SET THE RECORD // On Time To Breathe, Troy Brady And More

It’s been a long time coming, but Brisbane pop-punkers Set The Record has finally returned with new tunes. But unlike their past efforts, Time to Breathe, has seen the band embrace a much more vulnerable side, covering their personal experiences with love, loss and more.

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We got lead guitarist Bec McCall on the line for a chat about this and also dug into their experience working with Troy Brady and plans for the rest of the year.

Hysteria: For those new to Set The Record, tell us how you came together.

Bec: We’ve been together for a while now. We met in 2012 and debuted our first EP. We released another EP shortly after and did a few shows. Then we went down to Sydney and recorded another EP with Whakaio Taahi (Formerly of Tonight Alive). That opened the doors for a few support slots with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Cartel and As It is. We’ve had a couple of lineup changes throughout the years. We got a new singer in 2017 and got a new guitarist recently.

You must be so excited to have Time to Breathe out in the world, especially with everything that’s been happening recently! How are you feeling?

I’m really excited about it. It’s been a journey from where we were to where we are now, as far as our sound and how we deliver our message goes. Prior to this, we’ve kept things pretty positive and topline. We’ve dug a little deeper on this album and been a bit more vulnerable. It’s a bit more heart on the sleeve. It’s a different sound for us and more meaningful. We all contributed to the lyrics, and it means a lot to us.

It’s been a long time in the making too. We recorded this back in 2019/2020. With everything going on, we had to hold onto it for a while.

We’ve dug a little deeper on this album and been a bit more vulnerable. It’s a bit more heart on the sleeve.
[ Bec McCall, Set The Record ]

Let’s dig into that a little more. Run us through what inspired the record lyrically.

Every lyric is associated with something that occurred to one of us. In between us getting a new singer, we were writing music and lots of things happened. People fell in and out of love; there were moments of questioning how we got to where we did and a lot of self-reflecting. The music that’s come out has been inspired by real-life events. It speaks directly to each of us in some way.

When we got together, we talked about not wanting to make the same old stuff. We kept things pretty light earlier on, but we worked with Troy Brady (formerly of The Amity Affliction) this time around, which helped change things. We had a pre-production session with him before we got into recording. And because he comes from a heavier, more alternative space originally, he brought in a lot of fresh ideas. It was a natural maturing, but we also made a conscious decision to step out of our comfort zone and deliver something a lot more honest. And Troy really helped bring our ideas to life.

Tell us more about your experience working with Troy Brady. What do you think he brought to the table?

He was a fresh set of ears and really honest with us. We went into the studio with a lot of ideas, and he helped us go through them and separate the good ones from the shit ones. While we had the majority of the pieces there, he helped us piece them together. He added in so many synths and musical elements that we had in our minds, but he just elevated everything and took it to the next level. It was a really fun experience. He’s a great dude and so creative. Working with him, and having that time before recording, really allowed us to get the songs together. And from there, he could put the finishing touches on them.

What’s next?

We’re already talking about doing more writing. We don’t want the gap between releases to be as big next time. Other than that, we’re aiming to do a bunch of shows. We’ve got one coming up on the 29th of April called Fireball Fest. It’ll be at Greaser in Fortitude Valley, and we’re headlining it. We have some other potentials too. And we might release another single this year. We just want to keep hustling. We will keep pushing, keep writing music and keep playing shows.