TGIC RECS Brian had a chance to interview Native as a retrospect to their debut album being repressed.  The interview is all below, thanks so much to Native for taking the time.

TGIC: Tell us the approximate time period in which We Delete; Erase was written and recorded?

Native (Ed):  It’s hard to believe that we wrote most of that record almost 5 years ago now.  Dan, Bobby and I (Ed) began writing together in the spring of 2007. Things didn’t go too smoothly at first, and it took a lot of really bad parts, and really painfully long practices to pound out the first couple songs. Things really picked up when we cemented our lineup with Nick in July of that year. Nick and Dan still had another year in high school, and Bobby and I were still in our first couple years of our undergrad. We were honestly just kids, having a lot of fun, and wanting to get out and play as many shows as possible. We wrote the songs over a eight month period, and in that time, we played around 50 shows. It was honestly just a transitional period for us both as musicians and as people, and we had a lot of growing up ahead of us.

TGIC: Was this your first full record venture for Native or was their demos etc. that contained these songs or others?

Native: Up until the EP, we had done a couple demo recordings, one in our friend Adam’s basement, just so we’d have something to hand out to people at the strings of shows we would play. During the fall of 2008, we recorded at a house that was under renovation, which was honestly one of my personal favorite memories in this band. The early demos had versions of the songs like ‘Alpacastan’ and ‘What’re You Dylan In My House’. It also had some hilariously bad songs that I won’t mention that our oldest friends always make sure to remind us of.

TGIC: What were some of the strong influences your band was sharing during the writing of the record both instrumentally and vocally?

Native:  At that time, we had been listening to a lot of different things, mostly stemming from things we really loved in high school. I would say we had been listening to a lot more “dance punk” type bands such as Q and Not U, and Thunderbirds! Are Now.  I would say, in retrospect, that I can see how much we were listening to a lot more “noodley” type music as well.

TGIC: Was there an established feel or theme both instrumentally and vocally you guys were aiming to achieve with this record? Or did it more come together by just simply writing?

Native:  I would say that this was an album that came together really by just simply writing. Our main objective in these songs was to write parts that we figured our friends would have a good time watching live. So, we pretty much set out to write parts for specific friends, based on our perceptions of those people. I would say that as far as lyrically, it had an overall theme of the transition of the teenage years into young adulthood. I still feel 19 when I listen to the album, so I have to hand it to Bobby for doing a great job capturing how we were feeling at the time.

TGIC: What are some of your respective favorite tracks on this release and why?

Native:  I would say that my favorite track on the EP is actually the instrumental track “Flaschdance.” I remember how fluidly that whole interlude came together, and I feel like the time period was really captured by the mood in that song. As far as actual songs, I would say ‘Ride the Tide’ would be my favorite, we had a really fun time writing that song, and it was actually the last one we ever played live off the EP.

TGIC: Where and by whom was the record recorded?

Native:  We recorded the album at a studio called Broadside Productions in Kalamazoo, Michigan in the winter of 2008 by Mark Larmee.

TGIC: All of your record’s have a common clean sound and execution that allows the listener to feel each strike of a bass chord or guitar melody, that I personally feel allows you guys to stand above others, was this something you guys were going for right away in the recording of We Delete or was there an engineer/process that helped establish that?

Native:  This is really flattering to hear. I don’t think was so much a product of the recording, but rather something we tried to accomplish in the song writing itself. We recorded with Mark in part to help capture a much more raw sound.  I am really glad that you do feel that way, however, makes us feel like we are doing something right.

TGIC: Nerding out a bit here, where there any amps/instruments/microphone techniques that were used on this record that you feel helped establish it sonically?

Native:  We did use a lot of Fender products at that time, so I feel like the ‘twang’ and more clean guitar tones had a lot to do with that. We also did a lot of the vocals a pretty far distance from the mics, just so that they wouldn’t be the focal point in the recording.

TGIC: Knowing that you guys are big vinyl fans (I personally got to see some of Bobby’s collection), what does it mean to you guys to have a repress with new artwork and a retrospective on this record and the pressing of wrestling moves with new artwork by our friends in topshelf?

Native:  The album itself is a little out of date for us, as much as changed with our band, and our personal lives since then, but it really means the world that people have enough interest to still want this album on vinyl. It is really nice to reflect on this time, and these repressings allow us to do that. Having new artwork just helps put a refreshing aspect to the release, and allows us to really identify what that album meant to our lives.

TGIC:  TGIC is proud to do this repress for you guys and we hope that it helps cement this Native release in history for the band. Any final thoughts?

Native:  We do just want to say that we couldn’t be more flattered that you guys wanted to do this release. We do owe a big thanks to you guys, and everyone that was, and is, a part of our lives, and has helped this band come this far. It is people like yourselves that help keep the music community alive and working for the right reasons.