All Good Things is the tale of a non-band becoming one; almost in its own feverish need thanks to a legion of dedicated fans. After the success of their album Machines and the song “For the Glory”, AGT, who are signed with Better Noise Records, (and managed by Steve Tramposch), realized they were so much more than placement musicians.
Made up of Dan Murphy (vocals, guitar), Andrew Bojanic (guitar, vocals), Liz Hooper (bass, keyboard, vocals), Miles Franco (guitar, bass, vocals) and Tim Spier (drums), this band got their start hoping for placements of their songs. It wasn’t until they saw millions of views that they realized they had something special. The fanbase rallied, and with their ideas and inspiration, All Good Things are releasing their 13 song, fan-inspired album.
I recently sat down to interview them, and this is how it went:
How does it feel to get to create with such an impressive roster of musicians?
All Good Things: We specifically chose to be on the Better Noise label because of the artists they represent, and the innovative style of development and promotion that the label does. We’re big fans of many of the bands on the label. kinda feels crazy and humbling to be in the same space as them making music.
How was your experience working with Charlie Scene and Johnny 3 tears? What were some of your favorite moments?
Unfortunately we didn’t get to work and record with HU in person, as it was in the height of the pandemic lockdown. So instead we got on the phone and traded ideas and concepts, and then threw files back and forth over the internet to each other. Fortunately, Charlie and Johnny were right on the money with their vision for how they could add to the song, and once we got the tracks we were like “HELL YEAH!”. No revisions or changes. They totally nailed it. We really hope we can cross paths with them on the road soon and maybe play the song together live. They’re awesome guys.
One of your songs is now going to be on the soundtrack for an exciting new horror flick, how does this make you feel? What do you think of the movie?
We were honored that Better Noise films picked our song for their new movie. There are a few hard core horror movie fans in the band and our theatrical style of music certainly fits movies and visuals. We’ve only seen snippets of the movie but it looks super creepy!
Did you get to meet any of the other artists involved with the movies soundtrack and what were they like?
Again with “the Rona” collaborating in person was a no go, but Dan and Miles did get to play a small role in the movie which was crazy fun.
Where do you come up with the hook for such a powerful song, and one that needs to fit the excitement level of a movie like this?
We come from a background of writing music for film, television and gaming, and so we have a pretty good handle on what works with visuals. And everyone knows metal and horror go hand in hand!
You weren’t originally planning on becoming a band. Tell us some of the insight and inner thoughts behind finding this success, as indeed a band. Is this life’s ultimate irony for you? Do you guys ever just laugh at how incredible the ride is?
Separately, all members of All Good things have played in, and toured with multiple bands, starting in high school. When we were fresh out of school we were all busting our asses to get on the radio and break in bands. But then we all got caught up doing session gigs, touring with other bands, songwriting and producing for other artists and projects. We’d all kinda given up on the dream of doing it ourselves, and were mostly helping other artists launch their careers instead. But as a bunch of friends having fun making music, and writing and playing together, we accidentally made music that people wanted to hear, and it turned into an opportunity to shoot for being artists ourselves again. It’s a ridiculous, back to front journey that we didn’t think was possible, and yes, we really can’t believe it’s happening. We’re so grateful! It’s a dream come true!
Hooper, you state on your band website that the forthcoming release is “really full of ideas from fans”. Can you elaborate on some of those ideas for those of us not familiar with the album?
Our fans are very interactive with us. They’re constantly sending us fan art, creations, messages, and sharing stories about their lives with us. Through this we have been able to see what parts of our music and storytelling resonate with them, and also what new ideas we hadn’t explored yet. Some of our new songs are inspired by fans in sports teams who use our music to hype themselves up before a game. Some of our new songs are about surviving traumatic events, or trying not to give up in the face of insurmountable odds. All from what our fans have shared with us.
Tell us more about the fantasy behind the Apocalyptic theme on the album. If you were living in an Apocalyptic world, how would you survive? Would there still be music?
The apocalypse themes originally started from fans, sharing imagery and fan art with us, where our music inspired them to draw and create using gas masks and end of the world kind of images. Lots of kids were playing video games like FALLOUT while listening to our music too. So this culture kind of emerged. We started delving more into the theme of how hard it is for kids to grow up now, and how sometimes it feels like trying to survive an apocalypse. And then just as we were going to release the album, the ACTUAL apocalypse happened! 🤣 We would read through our lyrics and they had become almost prophetic. We had lyrics about “struggling to breathe” “dying for air” and “just trying to make it through the end of the world”. It was really freaky. Now that we’re finally going to drop the album, a year and a half later, hopefully people will use the music as anthems of survival as we come out of the whole pandemic situation. Most people listen to music as a tool of survival, so yes definitely there is music in an apocalyptic world!
How did it feel to hit 100 million collective streaming views? That must be mind blowing? How did you celebrate?
Honestly, we’re still mostly sitting at home working like we have been for the past year and a half because of the pandemic! Everything that’s happening now with the song being top 5 at active radio, getting millions of streams and getting picked up all over the world, it kinda doesn’t feel real. We’ve been so disconnected from reality because of lockdowns and no live music. That’s why we’re all SO looking forward to touring and seeing all these people face to face. Pretty sure when that happens, we’ll completely freak out and our heads will explode. We do have moments though when we’re driving in the car and “For The Glory” comes on the radio. We freak out EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. That excitement will ever go away.
What would be your dream collaboration in the future of your career?
Oliver Sykes, Jordan Fish, Matt Bellamy, Gerard Way, Spencer Charnas, Sam Carter….. So many crazy talented people, so little time!
So, after this, do you have any ideas yet for future musical plans?
Right now we’re gearing up for a ton of touring, and excited to see fans face to face. We’re excited to work on our live show, make it bigger and better with every show, and to see which songs resonate with, and move the fans the most. Counting the days to get on the road!
I’m Music Magazine Contributing Writer Breezy Blake
