Out of the Sunshine State of Florida, A Brilliant Lie is a powerful Alternative Rock band on the verge of breaking onto the national circuit. A combination of styles that are both heavy, melodic, but almost always highly emotionally, their sound is brought together by the highly energetic front lady Tara Lightfoot. Harnessing personal experience into their music, they are now set to release a brand-new EP entitled Threads: Weaver on March 29th and can’t wait to bring the music to a concert venue near you. Preparing for a busy next few months, Tara Lightfoot sat down to chat about A Brilliant Lie, the chemistry that makes up the band, their approach to the music, plus more.
Cryptic Rock – A Brilliant Lie is a relatively new name to many. First, briefly tell us, for those who have never heard of the band, how would you describe the music?
Tara Lightfoot – Rock that straddles many, many sub-genres within it. We find ourselves being put into different genres such as Rock, Alternative, Indie, Pop Rock, and even sometimes Metal due to the music we write. But, at the end of the day, it’s high-energy Rock with some aggressive moments and catchy melodies. Or, at least, we think they’re catchy!
Cryptic Rock – We would describe A Brilliant Lie as a high energy, ear-catching Rock band. That in mind, what brought the band together?
Tara Lightfoot – Well, thank you! We like to be high energy – especially live. We all came together because, deep down, we all love music, and it’s one of those things that has been a constant in all of our lives through the good and bad. Plus, we’re all buddies and don’t think anyone else would put up with us. So, we stick with our dysfunctional little family.
Cryptic Rock – It is great that you have that bond together. In recent years, you have been hard at work, releasing an album in 2016 and touring around the country. How would you describe the development of the band over this time?
Tara Lightfoot – There was a turning point for the band when some former members decided to move on, and we not only added new members, but also expanded the lineup. So, needless to say, there were a lot of changes happening at once, but it really all sort of clicked. We set out to make a three EP collection under the name Threads. Withthe revised version of the band lineup, we moved forward with the first EP, Threads: Cutter in 2015, followed by Threads: Spinner in 2016, and now we are releasing Threads: Weaver this month.
We spent a lot of time touring especially on the last cycle in 2018 we played over 100 shows and traveled over 15,000 miles so we had to keep “Weaver” under wraps until we had the right time to get it out. Listening back to all three (including the unreleased one) you can hear the evolution, and we wanted to have everyone that listens to the music evolve with us as we did. We are really proud of Threads: Weaver and its a culmination of everything before.
Cryptic Rock – With the new EP coming, the band recently released a fantastic new track, entitled “The Tarot.” What was the inspiration behind the song?
Tara Lightfoot – Well, life will always have its ups and downs. No one should ever have to feel like their dreams are crumbling into dust – whether it’s a relationship, a career, a personal goal, etc. Not living up to expectations you have in your head can be a war within itself. But, while accountability is important, very important, no one deserves to feel useless. Ever. Because you’re not. We’re all fighting the good fight, and we’re in it together at the end of the day. “So we move on.”
Cryptic Rock – “The Tarot” is one of a handful of new tracks that will be featured on your aforementioned forthcoming EP, Threads: Weaver, due out March 29th. What was the writing and recording like for this new collection of music?
Tara Lightfoot – Fun, long, insightful. We wrote over 25 partial or full songs for this 5-song EP. We kicked around a lot of ideas and just tried to delve into what felt right. We just kept writing, and writing, and writing. We then narrowed it down to 10-ish songs that we sent to our producer, and he helped us sift through the rest. When it came to wrapping up those songs, we probably did more writing in the studio than we ever had before. So, that was kind of scary/nerve-wracking, but ended up being an incredible experience.
Cryptic Rock – It all seems to come together well. For Threads: Weaver, you team up with James Paul Wisner who has worked with the likes of Paramore and Underoath, among others. What did he bring to the recording sessions?
Tara Lightfoot – Working with James is a wonderfully-unique experience. When we first started working with him, he made it clear that he wanted to make us the best version of ABL that we could be – not just copy what’s popular and always follow the rules. He literally became the 6th band member, chiming it on parts or even grabbing an instrument and tracking something that he heard in his head. He always challenged us to do better or do it differently – even if it didn’t work. (Laughs) He is your biggest coach and biggest cheerleader too. He has a great ear and definitely is a fun dude, but he never lets you stop working. Oh – and he has two cool studio cats!
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) That is cool, as well. What is compelling about A Brilliant Lie are the dynamics in the music: you can go from heavy and unhinged to subtle, delicate moments. How important is this dynamic to the band?
Tara Lightfoot – Very important! We all feel that the music has to emote just as much as the vocals and lyrics do. We need to convey the feeling and conviction of the song, and it has to be authentic, you know? The emotion needs to not only exist but translate, and there are a variety of methods we use to try to accomplish that. Sometimes it’s the dynamics of soft to loud, the frail vocal evolving into a big strong vocal part, or even the subtle changes in guitar tones can help convey the feeling.
Cryptic Rock – It shows that you do pay attention to that detail in the music. With the EP coming, can we expect some more touring from A Brilliant Lie soon?
Tara Lightfoot – Absolutely! We love playing shows and being on tour. We are planning late spring and summer tours in support of Threads: Weaver, so keep an eye on our website and social media.
Cryptic Rock – That is great news. Last question. On Cryptic Rock, we also cover movies, particularly Horror and Sci-Fi. If you are a fan of these genres, what are some of your favorites and why?
Tara Lightfoot – We love bad Horror movies and bad movies in general, the cheesier the better. You can’t go wrong with anything off Mystery Science Theater 3000, which the five of us have been known to watch on tour (if we actually have time to watch something). Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)!
On one of our last tours, for some reason, we made it a goal to watch the Alien collection, and we got up to Alien 3 (1992). Those aren’t bad movies, but it’s sort of ridiculous that we were traveling the country playing music, meanwhile trying to figure out when we could watch the next sequel. But yeah, maybe we should do a movie rundown interview if we realize people don’t like our music, because we all probably have different answers. (Laughs)
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