Katie Cameron
A&E Editor
Tomorrow, Wooster welcomes special guest COIN to campus as the headliner of Springfest, the College’s outdoor music festival hosted by Wooster Activities Crew. The Nashville-based band released a new album today titled How Will You Know If You Never Try, and The Wooster Voice got the chance to talk to band frontman Chase Lawrence about the band’s new album, upcoming tour and music videos.
KC: On COIN’s debut album, there’s a hyper-precision to your sound, very guitar-driven. Can you describe how the band’s style has evolved for any unfamiliar listeners?
CL: The Strokes were a huge influence on our first album — well, The Strokes and The Cure — to the point where the producer was like, “If somebody says The Strokes one more time…” We’re not trying to fit into any mold or check off any boxes. The biggest change you’re probably hearing [on the new album] is that all the tempos have been slowed down, so you’re hearing more fluidity.
KC: The music video for “Run” features you and your bandmates performing all these crazy stunts on cars and roofs, to the point that I turned into my mother all at once while watching it. How much of that video was real?
CL: A lot of that is real. It was terrifying. I don’t think I would do that again [laughs].
KC: Any inside scoops on How Will You Know If You Never Try? What’s the significance of the title?
CL: The whole album is centered around this idea of being motivated by the inevitable. The idea for the title and the album artwork [which depicts a hand reaching toward a headstone inscribed with the album’s title against a red background] came together, and they can’t really be independent of each other. I realized that the dash between the year you’re born and the year you die encompasses your entire life, all of your achievements and your legacy, and about a year ago that I realized that I didn’t know what my legacy would be. The idea for the album came out so naturally after that.
KC: Speaking of the inevitable, I’m a soon-to-be college graduate looking toward the future, and I can’t help but ask if forming this band was always your plan when all four of you graduated from Belmont?
CL: Oh, yeah, we obsess over the future. But at the same time, this whole album is me talking to myself, telling me to stop worrying so much. It’s going happen. Try your best, or just try. Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. Every step seems ordained, but if you don’t give the effort, nothing’s going to happen.
KC: Any comments you want to make to Wooster’s student body before Springfest?
CL: We’re really excited to release this album — it’s been a long time coming for us. We’re very proud of this new collection of songs, but we’re even more excited for our first headlining tour beginning next week, and you guys will be a part of that, so thank you!
COIN, as well as Asher Roth, Gazzo and student openers, will perform at Springfest on Saturday, April 22, at 6:00 p.m. on the Academic Quad.