Another punk has joined the ranks of those who have been interviewed by me. I should make tee shirts or something! Regardless, I have conducted yet another interview with a wonderful internet pal of mine. (Twitter is a blessing. Please sponsor me, Twitter.) In the following interview, Tyler and I chat about punk music, being punk, and the lack of other punks in his community, as well as being a performer when one’s persona is not naturally inclined to socialization and interaction. As always, enjoy, and check out Tyler’s links below to delve deeper into his wonderful creations. (Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Bandcamp, Delayed Promises, Three Cheers)
The level to which you are punk/DIY is undeniable. As a result, your lyrics are very blunt and straightforward, as most punk songs are, yet their simplicity in no way diminishes their impact. Obviously, not everyone is punk, but most of your lyrics will resonate to some extent with any standard individual (like lacking faith in oneself as you address in “High School Burnout” or feeling pressured to perform and appeal to others as you express in “Anyway”). Hemingway once said that true authors write what they know, which you certainly do. In a world of try-hards who feel the need to create elaborate, excessive music that sounds so insincere, how do you remain loyal to writing what you know and about the experiences and topics that matter most to you? What has inspired you most to express these feelings through punk music?
Firstly, I gotta say thank you for that first part; I hoped my intentions were coming through loud and clear. I try to make my songs as straightforward as possible since they’re always written with a purpose, so again thank you for that! Well, I just always find that I write about how I’m feeling or something that deeply affected me in some way. I’m especially attracted to sociology and psychology. I’m extremely against making any kind of art that is insincere; it’s something I’ve been noticing more and more. I primarily write about stuff that is extremely personal to me. I write about wild nights that I’ve had or tragic things that have happened to me, like “Blue Moon” being written about a close friend of mine that ended up overdosing in California, or as you mentioned with “Anyway,” my constant fear of my art not coming off the way I want it to, or even worse, being boring. In reference to High School Burnout, I legitimately didn’t know what that song was going to be when I sat down to write it; I just knew that I loved the title! I came up with it while laying on the floor and couldn’t help but write a song around it. It turned into one of my favorites honestly. I think the lyrics in that song are some of my best. I don’t care much for politics, but I do care a lot about humanity and equality, which is what got me to end up writing “The United States of Mass Shootings or Whatever,” because I’m so tired of the pattern of something tragic happening, we all point, say “that’s bad,” and carry on with no changes made! I found that punk music was the best outlet for me before I even started making music. Sometimes you just want to scream, sometimes you wanna do a slow sad song; with punk, I can do both. I also just feel that I don’t really fit into any other genre, though I’d love to experiment with new sounds!
Along with the singles released under your own name, you play in the band Delayed Promises. Your music under these titles vary sonically, but the content remains similar, though your self-titled works seem more biting and aggressive. Do these projects coexist as different creative outlets serving different purposes? If so, would you care to elaborate on the intentions of each project?
I play in [Delayed Promises] with my best friends Anthony Gibbs, and Zoe Standridge. I wrote most of the songs for that project, so it probably just comes down to the fact that it’s the same sad sap writing the music, haha, though on newer projects, I do want to let the other members write their own songs. Delayed Promises’ original EP came out last year in October, I think. I’d been playing guitar for about 5 months at that time. I really knew nothing about making music, but I knew I wanted to do it. Once I started making solo music because Anthony and Zoe were getting busy with life stuff, I think I started to flesh out more the music that I would like to make. I can’t wait to work on more stuff with them, as playing in a band versus recording music alone in your bedroom is very different. I miss companionship! Delayed Promises and Tyler McAlister should hopefully turn out to be two different machines, but who knows!
Despite how many times I’ve passed through New Mexico, I know very little about it, and I know even less about Clovis. What’s it like living there? Is there any punk scene, or are you it?
New Mexico has its highlights; we’ve got the first atomic bomb test sight, so that’s pretty radical. Billy the Kid was around here too, and Buddy Holly! Buddy Holly actually recorded here in Clovis, so you’d think it’d be a very music-centric town, but sadly no. There is no punk scene in this town, but that’s something I’m trying to work on! I’m trying to give a stage to all of the local artists that I know here, mainly because I want to play shows, but there’s nowhere to play shows here! I plan on moving away from here eventually, hopefully to somewhere with a punk scene that you will definitely catch me in! Most places here laugh you off for being punk, as the area is primarily dominated by Country bands and Mariachi bands. I’ve tried to contact a few stations around here and some local podcasts, but they pretty much wrote me off as not marketable here, which is a real shame because I’d like to say that I was built up by where I’m from, but it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. That being said, if anyone local to me or the surrounding area wants to put on shows, contact me! I’m up for any ideas!
Delayed Promises’ first full length is titled “Summer of the Introvert,” and that name is not only fantastic, but also conducive of the themes of introversion, such as staying inside and avoiding socialization, that are present throughout this release. Despite being performers, most musicians and music-listeners are rather introverted individuals. Do you feel that the introversion many creators experience can be a motivator, and how do you use those periods of alone time to create and express yourself without needing to be extroverted. (Bonus Question!!Is the track “Fake Problems!” a nod to Chris Farren? Please talk about Chris Farren. I love Chris Farren.)
I definitely feel that introversion is a huuuuge motivator for me, at least. Sometimes it sucks because I would rather be out making memories with people, but I can’t say that I necessarily hate it. In the fields that I’m in, it makes it a necessity to come off as extroverted, especially when directing or interacting with people who enjoy your content. I find myself getting drained by socializing for long periods of time, but you can’t really say that to people without seeming like you’re annoyed by their presence, which I’m definitely not! Occasionally the spark of creativity comes when I’m home, and that’ll result in me not going outside all day because I’m working on something. Now, for my favorite part of this question, Chris Farren. I actually met Chris Farren back in March during the POST- tour that Jeff put on. I had never listened to Fake Problems, but I frequently listen to Chris Farren, with all of his perfect sets and music. Chris was actually the one who asked me the same thing when I showed him Delayed Promises at the concert. Chris is seriously one of the kindest dudes I’ve ever met: super humble, despite being so perfect. When I first walked up to him, I ask him how he was doing, to which he responded “I’m great! Hey I love that shirt! I love that band! How are you doing?” He was referring to my Rozwell Kid tee I wore to the concert. I told him I’m doing great because I just saw a perfect set by Chris Farren, to which he congratulated me!
You’re also rather involved in film and theatre, which is super awesome! Who are your favorite filmmakers/playwrights? Any guilty pleasure films? Additionally, what was your favorite production to have been involved in, and what was that experience like?
Favorite filmmakers would probably have to be some classics, like Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Kubrick. Diving deeper into that, I quite like Ari Aster’s short films. I haven’t seen “Hereditary” yet, as I heard that an animal gets hurt in it, but I’m very happy to see him get mainstream success. Bo Burnham recently wrote and directed a film, and I’m looking forward to seeing that! My favorite playwrights probably are Christopher Durang, I like a lot of his black comedies, and he never disappoints me. I even played the lead in “The Actor’s Nightmare.” Henrik Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People” is one of my favorite plays and I’ve always wanted to star in a production of it. Sam Shepard is great of course. My favorite production in theatre was probably the one we did of “Noises Off,” quite possibly the funniest play revolving around theatre that I have ever read. I got to play Fredrick in that play, who was very unlike me, but that’s the whole point of acting right? To become someone else? Anyways, “Noises Off” is a fast-paced comedy that is intensely challenging for the actors because of how physical a lot of the comedy is; I was thrown, kicked, punched, and dropped all in the same act! I’d never do the play again, but I do feel that it is the greatest theatre production I’ve ever been a part of. Best film production I was a part of is probably “Sympathetic Apathy,” just because I knew what I was doing and it wasn’t hell to do it, like the last two productions before it. We filmed “Incurable,” a film that you can’t find anywhere now cause I removed it from any platform it was previously on. We were in military BDUs for pretty much a whole summer shooting that damn movie. “Sympathetic Apathy” had me with a much better understanding of how to film AND environments with air conditioning! I have some film projects coming up that are going to be a lot of fun to shoot; I’m primarily writing small skits right now, concurrently with writing features when I get inspired to write them, and hopefully, these next few skits come out as good as they are on paper! Guilty pleasures; I rarely feel guilty for liking something, even if its mostly panned. Movies that deserve more credit than they got: “Sea of Trees” (2015) directed by Gus Van Sant caught way too much flack when it opened at a film festival; it’s a good film in my eyes. “Gerry” (2002) is the same way, but I see where people drop off with it; I found it more relaxing than anything. Two Japanese films that immediately come to mind are “Jigoku” (1960) and “Hausu” (1977); both are wild rides that I never hear people talking about. “Jigoku” is a great cinematic exploration of Hell and is pretty funny at some points! “Hausu” is more of a psychedelic adventure, but equally as wild as Jigoku, especially towards the end. “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Love” (1989) is a film I saw recently that has really stuck in my brain; it also features the first actor to play Dumbledore as the most despicable human being on earth. It’s great! Pretty much every Ju-On film except for the last one. People often aren’t even aware that “The Grudge is a shoddy remake of it.” Get me started on movies and I’ll never stop talking!
And finally, a fun question! What’s the longest punk yell you’ve ever held? If given the chance, would you ever challenge Jeff Rosenstock to a punk-yelling contest?
Oh man, that’s a great question. I had to spend quite a lot of time figuring out if I knew the answer. I went through my catalogue of my recorded punk screams, and I think that “Fake Problems!” actually has my longest punk yell. I really love that song overall, specifically for that moment of my vocals shining and that final riff in the song. I’ll have more punk yells in the future, and hopefully I can top that one! I may have them with a track that hasn’t been released yet. I also just want to thank you for giving me a platform to speak on; I am extremely grateful for it!
Elyse Picks 