Review Fix Exclusive: Call In Artillery’s Chris Schwan Talks ‘This Is Temporary’ And More

Review Fix chats with Call In Artillery’s Chris Schwan, who discusses the band’s origin and creative process behind their new album, “This Is Temporary.”

For More On The Band, Click Here.

Review Fix: How did the band get together?

Chris Schwan: We formed in 2010 when I started out playing on Delmar Avenue in Saint Louis, which is a cool little strip full of restaurants and music venues. I was writing songs and recording them at home. Over the years many musicians have collaborated with me to make up the “band,” for both the studio recordings and the live shows. You could say I’m somewhat of a solo artist that loves the creative collaboration. There is a great local music community in Saint Louis and it allows me to stay connected with other upcoming artists and working musicians.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Schwan: Everything usually starts out as a tune in my head, no lyrics, no instruments, just a tune. I take that tune and find chords to it. I hum it out for awhile on the guitar until a good lyric comes to me that matches what that tune is making me feel. Then it kind of takes off from there. I’ve been writing songs since I was a kid, I studied songwriting in college and I  think I know the process very well. Once I find a lyric to that first melody, which is usually a verse, I go to paper and write the rest of the lyrics out like poetry. Once I get that first verse down I sing it all the way through a couple of times and when the chorus comes I just belt out and release a melody. Whatever I’m feeling comes off the top of my head and the process of writing lyrics starts again. It’s a lot of back and fourth and a little unorthodox, but it’s how my brain works I guess. After a song is finished, just me and the acoustic guitar, I take the song to the studio. We record a scratch track which is basically a very tight recording of the bones of the song. Usually one guitar track and one vocal track. After that’s finished I hire out a studio drummer to start the first process of the recording and write the drum lines. After that we delete the first scratch track and start building the song from the ground up. Bass, the guitars, maybe a little synth, and about 20 hours worth of vocal recordings.

Review Fix: What makes “This is Temporary” special?

Schwan: It’s about growing up. This album took over 5 years to write, and each song is about something I was going through. I really thought at the time I was the only person in the world feeling this way, but as I got older I realized everyone goes through similar situations. Unintentionally I ended up hitting a bunch of different genres like Industrial Rap, Acoustic Pop, Electro Pop, Straight up Rock n Roll. I even dabbed with a bit of country! I worked with musicians all over the country, ranging from Nashville to Red Bluff, California. Got to work with some really awesome engineers and musicians. This album was definitely a journey in my life.

Review Fix: What’s your standout original song? How was it written?

Schwan: Fight Night, the first track on the album. It’s about being in one of those relationships that really isn’t working, whether it’s because one of you screwed up and are forever trying to make up for it, or you are dragging it out one day at a time because you can’t accept or understand that things simply are not what they used to be. To this day it’s my favorite song that I have ever written. I was going through one of the most emotional times in my life, the first girl I ever loved was leaving me. That’s hard. I was in complete denial that her feelings were changing. Fight Night is about the fall out. Looking for excuses and grasping at straws to fool yourself into thinking things were still working and everything was actually fine. Knowing this was going to be the single on the record I had 3 different mixers mix it and about 2 different masters of each mix. I got a little OCD I would say.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2016?

Schwan: I would really like to do a nationwide tour. I started designing merchandise. I want stylish shirts and apparel that people will actually wear and not just an awkwardly fitting black band tee. I really want to get this album heard. I want it played on indie, college, and local radio stations. Right now I’m working on getting it published so it can be used in movies, TV shows, ect. My next biggest goal is finishing up the first single to the new album and getting a music video done for it. It will be awhile before that album actually comes out.