A Chat with No Signal (26.09.23)
With a bold alternative rock sound, No Signal has a sound ready for sold-out stadiums. Soft but hard with light and dark intricacy, the US-based trio bring a new blend of rock to the masses. We speak with frontman Riley Schmelzer about their new album Distorted Reality, future plans, food he vows to never eat, and much more!
OSR: How did No Signal come about? What drew you to pursue a career in music?
Schmelzer: I have reflected on this a lot, to better understand how/why this all started. It’s always felt like a calling, like I never really consciously started music, it just came to be. Once I realised that all of the ideas started pouring in at rates that were quite frightening actually; it was all very fast. It was over the course of 2 or so days that I wrote every idea and concept down. I focused only on doing that so I wouldn’t lose anything in the noise. Now it’s just following that script while still maintaining creative freedom. 😊
OSR: Your new LP is called Distorted Reality. What can you tell us about it?
Schmelzer: This is our second album, chapter II of the overarching story going on within the No Signal universe. It’s our biggest record to date in terms of the music, and while the sound is definitely new I think it still holds some familiarity to what we’ve previously established, which is good.
There are actually two storylines in this record, both of which take place in the same universe. One of them being the story that will continue throughout each album, and one that’s a little more specific to the record. Like with the Shadow People EP I’ve been intentional with the placement of most things so the listener can actually figure out this story by listening and taking note of very specific things. Eventually, all of our videos will tell this story as well
OSR: What do you hope people take away from it?
Schmelzer: I hope it can give any audience the ability to see what we’re trying to do. Of course, we have this record we just put out, but there’s something a lot larger that is going on that can’t really be put into words. It’s admittedly difficult to put this out there – especially because of what’s going on in today’s artistic industries – but the only thing we can really do is continue releasing music, videos, and content that makes it easier to take in whilst still maintaining its natural traits.
OSR: If you could change anything about Distorted Reality, what would it be?
Schmelzer: There was a big technical failure that came about after sending the guitar tracks through to our mixer Brian. I had recorded quite a large amount of guitar tracks to achieve the massive and full sound that I had been envisioning for the record throughout the past couple of years. Once I got one of the mixes back I learned 2-3 of the tracks had gone corrupt, this went for the entire record. These tracks captured a lot of that fullness and low end I was envisioning, and there was no time to redo them. If I had another shot at doing this I’d ensure that those tracks remain stable so the guitar tone I wanted could be achieved, as it was supposed to be a massive part of the sound of this record.
OSR: How do you feel you’ve grown in the three years since Shadow People?
Schmelzer: Shadow People was an interesting place for us. Since it was an EP there was no predetermined format that had to be met other than its individual story. To some extent, you could still consider it our most experimental project to date. Distorted Reality is far more complex conceptually and sonically, though I feel it’s equally more polished and clean. I think the songs are naturally akin to a bit of a larger audience than we’re used to as well.
OSR: You say that each No Signal song serves as a chapter in your musical journey. Is ‘entropele’ a representation of who you are as a band at this moment? Or is there another track on the LP that does that job better?
Schmelzer: At the moment I think this whole record is the display into who/what we are right now, it’s quite hard to choose just one song. They are all quite different but make a lot of sense within the context of the record.
OSR: You’re just a three-piece, but your music is so grandiose. How do you plan to pull it all off live?
Schmelzer: Well I eventually want all of our backing tracks to be live, all of us pretty much have our hands full so tracks like synths and soundscapes have to be played to a click; we’re not the biggest fans of that. Perhaps one day we’ll have somebody in the back or under the stage playing them, I hope we can have a piano on as well so we can start playing our more piano-centric tracks. If the time ever comes, I’d love to design light shows for each of the tracks as well. I have huge light shows for each one mapped out in my head so I am just waiting for the day that I can act on that.
VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED
OSR: Some random questions: What do you know how to do that’s completely useless in everyday life?
Schmelzer: I like scouring into really strange parts of the internet. Working my way into odd and really dug-down locations has always been fun, accessing old and shut-down forums and centres dating back to the 90s and such. The internet becomes an almost liminal place when you reach a certain point. Like, there is so much information and no walls to really hold it in place or words to categorise it, all things that people don’t really want to see, or aren’t allowed to see, or have the ability to imagine. Just digital depth, it’s odd to see where things started and what’s really going on in the outskirts. At first glance, it seems like a bunch of pointless stuff but there’s something super preternatural going on when you really look into it. I’ve got a lot of hobbies but I’d say on the outside that’s my most pointless one, though for me I learn a lot from it and it is quite fascinating.
OSR: Which of your past teachers would you like to sit down and have a conversation with today?
Schmelzer: In third grade, I had a teacher named Mr. Parker. I was a super weird kid, but he always brought me back into reality. We would talk a lot, and he let me have the conversations I wanted to have. It’d be awesome to do that again, 13ish years later.
OSR: What’s a food you vow never to eat?
Schmelzer: I wouldn’t say I’m picky at all, though black liquorice has never worked for me, I will always have a visceral reaction even to the scent… and cocktail sauce, like what?
OSR: What future plans are there for the band? A tour, perhaps?
Schmelzer: I hope this can get to the place I’ve been envisioning it to be. A tour would be awesome, especially to get us in front of more people. More music, videos, and shows will come.
Many thanks to Riley Schmelzer for speaking with us. For more from No Signal, check out their Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
