Illinois rockers, Sworn In, have built a strong presence by rising above rigid musical boundaries and putting listeners into a maelstrom of emotion that rouses a vicious thirst for more. Creating a milestone in their career with the success of their recent third studio album, ‘All Smiles’, Sworn In is a force on the radar. I caught up with lead vocalist, Tyler Dennen, to discuss the recent release of ‘All Smiles’, the band’s experience on Warped Tour, how his perception of his hometown has changed after touring the world, tattoos and more.
Photo Credit: Allie Mischen
Congrats on the success of your recent release, ‘All Smiles’. Where did you guys bring the album to life and tell us about the creative process behind it?
Thank you so much. We recorded the record in Portland, Oregon, at Interlace Audio with Kris Krummet. The creative process behind it was very strikingly different from any of our previous releases. This time it was a lot less calculated and approached with little to no concern or thought towards how the music and message would resonate with anyone outside of ourselves. So, I suppose you could say we wrote this one for ourselves rather than trying to write something others would enjoy.
From the outside looking in, tell us about a day on the set of your most recent music video.
That’s an interesting one because I actually directed/edited/shot our last music video with a good friend of mine Bryce Hall. A day of the shoot was on Vans Warped Tour after the show ended we emptied out our trailer completely, set up the drums in the back and all crammed in. I lit up the trailer with two red LED lights and fogged it out, from there we performed ALL SMILES several times in a 120-degree trailer and it forced our performance to be nothing but genuine.
Give a shout-out to a fellow Fearless Records band/musician that just put out a release that you are really diggin’ at the moment.
The Plot In You’s song, “Feel Nothing”, is incredible!
Tell us about your experience on Warped tour. What has been the most outrageous act of courage by a fan that you’ve caught so far?
Warped Tour was personally one of the greatest times of my life, I had a blast at every show and every moment in-between. The most courageous act I think I’ve seen was somebody asking me to bum a cigarette to them the moment I got off stage!
Photo Credit: Brian Rice
If you could add to your collection and get any piece of your choice tattooed by any tattoo artist in the world, what would you get done and which artist would you choose and why?
I would absolutely go to Rich Hadley over in the UK and would let him do whatever the hell he wanted, I wouldn’t even have to see it. I love everything he does and his style is my absolute favorite.
Now that you’ve had a chance to tour around the country, has your perception of your hometown changed at all? If so, tell us how.
It’s been about five years now that I’ve been touring more often than not and it’s truly shed a lot of clarity on what my hometown is, and at the same time what it means to me. I think my perception of my hometown would have changed a lot regardless of travel just due to growing and changing as a human each day, but touring has offered the perspective that the world is huge. So I think of my hometown in a more comforting way than I would’ve if I never started touring, but at the same time, it feels very limiting and small if I’m here too long.
What is your perception of the current state of Metalcore?
I really have no idea where to even begin answering this. It’s a very broad statement that I don’t really have much to chime in with. All I’ll say is that it’s very nice to see innovation and genuine passion/emotion coming back into the alternative music scene.
If you could collaborate for one track with any musician either dead or alive, who would you choose and why?
Klaus Nomi, no doubt. Because he is more than likely an alien or android or some kind of ethereal entity and his voice was so haunting.
If you could share words of wisdom for kids picking up instruments and mics in hopes of following in your footsteps, what would you say?
Be prepared to work and work and work and then have life dump on you then work then work before you see any of the progress that you’d imagine comes sooner and easier than it does.
Photo Credit: Ariana Rose
Last but certainly not least, any closing messages for your fans?
I love you all, and if you get a tattoo please make sure it doesn’t suck or you’ll feel sad in the future.
