Latest Episode
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Jake and Alex of Subtitles join OurSpace with Matt Vettese to discuss their debut album “Subtitles On,” building a band across two continents, long-distance songwriting, touring, Warped Tour’s Battle of the Bands, and how a drummer from France and a vocalist from the United States created one of the most exciting new emo/pop punk projects around.
In this conversation, we dive into the band’s origin story, how they write music while living nine hours apart, the challenges and advantages of being an international band, and the emotional themes behind songs like Reasons to Stay, Clean, and Midwest Home.
We also talk about touring plans, building community in music, social anxiety, making connections in the scene, and the bands you should be listening to right now.
Timestamps
07:18 Meet Subtitles
07:37 The important question: Do they watch TV with subtitles on?
08:18 How the band got its name
09:05 Writing music across France and the United States
10:37 The origin story of Subtitles
13:20 The biggest challenge of being a long-distance band
15:04 The advantages of writing music from different continents
16:31 Touring logistics and playing live together
18:58 How technology makes international bands possible
20:48 What happens when they finally meet in person to create music
22:33 Why Jake needs to visit France more often
23:00 Warped Tour Battle of the Bands experience
24:40 Building connections as an independent band
25:57 Social anxiety, networking, and growing a music career
30:19 The vision behind the debut album *Subtitles On*
31:06 The moment the album finally clicked
32:27 The most emotional songs on the record
33:28 When fans started tattooing their lyrics
34:19 Why songs like “Clean” and “Reasons to Stay” connect so deeply
35:54 Favorite songs from the album
37:16 Where new listeners should start with Subtitles
39:02 New music recommendations
42:03 Final thoughts
If you’re a fan of Arm’s Length, Movements, Basement, Hawthorne Heights, Blink-182, Sum 41, modern emo, pop punk, Midwest emo, and alternative rock, you’ll want to check out this conversation.
