Hello Sun, out May 20 on Revelation Records, is the culmination of a storied life and career. Vocalist and songwriter Brian McTernan, says it’s some of his best work. He’s at the point in life of taking a deep mental inventory of the music he’s written and records he’s made with other artists, as well as childhood trauma, depression, and fatherhood.
“I can’t think of anything I’ve ever have done that has been quite as rewarding,” McTernan says. “Honestly, if it all ended right now, doing this band has been one of the best things I have ever done for myself. It feels like borrowed time, getting to make music, travel the world, make new friends. It’s all something I never thought I would do again. It’s also been an incredible medium to express a lot of feelings and emotions that I had struggled to express otherwise.”
Record-making with Be Well is a reflective and healing process for McTernan, as much as it’s a band playing high energy melodic hardcore. The name “Be Well” may even be a mantra. It stands tall. Nothing is perfect, but exploring imperfections is a great way to start learning, building, and being better. Be Well are getting Brian closer to finding himself every day, he says, “By sharing his inner most fears and flaws,” but also allowing him to take joy in his “strengths, friendships, and accomplishments.”
“This is our first record with Revelation, which is really, really exciting for me. You know, I think everybody in the band grew up listening to Revelation Records. It’s been nice to have our primary contact over there be Sammy Siegler from Judge, Youth of Today, Rival Schools, like everything. He really comes from the same place that we are coming from. He’s not only been a good logistical partner with the label stuff, but he’s had some great creative ideas and feedback about what songs went on the record.”
For a writer, producer, and musician, McTernan doesn’t think every element of the process is as easy as he makes it look. From REV047, the Texas is the Reason seven-inch, to REV194, this Be Well EP, there’s still a challenge after 20-plus years and many, many records for labels, including Revelation.
“I don’t know that all of it is fun,” he admits. “The recording part can be a little stressful at times. Writing and tracking is a lot of pressure alone, so once you add in that we are recording and mixing it ourselves, as well as how deeply personal the lyrics are, it can be a lot. That being said, having new music recorded is my favorite thing in the world. I love having new songs to listen to, having things to play people, and knowing that the things we have made will live forever.
“The crazy thing is that we have at least a whole other record written. I think we kind of decided, ‘Let’s just write songs because we love writing songs, not because we need records.’ The benefit to that is, it’s kind of nice to be sitting on so much material. I have witnessed that pressure so many times in the studio. It’s hard because you put out a record and then tour for a year and a half, and then, all of a sudden, you have a three-month window to write and record the next one. It just puts so much pressure on the bands, the songs, and the record as a whole. I always want to have a little bit of a stockpile.”
McTernan takes the listener through the album, adding context, making Hello Sun gave McTernan as fresh perspective on his career.
“I think one of the real unintentional bonuses of doing the Be Well record was talking to so many people about all of the other records that I had made in my life as a producer. That’s what the song “I Will Leave You With This” is about.”
He gives more context: “I don’t think I had ever zoomed out to look at it all together, the cumulative effect of how I’ve spent my life. I just remember doing podcasts with people. They’d pull up my Wikipedia page while we’re doing the interview, and I could see their face, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ On my worst days I felt like a phony, but I guess everybody’s got a little bit of an imposter syndrome feeling about things they do in their lives.
“Looking back, I think there is clear evidence that the chemistry was special. I had never really allowed myself to go, ‘Holy—I was, a part of some really, really incredible things.’ I helped some amazing people make records that mean a lot to a lot of people. And did I never allow myself to enjoy that? I can see that these records didn’t only mean a lot to me and the bands I made them with, but they mean a lot to the people that have bought them and listened to them and got the logos tattooed on their arms. I am able to see it in a way that I was never able to see it before. I’m really appreciative about that.”
McTernan goes on to say that it’s not just his past that’s in focus right now; he’s stoked on the present.
“That song brings me back to the early Texas is the Reason days, but it also gives me a new perspective on things I am working on now. The new Hot Water music record, in particular, is a really nice mile marker for me. I love all of the records that they made without me, but I can hear myself in this new one, and I’m able to appreciate that in a way that I hadn’t been able to before.”
According to McTernan, “In The Shadow Of Who You Thought I was” is one of the most revealing songs he’s written.
“I’ve really been hesitant to admit that I’m not OK, and the way that I’ve been living my life is not OK. The person I know myself to be is in stark contrast to the person people have thought that I was for most of my life.” He elaborates, “I’m not famous, right? I’m not implying that (I am), but there is this perception of me, in our little music microcosm, as this fearless and strong person that’s really tough on bands, the person that makes bands cry in the studio and sends Chuck Ragan to take singing lessons.
“Ultimately, who I am is someone that’s been in a lot of pain for a huge amount of my life. Even at the best of times, I have struggled, and I have felt pretty bad about myself for a long time. Trying to be Brian McTernan, the name on the back of the records, has been exhausting. I just need to be the friend, father, and human being that lives my life. I did myself a lot of damage by trying to be somebody I wasn’t for a long time and letting what people thought of me shape how I felt about myself.”
The deep admissions that McTernan makes here are held like a time capsule in the grooves of Hello Sun with a Revelations Records number over 100 from where it all started at Salad Days Studio and even before Salad Days.
“I think that this record, for me, is much more of an acknowledgement that I need help. I need friends. I need people around me that love me and believe in me. I can’t get better … I can’t get to the place that I want to get to alone, and I don’t need to. I think the biggest takeaway from The Weight And The Cost. (…) Well, before it came to life and the world, my thought was that people were gonna think I was crazy. I felt like a lot of people that (are) in my life would think badly of me and would think that it was a very negative, dark record in that way.”
The response is completely opposite and surprising to McTernan.
He confides, “Be Well exists in this world as a positive thing, which makes me so happy. I think that we’ve always had a little bit of that juxtaposition; The lyrics are really heavy, but it’s also saying things out loud that are pretty universally felt. That doesn’t need to be a negative. It was a positive for me to be able to have the community that could hear that, see it, and see me. I feel like, in many ways, for the first time as myself, rather than person I tried to be for so long.”
Now that so much of the salad days are behind McTernan, The Weight And The Cost has its place, and Hello Sun is ahead, what’s the best part of Be Well for McTernan? Is it writing, producing, or performing?
“I think performing and just being with my band mates is the best. I was friends with all the guys before we started doing the band, but now we’re just all so incredibly close. I look forward to every opportunity that we have to be together, go on the road, see different cities, and meet different people. It’s been awesome. We’ve been so lucky to be able to play with so many amazing bands. I kind of have to pinch myself. During the pandemic, we were frozen in place, but now we have a new record coming out and full U.S. and European tours before the end of the year.”
Watch the video for “I Will Leave You With This” here:
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Photo courtesy of JC Carey
