Joining us at A&R Factory today is the band Insomnia, known for their introspective exploration of profound themes through a unique sonic palette. As they continue to expand their influence beyond San Diego, the band share the essence of their sound, marked by a dynamic range and the integration of deeply personal and universal lyrical content. Their approach invites listeners into a reflective auditory experience, resonating with themes of isolation, grief, and morality. This discussion sheds light on how their music serves as a narrative conduit for both the personal and the collective.
Insomnia, welcome to A&R Factory! It’s a pleasure to sit down with you to discuss the ethos and pathos that pulse at the heart of your music and performances. What kind of reputation have you amassed in San Diego and beyond?
Insomnia feels we have ascertained a dependable and influential reputation due to our ability to push boundaries with both our lyrical styling and entertaining performances. Venturing outside of our hometown has brought us success in the form of new audiences that are now excited to see us and Rat Pope take the stage whenever possible.
What’s an essential component of the Insomnia sound?
An essential component of the current iteration of the Insomnia sound would have to be our use of a loud-quiet dynamic to convey the tone of our storytelling within a song.
How has your sound evolved since your debut and what has inspired these shifts?
Over time, our sound has been able to evolve greatly thanks to the ability to get comfortable performing our music in front of audiences. Their reaction delivers great feedback letting us know what works for them. To coincide with this, their reactions also allow us to understand what boundaries we can push in order to keep things interesting for all.
The lyrical themes in your music scratch far beyond the surface; what do you hope to achieve by exploring introspective avenues in the vein of isolation, grief and morality?
Insomnia loves to explore what many consider to be “heavier” topics in a way that is accessible and relatable in order to not beat listeners and audience members over the head with it.
In some instances, we’re able to use our instrumentation to covey tone while in other cases we can make those more unsavory topics digestible by using metaphors and/or accompanying them with poppier sounding musical backing as a means to almost desensitize listeners so they’re able to take in the depth and complexity of our lyrics.
How have your personal experiences shaped your lyrical style?
As the lead songwriter of Insomnia, Noah employs many aspects of his personal experiences when creating lyrics for the band’s music. Topics such as fear of death and distaste with overbearing societal expectation are often found within Insomnia’s lyrics as these are struggles that he has had to tackle in his life. Aside from this, Noah loves to base songs around small bits of poetry and/or short stories he has written almost giving them a new life in the form of song. At the end of the day, Insomnia’s songwriting is meant to be almost ambiguous as the group prefers listeners attach their own personal meaning rather than professing their own defined message.
How do you balance personal vulnerability with universal relatability in your songwriting?
In order to make Insomnia’s songs retain their personal vulnerability while also remaining universally relatable, the band makes use of metaphors and double entendre statements as a way to allow the listeners to search for the “true” meaning.
Can you elaborate on the genesis of the rat pope and what the mascot represents in the context of your music?
The Rat Pope was never meant to be a physical being represented at our shows, but rather an idea based on a disdain for religious hypocrisy. The album art for Easter Sunday showcases an animated form of the figurehead which was then adapted to a live mascot of sorts parading around the stage at shows in order to draw relation for the audience between the message and the song itself.
You are known for your intense and emotionally charged live shows. How do you prepare for these performances, and what do you hope your audience takes away from these experiences?
We don’t do much in the vein of preparing for shows. We prefer to approach every show as if it is our last, leaving all the energy we have on the stage showing the audience and other bands sharing the night with us that it is okay to dive head first and have fun. As far as what we hope the audience takes away from the night, we aspire to be memorable and for the audience that night along with our streaming listeners to follow along with our evolution.
What does an idealistic future look like for Insomnia?
An idealistic future for Insomnia entails the band being able to expand their audience reach beyond their home state. The band aims to test the limits of how the people could categorize Insomnia and evolve their sound and performances to be as impactful as possible.
Are there any new releases lingering in the pipeline?
Insomnia is deep in the works on a new single entitled Garbage Day perhaps hinting at a future larger release. Suffice to say, it’s not so much for us to say what lies ahead, it’s simply for the audience to stick around and find out.
Stream Insomnia’s discography on Spotify.
Connect with the band on Instagram.
Interview by Amelia Vandergast
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