What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences and are they the same as when you started out?
When OBT started our name actually used to be “capital,” but we didn’t like the name because it didn’t relate to us or make any sense. We decided on the name On Better Terms because we felt it represented how we felt towards society and humanity in general. We’re all just floating on this giant rock in an infinite universe so just be good to others. We feel our name encapsulates this.
As far as our influences, they’re very vast now days. Lofi, Synthwave, R&B, and emo music is what we’re really listening to right now. When the band first started our influences were bands like Being As An Ocean, La Dispute, and Touche Amore.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
Songwriting for us is something we have to be in the mood for. Under usual circumstances it’s hard for us to just sit down and write a song, but creativity is weird like that sometimes. A lot of our music has been written in the moment or spontaneous. This last EP were songs we fleshed out shortly after our full-length album “Waves” was released, and we sat on these for almost 3 years slowly working individual parts until it was the product we liked.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
Songwriting for us is something we have to be in the mood for. Under usual circumstances it’s hard for us to just sit down and write a song, but creativity is weird like that sometimes. A lot of our music has been written in the moment or spontaneous. This last EP were songs we fleshed out shortly after our full-length album “Waves” was released, and we sat on these for almost 3 years slowly working individual parts until it was the product we liked.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
One of our biggest influences in music is a band from the UK called Enter Shikari, because not only do they write amazing music but it has a real and strong message behind the music that’s worth reading and listening to. When we started the band, we wanted the lyrical and emotional content of the art to have a message worth listening to, whether that’s advice, or hope for the world, or simply a message we all need to hear without being too preachy towards others.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
The songs we decide usually depend on what material is fresh at the time. When Waves came out and we toured the record we played mostly Waves songs. Our last show was a good mix of new tunes never heard before, tunes off Waves, and 1-2 off our prior releases. For the next show we play (COVID permitting) we’d like to play a set of all our high energy songs.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
The songs we decide usually depend on what material is fresh at the time. When Waves came out and we toured the record we played mostly Waves songs. Our last show was a good mix of new tunes never heard before, tunes off Waves, and 1-2 off our prior releases. For the next show we play (COVID permitting) we’d like to play a set of all our high energy songs.
What plans do you have for the future?
We’re currently writing new music that we’re very excited about. Without giving too much away, it’s going to a be an artistic departure from our normal sound. Hopefully we can continue to play shows and tour as much as possible when it’s safe to do so as well.