A Chat with All Poets & Heroes (25.07.22)
The brainchild of long-time friends Rob McCall and Corey Jordan, All Poets & Heroes is an indie-rock duo hailing from New York, USA. Influenced by the likes of Jeff Buckley, Death Cab For Cutie and Radiohead, their music embraces the fragility of human nature. We speak with lead singer and guitarist Rob McCall about their new single ‘Give It To Me Straight’, music videos and where he goes to escape from everyone.
OSR: What drew you to music?
McCall: That’s sort of tough to answer because I’ve always loved music – although I personally didn’t start playing until a little before my 19th birthday. As a kid, music was always playing in my house. My parents would have it on as we cleaned the house or on road trips. They were always showing us music from their childhood and teen years, and my dad especially loved to talk about the artists, the albums, music videos and everything he knew about it. It was always fun when my dad and I would find a band we liked and listen to albums together. I remember discovering the band Keane at Hollister (yes, I shopped at Hollister as a middle schooler…don’t act like you didn’t). My dad hated back-to-school shopping, but this time he had to. Keane’s breakout hit ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ played over the PA in the store and my dad asked if I knew who it was and I said I didn’t. He went up to the clerk and asked if he knew. The clerk said that they were selling the album at the counter and so my dad bought a copy. We listened to it the whole way home and we both really enjoyed it. Eventually, I would go on to steal that CD for my own collection, but I was glad my dad got a silver lining out of the day. My dad and I still share new music we find and he’s constantly sending me songs that he finds on YouTube or Sirius XM.
Even though I didn’t play as a kid, I was always listening to music – on the bus, before bed, while snowboarding, etc. Sometimes it was fun to try and create a soundtrack for my day and make my very ordinary life feel like a movie, but oftentimes I needed music. I was always amazed that these artists could find not only the words and poetry to express themselves but also this palate of tones and textures that emoted so perfectly in my ears.
I saw a video where Ethan Hawke was talking about how art isn’t a luxury – that when we are at our worst and even at our best we need art more than ever. We need it to know if anyone else has ever felt this bad, or if anyone had ever felt this crazy when they were in love. For me, music often served this purpose. I needed to find some connection and some meaning in what I was feeling. I never knew that someday I would be working with Corey and using music as a tool to put down what I was feeling and get that catharsis. I had no idea that someday it would connect with people.
OSR: Do you believe your single ‘Give It To Me Straight’ is an evolution of your sound as compared to previous releases?
McCall: I think ‘Give It To Me Straight’ is a step forward for how we produce songs like this – songs that are a bit more fun and a bit less heavy than what we have been known to write. It’s the first song that had some “popability” to it since our debut EP Where We Lived And What We Lived For. ‘Give It To Me Straight’ has more thoughtful production and more intention with how we approached it, and in that sense, I think it’s an evolution.
OSR: What do you hope people take from ‘Give It To Me Straight’?
McCall: We hope that it’s fun first and foremost! We want people to jam out to it in their cars and while they run and when they’re with friends! If that’s all people get from it then that would be fine enough for us.
OSR: Is there a backstory to the new single?
McCall: This song’s inception came from a catchy little guitar/bass line I was farting around with during a video shoot. From there it grew into a verse and a chorus. We took that little sketch down to Allen Tate in NYC who gave the song some structure and direction. While in New York, we finished the lyrics and brought it back home.
In Syracuse, we spent a lot of time getting the feel of this song right. We needed the drums to be straightforward, but not simple. Mark Bengston worked his magic and compiled a bunch of different drum ideas we had together and made the song what it is. Corey put on the finishing touches and voila! We had a song!
OSR: You released a music video for ‘Give It To Me Straight’. What was the experience like?
McCall: Oof! It was something! We wrote, directed, filmed and edited all of the music videos for Colorful Pt. 1&2 so it was a bit of a learning curve. Everyone in the band chipped in too. Corey and I came up with the concepts, Nash filmed them, Corey directed and I put them all together. It was truly a team effort and in the end, we are really proud of what we accomplished and had a lot of fun along the way.
OSR: Describe All Poets & Heroes in one sentence.
McCall: I’ll quote John Tierney, an independent reviewer and brilliant writer – “The truth is All Poets & Heroes have their own unique sound that is cinematic in its landscape and lyrically literate.”
OSR: When you want to escape from everyone, where do you go?
McCall: I often like to escape into a good book, movie or some of my favourite albums. If I have the house to myself this is most likely how I’m spending my time, but if I really need to get out and clear my head, I’ll head anywhere I can be surrounded by nature. I’ll take my earbuds and romp around the woods for a while. Fall and Winter are the best times to do this in my opinion. The cold of Upstate New York tends to keep people inside, but I know of a few secret spots where I know there really won’t be any people.
OSR: If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
McCall: I’d pay off my student loans, get a new car, help my parents or my brother with any of their debts, give the band a cushion to do some things we’d like to do, put some away in savings and donate most of the rest. Money earned is always better than money won.
I always loved that Bright Eyes lyric, “I’d rather be working for a paycheck than waiting to win the lottery.”
OSR: Do you have future plans for All Poets & Heroes?
McCall: We are always working towards something. Short-term plans are to continue to spread the word for ‘Give It To Me Straight’ and release the rest of Colorful Lungs Pt. 2 (due in September). We’re already demoing new songs and have plans to record them as soon as we are able. We also have a fun summer of gigs lined up and want to play more live shows and hit the road. So keep your eyes peeled for dates!
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
McCall: I hope you enjoy ‘Give It To Me Straight’ and I really hope you check out the rest of our catalogue. We’ve put out a lot of music and we’re really quite proud of it. We hope you connect with it!
Many thanks to Rob McCall for speaking with us. For more from All Poets & Heroes check out their official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
