Social Cinema performs at Wave on Tuesday, Oct. 14, on a bill with TF Bundy and Sego. The show is all-ages.
The band is also celebrating the full release of its debut album, “Don’t Get Lost,” which follows the 2023 compilation, “It’s Nice To Meet You.”
The new effort brims with the same potent energy as the group’s previous material but provides some unexpected turns and features new sonic textures. Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Griffin Bush, bassist Austin Engler, guitarists Mari Crisler and Reed Tiwald, and drummer Logan Bush, the band splits its time between Wichita and Lincoln, Nebraska, where Crisler and Tiwald have long been based.
The members -- except Tiwald -- recently spoke about the making of the new album and what they hope fans will get out of buying a physical copy of the LP rather than merely streaming it.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When did the material on this album start coming together?
Griffin Bush: Probably about two years ago. We were slowly building toward this moment, just waiting for the right moment. Some of the songs were written right when the band first came together.
Austin Engler: The recording process was fun. We did it in Kansas City, and we didn’t do it all at one time. We’d go up for a week, then go on tour, take two weeks off, then go another week. We did that for a year.
Mari Crisler: I think it ended up taking two months in all to record the record in weeklong increments.
I think the record has some really great textures and there are obvious signs of continued evolution. Is some of that down to having lived with the songs for a while and having been able to play them live?
GB: Absolutely. We wanted to nail them the way that we needed to it was nice to have a couple of releases under our belt, figuring out how we work in the studio, how we can translate an idea to a track. It takes practice. That’s what we were doing with those first few [recording] projects. We just wanted to get to a more confident point in our songwriting and playing and recording. As we got better at playing and playing together and working in the studio, the songs evolved. There is an evolution for sure.
Do you feel like you still allow yourselves to be influenced by other music? Not that you’re copying trends but rather that you’re hearing things and saying, “We could add something like that to what we do.”
GB: I think that’s the point of music, to bounce off inspirations and your friends, playing with different people and being inspired in that way. I feel like that’s where you can truly reach your goals. It’s like a communal effort. Even playing live. We’ll tour with a band like The Macks or Jesus Christ Taxi Driver. You see their shows, and you get inspired in that room. I listen to music all the time. I try to at least keep up with where things are going culturally. I think that’s the fun part of music, this big sharing of expression.
AE: We just put out a music video for “Deadly.” We weren’t exactly sure what to do for it. Then Griffin sent me a short film called “What’s A Nice Girl Like You Doing In A Place Like This?” We just loved the treatment from that video so much that we decided to put our own spin on it.
This is all funny to me because whenever I run into Logan it’s at the record store, so I know he’s listening to a lot of stuff.
Logan Bush: We’re always listening to music, always talking about music. We talk about it a lot in the van. We’re still major music fans. I think that’s what makes our band what it is. We’re all still really big fans of music and love all the bands we tour with as fans. When we toured with The Macks, I was up front every show. If you’re not out there thinking that you’re the best you can learn and pick up on things that you would otherwise close yourself off from. We want to know more, and we want to get better. You can’t do it all yourself. You’ve got to have friends, and you’ve got to have community.
I really appreciate the lyrical approach in this band. The lyrics are direct. As a words guy, it’s refreshing to hear someone take that approach.
GB: I would say that’s purposeful. That’s just the writer I’ve become. I like being able to just get a thought out of my head and be able to open and close and not have to write around it. In our old band, I did the complete opposite of that; in this band I started to feel like I had to start writing with a purpose and try not to waste any lines. I find myself more fulfilled that way.
When the music’s coming together are there discussions about the lyrical content?
MC: When we recorded these songs, we had learned them all, all the instrumental parts, before we even knew what the lyrics were going to be. The songs make no sense at all without the lyrics. Every song has like 15 different parts, and they make no sense without lyrics. But once the lyrics are done, it all comes together.
AE: Griffin would say, “This part goes in the chorus, and we’d say, ‘Where is the chorus?’” [Laughs.]
LB: It’s a unique writing style. Griffin writes the drums, he writes the keyboard parts, the bass. Then he’ll send us all the demo, and we’ll learn that. Our own personalities get in there. But, yeah, I would be doing a drum track and not know the title of the song. There’s no expectation about what the song’s going to be. We’re just making the song. From a nonwriter’s perspective, it’s cool to sit back and see what happens.
GB: I feel like in terms of dynamics, those come naturally. The more you play them you find the flow of the track itself. I will use that to emphasize lyrics. I kind of do it in a reverse way, where if a song is building to a specific point, I can find a line that will emphasize that. We do music first, then I’ll write to the songs. I have ideas going into it, at the beginning. I think I get the a-ha moment when the music is there, and it’s fully fleshed out. I like writing songs where the instrumental parts themselves can carry the song. It doesn’t have to be a hook or a chorus [in the lyrics], you can hear the music and it’s entertaining enough. If we can get there with the song instrumentally, there’s a lot less pressure on the lyrics. Then I can also be open and write what I want on top of that because the song’s essentially already done.
You’re one of several bands participating in this Buy Before You Stream initiative. What does that mean to you as artists?
MC: Not to out us, but I got $6 from Spotify during the last quarter. There’s literally no money in streaming. I have a really big hatred toward algorithms, and everything about Spotify is anti-artist and anti-creativity. I could probably talk for hours about it, but I won’t. This is a way for us to sell our record to people who want it and give them the opportunity to hear it early so that they don’t just rely on streaming.
LB: Buying the record makes the listener feel even more engaged. I feel like Spotify is not only unproductive for a band trying to put out and promote music because of the algorithmic thing where you try to score some points with some check marks. Then, as a listener, I feel like you’re becoming disengaged with music as a whole. It’s a cloud over the music. What people used to make fun of the radio for is where Spotify is at. So, with buying a record, it’s not that expensive. You can keep the album forever; you don’t have to worry about Spotify going down and you losing everything. You listen to it front to back, and it gives you a sense of completion.
