Track By Tracks: Dig Two Graves - Deathwish (2019)

1. As Above:

Jaybee: This one was really a collaboration between Bryce, the producer/sound engineer for the album, and myself. We really just wanted a short intro track for the album, something that would lead well into Track 2. I sent him a few ideas that I had, and he put it all together into what you hear on the EP. We were going for a space- themed, lo-fi sort of thing. A lot of the album’s theme was revolving around loneliness and stuff, and that’s why I went for more of a space thing. Made me think of an astronaut floating alone out there.

2. Track 2:

Jaybee: This song, sonically, was pretty inspired by a lot of the heavier music I was listening to at the time. I had just seen Periphery, and I was listening to a lot of Holehearted at the time. I came up with the opening riff while looking at this one painting I like, and the rest just kind of filled itself in.

Mike: I wrote the lyrics to this song about the weird family dynamic of this friend I knew who seemed to be damned if they do and damned if they don't. The character that the song ultimately chooses to follow their own path regardless of their relationship with their family/significant other.

3. Wick:

Jaybee: This was the first song I had cooking when Kenny and I were wanting to start a heavier band, and eventually the first song I showed Mike to give him an idea of what we were going for. The idea for the song started with the simple piano riff that goes throughout the background of the entire thing, and then filled in the other instruments from there. At first it was a really basic song, a lot like early Asking Alexandria material, but I was listening to a lot of djentier stuff at the time, and I won’t claim it’s that complex or anything, but I think I spiced it up a bunch more than where it started. Another breakthrough in that one was when I decided to stick a clean tapping section in the middle, I think that took it from a random song I wrote, to one of my favorite things I’ve come up with. 

Mike: This is the first song I wrote lyrics for, I had written it about burning out at the job I had and the path that I was on. I wanted to write a song that would convey the outcome if I had let myself burn out. That’s why this song lyrically is pretty destructive and self loathing with no real resolve in the end.

4. Deathwish:

Jaybee: Deathwish was the other song I had started when Kenny and I were getting the band together. I think I started it after Wick but ended up finishing it first. I learned a lot about writing music throughout the process of putting this EP together, and looking back, this song was definitely all over the place. There was a lot of experimentation in my process of writing this one, because I hadn’t really ever done it myself before. I look forward to continuing to grow as a songwriter and hopefully get a lot better.

Mike: The lyrics to this song changed many times compared to the other tracks on the EP. I ultimately wrote it about my mom. She passed away when I was 7 and I feel like something that resonates with someone who loses a family member when they’re young is that there are a lot of “what if” moments and confusing feelings that reoccur as time goes on and as you grow up without that person. This song was meant to try to embody those feelings of confusion, anger, and sadness that go along with that.

5. Iron Lungs and Paper Hearts:

Jaybee: We wrote this song a lot differently than we did the others. It was actually a song Mike had written years ago with his friend. He brought it to the table and I just messed with it a whole bunch. I changed pretty much every guitar part, and added all the orchestration and the intro part and everything, but the structure and vocals pretty much remained the same.

Mike: My friend and I had written the shell of this song years prior. Lyrically it is pretty simple, it is about overcoming bad relationships or projects and not letting that define you. I had held onto this song for years and it was great to be able to recreate it into what it is now.

6. So Below:

Jaybee: This was the hardest song to write on the album for me. Years before this band was an idea, I had written the piano intro that you hear on this track, and I never really knew what to do with it. When I wanted one more song for the EP, Kenny reminded me of the idea and suggested that I mess with it and see if anything happens. I don’t remember which parts came to me first, but this song was in the works for over 2 years, adding a piece here and a piece there. We eventually decided to feature our good friend Michi on the track, who is the female voice you can hear towards the end. She did a really great job, and this is definitely the track we’re proudest of on the EP.

Mike: This song is a very transparent piece for me. I don’t usually speak about my issues with depression and anxiety, but in this piece I dive in on the feelings of not being able to talk or be honest with people about how I am actually feeling. The song ends with two decisions through the usage of referencing “Track 2” and “Wick” which asks if the character should burn out or move on.