Review Fix chats with Drew Champion of The Split Seconds to find out about the band’s origin, sound and goals for the future.
Review Fix: How did you guys get together?
Drew Champion: Sean and I randomly met through family. Sean was working at a car dealership where my Mom was getting her car fixed. They got to talking and it turned out that Sean was a drummer and I was looking for a drummer. Alex was a craigslist diamond in the rough, and Stephen and I played in Boardroom Heroes and The Coastals together.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound?
Champion: We call ourselves classic pop punk, which references bands like The Buzzcocks and Generation X. The ‘70s groups that brought together good songwriting with a raw and energetic delivery. A more apt description may be punky, garagey, powerpop. Catchy tunes, played fast and raw.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Champion: I usually get a seed of an idea like a melody, or a lyric or something, then he builds it out into a full song on piano. Then he makes a rough demo with just acoustic guitar and we jam on it full band to work out the arrangement. Then we keep revising it until it’s on tape.
Review Fix: Who influences you guys musically?
Champion: Our main influences are ‘70s punk bands like The Buzzcocks, The Clash, Generation X, Dead Boys, Stiff Little Fingers, and The Damned. That and DC DIschord bands like Dag Nasty and Fugazi are the core of the sound. But there are a ton of little influences that poke through. Our songs have chord progressions and melodies and song structures that can be traced back to classic pop like The Beatles, and George Gershwin. Then there are touches from garage rock like The Sonics, rock and roll like AC/DC  and even some jazz, reggae, surf, rockabilly, and even classical music.
Review Fix: How do you want this album to be remembered?
Champion: Punk rock has gotten really wimpy, and lazy, and overproduced, and whiny, and self-indulgent. We hope that people remember us as cutting through the bullshit that with some punchy, raw, ballsy music that recaptures some of that original defiant energy.
Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of the year?
Champion: We’re just going to keep pushing and putting one foot in front of the other. We want to get out of DC and do some touring and play some festivals. Plus we’ve got a ton of songs that are about 80% finished that we’d like to finish up.
Review Fix: What’s the standout song here? How was it written?
Champion: There doesn’t seem to be one song that is a real standout, but Half of the Time is the song that is probably the most popular. It was written after a tumultuous relationship that I had with a bisexual girl. It’s a really simple tune. Just four chords but it’s got a cool little chromatic guitar riff that makes it stand out.
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