single you released. Do you find that this song sets the tone for the rest of the album?
No, I don’t. I [just] think it’s a song that needed to be on this record because it says a lot about us getting passed our youth and into our adulthood.
I can imagine that coming up with a name for an album can be quite a challenging task! What led you to title the album, Wiped Out!? Did you guys find it difficult to agree on the title or come up with one?
Yeah, it was quite challenging because we wanted it to be right, but we decided on Wiped Out! because of a few different things. One being, from constantly touring and writing our second record for around 10 months, we just felt wiped out. Two being, we wrote and recorded a good portion of it in Malibu for 3 months. So we were very influenced by the ocean and the beach because we would around it every day during that period.

With naming your tour, The Flood, water is definitely a recurring element or theme that you’ve adopted for this album. Is there an underlying message you are trying to convey through this or a meaning behind it?
Well, it’s called The Flood because all of the bands that are on this tour are from the same area. We all grew up in Southern California. So it’s supposed to mean that we’re taking a piece of our music scene and flooding whatever city we go to.
What’s next for you? Is there a specific goal you guys are reaching towards, whether it be long-term or short-term?
Just keep writing more music and keep getting better at it.  
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The Neighbourhood Interview: Photograph courtesy of thenbhd.com