Everything You Wanted: An Interview with If Not For Me
We last spoke with metalcore powerhouse If Not For Me at their show this past November, and our past interview the previous August. Since then, the guys have been growing rapidly, and slowly releasing tracks from their forthcoming album, Everything You Wanted. I caught up with the band recently to chat about the album and more.
MSM: You’re about to release your album, Everything You Wanted. What’s your favorite song from the forthcoming album?
IF NOT FOR ME: That’s so hard and I feel like the answer is constantly changing, but as of now I’d probably say Tragedy and The Weight. I just think those songs showcase everything our band has to offer and I’m super proud of them. But I also have a huge soft spot for “Blameless” and “Feel Me Now.”
MSM: Patty, you’ve stated that the title comes from a place of longing to find out who you really are. What advice would you give to someone who may be struggling with this?
INFM: I think it’s very normal to have to do a lot of things wrong before you start to figure out what’s right. I’ve gone through several periods in my life where I made a lot of mistakes and did things I’m not proud of just trying to pursue my own happiness, but sometimes we have to acknowledge our own faults to be able to grow past them. Self-reflection is an extremely crucial step in learning to be a better person but it can also eat us alive with guilt, so it’s important to find the right balance between the two for the sake of figuring out who you really want to be.
MSM: What are you most excited about for this tour?
INFM: I’m mainly just really stoked to finally be able to play these new songs that we’ve never played before to a bunch of new cities we’ve never been to. The setlist we have prepared is so much fun and I can’t wait to share it with everyone. I think this tour is going to be a real challenge for us to see how well we can really do on our own in all these new places, and our band is definitely one that thrives under pressure.
MSM: You’ve shared the stage with some incredible bands (Killswitch Engage, Currents, August Burns Red, Ice Nine Kills, Palisades, Attack Attack). Do you have any words of wisdom that you’ve picked up along the way?
INFM: I really like the phrase “fake it ‘til you make it,” but not in the sense of literally being fake. The way I see it, you have to take yourself seriously before anyone else will. If you show up and put the work in like a professional, act like a professional, dress like a professional, etc., people are far more likely to treat you as such. You have to invest in yourself to get to where you want to be.
MSM: What artists in the scene today do you feel are consistently pushing boundaries and changing the game?
INFM: The most obvious answer in my opinion is (and has been for like over a decade) Bring Me The Horizon. They’re at a point in their career where they can do absolutely anything they want stylistically and will find a way to pull it off. The creative vision they have just bleeds through every release, and just when you wonder what else they could possibly do next, they still find a way to keep you guessing. Bands are still trying to write Sempiternal over ten years later.
MSM: What is something that a lot of people may not know about If Not For Me?
INFM: We all kinda came together by chance from the ashes of other well respected projects in the same music scene to build If Not For Me into what it is now. We all knew each other for a while, but never really expected to work together in the capacity we do now. It’s pretty wild how things worked out.
MSM: Lastly, do you have anything else that you’d like to share with your fans?
INFM: We just want to get out on the road and share this new record with as many people as possible. Lots of cool tours are coming up. Looks like it’s gonna be a busy year!
