Every creative journey hits a few bumps, and Louisville garage punks White Reaper faced theirs early in the making of their new album, Only Slightly Empty, out September 26 on their new label, Blue Grape Music. Both their drummer Nick Wilkerson and his twin brother, bassist Sam, departed. They were also dropped from Elektra Records due to the label’s shift in operations.
But that failed to stop guitarist and lead vocalist Tony Esposito, keyboardist Ryan Hater, and guitarist Hunter Thompson from completing the band’s fifth full-length, along with the assistance of engineer Joey Oaxaca. The album sees the band going back to their earlier material for ideas and bringing them into a forward-thinking approach.
Despite the tumultuous experience of losing core members and not being on a major label anymore, White Reaper were able to get a majority of the songwriting and recording process done by the time these changes occurred. This uphill reality kept things moving.
“It was pretty difficult, honestly,” Esposito admits about that time period. “There were things that were beyond my control, and it was obviously tough to sit with, live with, and move on from, but at the same time, if it had happened before we started recording, we may have just given up. I think it sort of helped having had a good portion of the work already done to sort of be like, ‘Well, we already did that, so let’s finish.’ Honestly, that’s probably what got us through.”
The unique dynamic of going back to the past in order to forge the songs for Only Slightly Empty came about due to Esposito, Hater, and Thompson deciding to see what was fruitful during their first few records. This time around, the band also wanted to embrace a more focused strategy.
“There was definitely a conscious decision for us to see what worked during the early days,” Esposito explains. “Creatively, especially over the pandemic, it was super hard for me to stay focused because I wasn’t going anywhere. The best thing you can do to see your creativity and your inspiration is to go out, see things and live. Touring, always being in transit and having a window to look out while seeing miles and miles of interstate. Your eyes and your brain are being fed images, and then, over the pandemic, and being stuck in a house, it was extinguished.” He continues, “I feel like restarting and touring afterwards, it felt easier to be able to create and write. I also felt that it was sort of time to simplify the approach, for sure. Without a north star for us to really navigate by on the last record, we weren’t very focused. This time we kept things simple the best we could. We focused on melodies and cool chords to see if that would get us back there, so that was kind of the plan.”
In the timeline of White Reaper’s existence since they started out in 2012, this definitely marks a new chapter. While this chapter brings new challenges, it also simplifies hashing out ideas and making decisions.
“Obviously things are super different in a lot of ways,” Esposito says about the band’s current state. “Losing members makes some things more difficult, but it makes other things a little easier because sometimes it can be really hard to get five people to agree on which direction we should go. It’s a little easier to get three guys to agree on which direction we’re going to go, but also, missing pieces complicate other things in their own right. It’s exciting because there’s all these unknowns for us that weren’t there before and it’s really exciting to see what might be possible.”
When Only Slightly Empty comes out, Esposito wants whomever gives it a listen to approach the songs at face value.
“The way I listen to music is, I turn it on, and if I like it, then I turn it up,” he says. “I don’t think about what it means or what they’re trying to say. To me, I love great lyrics, and I also love awesome riffs, but I just think that when I hear a song, I listen to the whole thing without zoning in on everything too hard. I just hope people hear the songs; that’s really all I could ask.”
Only Slightly Empty is out today, and you can order it from Blue Grape Music. Follow White Reaper on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.
Photos by Jimmy Fontaine
