On the song selection process for the new album, Orion, Harris said, “First of all, it took two years. When we wrote VHS, a lot of it was written over the road, and that really worked well for us. We took some time off and went to the studio and started writing. Then, we started cranking out songs, and we wrote over 50 songs for this project. It was a process of elimination. Overall, the result was worth it.”
“It has been a long, grueling process,” he acknowledged.
Harris listed “Recover” and “Hold You Down” as his two personal favorite songs on the album. “‘Recover’ is a lot of time to play live,” he admitted.
He shared that “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen is one of his brother’s all-time favorite artists, so their music has been influenced by his work.
On being an artist in this digital age, he said, “It is crazy. When we first formed as a band we were living in the era of bands. There were all these indie bands that were popular in the New York and Brooklyn music scene. Now, rock music is not dead, but the music scene is dominated by solo artists and by pop and hip-hop.”
“The way you make music these days is different than it used to be. You spend so much time producing on the computer rather than coming up with a cool guitar riff. Learning how to make the right sounds that you need for a record is a huge thing,” he said.
He listed multi-Grammy-nominated artist SZA as his dream collaboration choice in the music business. “SZA is amazing,” he said. “I would love to work with J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar as well.”
For aspiring bands, he said, “Keep making music. There are a lot of things that you can’t control in regard to your success as an artist and songwriter. The one thing you can control is your own output of material.”
“Writing music and playing music is like working out. You need to keep doing it all the time to keep those muscles in shape. Persistence is key,” he said.
For the fans, he said, “It’s the best material we’ve written until now. I am so proud of it and I am so happy that it is out there for people to listen to. I hope everybody likes it.”
Orion is available on iTunes and on Spotify.
To learn more about X Ambassadors and their new CD, check out their official website.
Read More: Digital Journal reviewed the new X Ambassadors album Orion.
