On their 2023 album, GODMODE, their epic music videos, and their most misunderstood song.



Greg Prato (Songfacts): How has the band's songwriting changed over the years?

Maria Brink: It definitely has. We've been together now 18 years. When we started off, we didn't know what we were doing. We were just trying to figure it out. We used to butt heads a lot and have a lot of confrontation. Now, it feels like we flow like a river together. I think we're just more mature and we've grown with each other, and we've really learned what each other likes and how we work. It's definitely become a lot smoother.

We approach songwriting on all different levels, whether or not Chris writes a song and sends it to me, or I write something on piano. Sometimes I'll even mimic a song on a voice message, with instruments and everything, and Chris will bring it to life for us. So, we really don't have a one-way approach, but we've gotten better at it, that's for sure.

Chris Howorth: In the beginning, it was like we just had a bunch of songs written, and I had a bunch of stuff. I was kind of forcing it on Maria at the very beginning. And then we started trying to figure out what we would do together, and it was a battle. Every album was its own challenge – up until this one, which feels like one of the smoothest experiences we've had together. I guess all that time, we learned how to do it.

Songfacts: What is the meaning behind the album title GODMODE?

Brink: The album itself felt fierce. It felt really powerful. And we're always about empowering people and wanting people to listen to the music and feel empowered with themselves. Our last album [Mother, 2020] was a bit more on the somber side because we were really depressed when we went into that album. But on this album, we felt fire and we felt really all the things. I'm always speaking about certain spiritual aspects and tend to sway into that.

But this name, GODMODE, is powerful, epic, limitless. And then Chris when I told him, he's a huge gamer, and he was like, "Actually, in the gaming world, god mode is something you can turn on that your character can't die and all these cool things." So he loved the name right off the bat. It was a no-brainer for Chris and me. We loved the name. Once we both said we should name it this, we were like, "Let's do it." It fit the album as well. Right Chris?

Howorth: Yes, it did. It felt right. And it was like what we were saying about the songwriting: Everything flowed into place on this one. And that too happened during the making of the album. We didn't have a name, and that just popped in. Like, "Oh wow. That's cool."

Songfacts: What was the lyrical inspiration behind the song "The Purge"?

Brink: The musical part of "The Purge" came to life during the pandemic when we had no pressure on us and Chris was really starting to write a bunch of music. Both of us have always felt pressure, because as soon as you finish an album cycle, everybody is like, "We need a new album. You've got to go in the studio right now." And there's always this time constraint.

There was this magical moment that happened that felt pretty liberating to Chris and me with writing. He actually wrote most of the musical-type stuff with this song – the verse and the chorus – and sent it to me randomly, and I loved it. I was like, "What is this that you just sent?" The music was so strong to me, and it gave me a really cool feeling. It made me laugh in a way - when I hear something that I love so much, it kind of makes me laugh. It's like this funny, "I can't believe how good this is feeling." So I just loved it.

The lyrics came from all the tension and all the build-up that happened. Why we had to be home and stuck in our houses. Every time I'd turn on the television or go on a social network, that's like what the lyrics are, how it all feels to me. I tried to bring it all into that song.

Songfacts: What are some memories of filming the song's video?

Howorth: The video was totally weird for us. The last few years, all of our videos have mainly been helmed by Maria and this guy named Robert Kley. That collaboration started when we did the "Blood" video, and it's been great. But this time, Maria had her eye on this guy Jensen [Noen], who had done some videos with Motionless In White and Falling In Reverse that were so amazing. You see those videos and you're like, "Oh my God. That is so good." And she was like, "I think we should get this guy for this song."

A lot of technical issues had to happen. She was on the East Coast, I'm on the West Coast. The band is all split up, so she recorded a bunch of her scenes on the East Coast in the church and all this crazy, cool stuff. And then the band got together here on the West Coast at Jensen's studio and did a bunch of stuff on green screen, and he seamlessly put it all together. It was one of our favorite videos. We're totally blown away by how good it came out.

Brink: And like you said, I've been doing the videos for almost 10 years now and it was a little scary to relinquish that power, but everything he was doing was just amazing. He was fine with letting us have our own artistic direction, and we wrote the storyboard and he worked with us on it back and forth. He is just amazing. I would definitely want to do our next video with him. He's badass.

And it was really cool with all of us filming in the church. We went for two days straight and it was pretty crazy. All of it felt pretty epic and awesome. The only thing that was strange was not being with the boys when they were filming. But I actually sat with them the entire time on FaceTime and FaceTimed with them while they were doing their little parts. I FaceTimed with them trying to encourage them while they were doing their make-up and stuff, too.



Songfacts: Are there are any other interesting lyrical inspirations behind certain tracks on the new album?

Brink: Everything we write comes from our soul and my heart. I have to always be honest whenever I do any music. But it's definitely a visceral album. This album is the heaviest album we've had in a long time, and it has a lot of frustrations that built up in me over the last few years with society and things around me, and dealing with my own mental health. So there's definitely a whole journey of emotions in there.

Howorth: I think Maria said it best. The time we had off, it created this angst and this appreciation for what we do. Also, this kind of, "I want to unleash everything." This album was just a natural reaction for those feelings.

Songfacts: Going back a ways, what was the lyrical inspiration behind the track "Blood"?

Brink: "Blood" was a pretty significant moment for us in our careers. Our band had just quit on us, our manager dropped us. Our famous story is, we broke up for half an hour, and then I came back in, kicked the door in, and told Chris, "We're not done! We're not even close to done!"

We did feel like people didn't believe in us and maybe we shouldn't believe in ourselves. We really got down on ourselves for a little bit.

Then there was some sort of surge of energy that happened within us, with all these people not believing in us, that made us want to fight harder than we've ever fought in our whole lives. And [producer] Kevin Churko, who had been working with us, he still believed in us, and so did Century Media. They both wanted to still be on board. So we went and did some songs with Kevin Churko, and "Blood" was one of the songs.

Nobody was showing us any love, and everybody was treating us like the red-headed stepchild. Then we sent that demo out to everybody – just the song – and we were getting all these amazing reactions. We had people lining up to talk to us, and our whole career changed.

You can hear the struggle in that song. It's kind of self-doubt and self-love, and that kind of back-and-forth that we were feeling at that time. Kind of these voices that I think we hear in our own heads, the devil and the angel on your shoulder.

Howorth: That was a whole natural thing that came together. Like this album, it felt like we just followed the path and let all those emotions dictate what was happening.

Songfacts: And what about "Black Wedding," which features Rob Halford?

Howorth: "Black Wedding" was weird because when we were on Atlantic we had to do some writing sessions. With the big label, every album we did, our A&R guy would send us off to meet with co-writers. We were playing ball at the time. We met with this guy Scott Stevens, who is a really great songwriter – he's written stuff with Shinedown, Halestorm, and a bunch of other bands. So, we went in there with him and it's completely out of our comfort zone. Maria doesn't like doing this kind of stuff. We sat with him and we came up with this great musical piece that we all liked. She liked it too, but we just weren't sure what to do with this thing.

And Rob Halford is a good friend of the band. He just popped into our lives asking to come see us. He's such a great guy – he and Maria became friends – and we thought, "Let's hit him up and see if he's interested," because she was doing this "mother priest" thing lyrically.

He instantaneously said yes. He jumped on board completely energized and ready to do whatever we wanted to do. He was down for the video and everything. He's one of the coolest people we ever worked with.

Brink: We love him. It was a huge honor to work with him. He's such an amazing guy. It was always emotional and weird for me to work with writers, because like Chris said, we didn't do it quite often. We did it on our new album with Tyler Bates, but we wanted to do that. We chose that. So, when other people are trying to have us work with writers, to me, it's an uncomfortable feeling. I don't like to be told what to do or how to sing something.

But then one day I thought, You know what? I didn't write "Hurt" by Trent Reznor. And if I could meet with Trent Reznor and he could help me write a song like that, dear God, maybe I should be open a little bit to this. So, I am grateful that we did wind up doing that and writing that song because that is one of my favorites. And honestly, out of everyone we worked with, Rob is really one of our special favorites.

Songfacts: Which of your earlier songs seems most relevant today?

Brink: "The Gun Show." Because [the Sirius station] Octane plays "The Gun Show" and people love "The Gun Show."

Howorth: And I would say "Beautiful Tragedy."

Songfacts: What's an In This Moment song that doesn't get a lot of attention but means a lot to you?

Brink: "Legacy."

Howorth: Yeah, I'll back her up on that one. She had lost her grandpa, my dad had passed away, and our other guitarist Randy [Weitzel]'s father had passed away all within a few months of each other. We all came into the whole album bummed and depressed, just feeling that loss. That song literally was just born of thinking about our passed relatives.

Brink: It was in honor of them. My grandfather was my father, so it was a really emotional album for us in general. But that song was special. Chris does a solo for his dad, Randy does one for his, and the lyrics are for my grandpa. The whole thing was really emotional to us. We'll probably do that live again someday because it's special.

Songfacts: What's the most misunderstood song in the In This Moment catalog?

Brink: Definitely "Whore." When I met my partner's mother for the first time, she asked me, "What's your song 'Whore' about?" [Laughs]

It definitely can be perceived as something more on a sleazy side, or a more not-understanding-where-we're-coming-from side, but it's actually this super-empowering, sarcastic nature. It's all about women and empowerment. It's about taking something dirty and degrading and twisting it into something that empowers yourself.

Songfacts: Lastly, how did the idea come up to cover the Björk song "Army Of Me"?

Brink: I love Björk. I'm a huge Björk person. I grew up in the '90s just loving her, and I was always so inspired by her. We wanted to do a cover, and I always get tracks - they call it my "art tracks" - where I can just do this and that. And this was one of those songs that I picked where I wanted to do a cover and showed Chris three different Björk songs. This was the one that he loved the most. He liked it right off the bat.

Howorth: The main riff, when I was listening to that I was like, "That's really cool." And then once we put heavy guitar on it, it was like, "That is outside of metal, rock, techno, whatever her music is called. That is just a cool riff not matter how you slice it – on keyboard, acoustic-whatever, saxophone... it would just be a cool riff."

Brink: She's a brave icon. I love Björk. She follows no rules.

October 10, 2023

For more In This Moment, visit inthismomentofficial.com.

More interviews:
Rob Halford
Otep Shamaya
Tatiana Shmailyuk of Jinjer
Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation
J Mann of Mushroomhead

Photos: Jeremy Saffer

---

More Songwriter Interviews