The Refrain Interview: Steady Decline

Steady Decline started when Oscar & Jack were both gigging as separate acoustic acts for years. Oscar’s old band All It’s Worth had just broken up, but songs were still pouring out of him so he booked some studio time and asked Jack if he wanted to come in and work on some new music. Shortly after, they joined forces, recorded their first EP Coping Mechanism, and began gigging in 2017. Over the next two years, they would regularly play Dublin, Galway & Belfast and share the stage with acts like Forever Came Calling, In Her Own Words & Kurt Travis.

We had the chance to ask them a few questions as part of The Refrain Interview Series. Check it out below.

Refrain Music Blog: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You have a new single out now. What’s it called?

Steady Decline: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, our new single is Erase Me

RMB: What is the song about, in terms of lyrics? Any overarching messages or themes?

SD: It comes from a dark place but the main message I was trying to portray was about moving on from a toxic relationship i’d been in and the aftermath of the breakup.

RMB: Is this single part of an album?

SD: To be honest we’re not sure and that’s fun and ‘scary’ at the same time. Steady Decline is about the two of us getting together and creating some fun and emotional music that we’re happy with, we have a lot more songs in the mix to finish writing and record but honestly haven’t put that much thought into if they’ll be a collection or stand on their own. When we started writing together again during the pandemic it seemed like the whole world had gone single focused and it just made sense for us to try get a new song out every month or two, i can definitely see this song sitting on an album down the line but for now it’s just a single

RMB: How does this single differ from your previous work?

SD: Erase Me is a much slower and stripped down song compare to the rest of out released music and everything else we’ve been writing. When we started SD we wanted it to be a fun fast pop punk band as we both play in a bunch of other projects and some of them are a little more on the ’emo’ side, but this song just came out and felt like it was made for Steady Decline to release, it’s also pushed us into a slightly ‘darker’ vibe on a few of our other songs we’re writing which is great

RMB: What’s the story on how it was recorded?

SD: We recorded it all at my office space (I run a Creative Digital Agency) and during the pandemic we moved into a big office/studio space. Our great friend Ciaran Nevin came up with his iMac and we spent a few late nights just playing around and giving this song and Start Over a new lease of life. I felt so comfortable being in my own surroundings, we recorded vocals down in a makeshift vocal booth in my kitchen area. The recordings came together quick but on this song in particular we spent a lot of time trying to nail the vocals to get the right tone/mood, Ciaran really pushed us and we’re delighted with how it came out and have a lot more recordings lined up with him

RMB: Tell us a little about the band. Who all is in it and how did you form? How long have you been together?

SD: As I mentioned this project is me (Oscar) and Jack, two best friends from opposite sides of the country(Ireland) that have played in other bands with each other/put on gigs for each other for the guts of ten years. My old band All It’s Worth had just broke up and I had a load of songs that I’d written that I wanted to try bring to another pop punk project so I reached out to Jack. We released a few songs early on and then honed in our sound/band members. AT the minute we have Alan playing drums for us and Ciaran playing bass for gigs (they both also play in Light Grey, an incredibly catchy pop punk band from Galway)

RMB: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

SD: It really does tend to range. I’m a total Blink fanboy, but with regards this project I’d say the like of Knuckle Puck, Like Pacific & In Her Own Words

RMB: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career so far?

SD: I’d say our most recent two recordings, as I mentioned we’d previously recorded an ep back in 2017 when we first started, it’s rough around the edges but we were proud of it back then. Now when you listen to the difference in our performances and songwriting I think it really shows how much more together we are now

RMB: If you had to pitch your music to a potential fan in less than 10 seconds, what would you say?

SD: Fun Fast Emo Pop Punk with Dual Vocalists

RMB: What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten that you think everyone needs to hear or that has meant the most to you?

SD: Honestly just go for it, if there is anything in life you’re contemplating but someone has knocked you down or you’ve got self doubt, just give it a go.

RMB: If you could go back in time, what’s a piece of advice you would give to a younger you?

SD: Start playing guitar earlier, I only started when I was around 15ish and never got lessons. I’d love to go back and start earlier, get lessons and see what sort of musician I’d be now

RMB: What’s coming up next for your musical project?

SD: We have a new song Puppets due out around November, then get back into the studio over December to line up two new songs for release in early 2023. After that just keep trying to bang out anew single every month or two

SD: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and to anyone reading check out Ireland’s music scene theres some great bands here: Light Grey, Chewing On Tinfoil, Crown The King, Old Bean, An Slua and also if you like Steady check out our other projects: Versive, Jack J Alexander & Homecomings