Fight Cloud is an indie math rock alternative band from Richmond, going strong for about 14 years. Their sound blends genre elements with wonderful melodies, harmonies, great tones, textured rhythms, and bass, alongside furious drum beats. They’re releasing their new album Ritual Disasters this November. After hearing some of the songs live back in March 2024 and getting a privileged preview of the album, I was floored by the recording from the very first track.
I had the chance to ask founding members Justin and Mitch some questions about the album and their recording process.
T-Rav: Excited for this album, what does it feel like knowing you are about to drop an incredible album? Do you think people are ready for this?
Justin: Haha, much appreciated! It feels great to finally be putting something we’re proud of out into the world, especially after such a lengthy release hiatus. We’re immensely excited to share new music after four years of slow-burning developments—some member changes, life changes, world changes. It feels good, really good. Can’t wait for people to hear it.
T-Rav: Does this album bear any difference in process recording or composition from the first two albums?
Justin: Not really—our process stays pretty consistent. The main considerations are usually how heavy or laid-back we want the music to be and how elaborate the production is. Our last release was more mellow, with a focus on extra production elements, so we wanted to make this album heavy and raw. There are fewer layers, but overall, we think the material is full enough to achieve the sonic range we were aiming for.
The writing process was also fairly standard, but adding Grayson on drums and Ethan on bass brought some exciting new energy and flow states that we’d been missing for a while. We all seemed to meld well together, making writing much easier than it had been over the past few years.
T-Rav: What was the time period for writing these songs?
Justin: We wrote a few songs between 2020 and 2023, but the process was too slow and wasn’t coming together as we’d hoped. Once Grayson joined, we were able to hit that flow state more often and finished the rest of the album’s songs in about six months, from late 2023 into early 2024.
What was some of the inspiration for this album or some of the songs?
Stew: I (Stew/Justin) had a fairly unpredictable 2022 and 2023, filled with ups and downs. Love and marriage, loss, life changes—many big moments happened. A lot of the lyrics on this album reflect these experiences through my lens and the inner dialogue I had during that time. A major theme is overcoming the ‘ritual disasters’ or necessary evils of daily life to find the brighter side, the greener grass.
T-Rav: Do you approach albums as one conceptual story or songs as individual compositions of meaning and expression?
Justin: I think we tend to approach albums as a collection of individual songs, largely because we focus on being in the moment as we compose together. That said, we do aim for some cohesion throughout. We might write in a particular key or use similar sounds, vibes, or pedals for each song to create a flow across the album. Sometimes we even take parts from one song and rework them into another as a callback. Lyrically, albums can be a different story. I like to keep a general theme and explore various perspectives or moments related to it—something a bit conceptual from a personal standpoint.
T-Rav: Where was the album recorded and how long was the recording process?
Justin: The album was recorded at Go West Recording here in RVA, owned and run by our guitarist, Mitch Clem. It’s also our rehearsal space, so the setting felt very natural. We blocked off four days to record drums, bass, and my guitar, and then Mitch tracked his guitar over the following week. Vocals were finished over a few sessions shortly after.
Then, due to scheduling and other factors, Mitch ended up having about a week to mix and master the record. So the whole thing was pretty streamlined.
T-Rav: The incredible musicianship and on the album how long did it take to get comfortable to get down the recordings? What are different band members’ contributions to the songs and the tracking?
Justin: I’d say we’ve gotten lucky, haha. We’re pretty quick at locking down tracks for recording. Just before we started tracking, we took about a week to practice the full album and make any last-minute changes we wanted. That led to writing new intros for two tracks—a bold move, but it was a valuable part of the process. Also, having our audio engineer as a band member helps us know what to expect and how to prepare in advance.
Mitch: We also made sure we had decent live demos of everything so I could use those to map out the tempo changes for all the songs. That way we could record to a metronome but preserve a lot of the live, natural energy of the music. I think the effect can be felt on the record.
T-Rav: Are there any moments that stand out to you hearing them in playback on the album that were particularly exciting to listen to?
Justin: They all have little moments that are interesting to hear after being tracked, but one in particular that stands out is “Treat Machine”. It’s a heavier one on the album so hearing the fun grit and dirt we used is exciting. It seems to leave a mark when we play it live as well.
Mitch: Yeah, “Treat Machine” and “Thornbird” are fun ones—they’re moody and have that ‘journey’ structure where we don’t return to any previous sections. After those comes “How Will It Hold”, the stripped-down track. It’s a downtuned guitar piece that I wrote and recorded on my own, with Stew and me collaborating on the vocals. It’s a bit different from anything we’ve done before, and it’s cool to hear something more personal to me integrated into a Fight Cloud record. I hope those three don’t get overlooked and that some listeners connect with them.
T-Rav: Three albums into the band’s journey may be late to ask but I’m always interested in what other bands, albums, or songs inspired this body of work directly or indirectly?
Justin: We always take a chunk of inspiration back to some of Circa Survive’s early work. They’re ethereal guitars and melodies have always been so perfectly blended with a balance of melancholy and beauty. We tend to also take a hint of flavor from Minus the Bear and Enemies. As a guitar heavy band they’ve also been big influences on capturing the pretty yet complicated guitar work we try to embody in our music.
Mitch: Stew is more melodically inclined than me and I take a particular interest in stuff that is rhythm-centric . So I tend to bring some extra-influence from bands like Palm, Horse Lords, and Town Portal. The place where our respective guitar playing styles collide plays a big role in defining our sound.
T-Rav: Your music has often been described as math rock, and listening to this album, I really connected it to the At The Drive-In family tree of The Mars Volta and Sparta (which I mean as high praise) and early 21st-century alternative progressive rock. What tradition or genre of music do you all identify with and aim to carry the torch for?
Justin: Oh man, At The Drive-In is a huge compliment—haha, thanks for that! We do stand by the math-rock tag (or, as our friend Cole calls it, ‘suburban jazz’). While we might not be the typical tappy or shreddy, Chon-esque style, we incorporate our own odd time signatures and mathy elements in a way that feels right to us. At this point, I think alternative progressive rock is a great descriptor. We’re not really into traditional prog rock, but we do enjoy challenging ourselves and the listener a bit with our musicality.
T-Rav: As a new listener where does the name of the band originate?
Justin: Haha that’s a short story, just a phrase we heard in high school and liked. I wish there was more to it, but it means a lot to us at this point. 16 years and many songs later and we’re still Fight Cloud.
T-Rav: How does the City of Richmond fit into Fight Cloud’s story?
Justin: Mitch and I started Fight Cloud in 2008 but we really started finding our sound after we moved to Richmond in 2010. We were very active here from 2011 through 2015 and our friends’ bands like Night Idea, Houdan The Mystic, Way Shape or Form, Midair, Shy Low, Parenthesis, Basmati, etc were huge inspirations for us. We met Ethan and Grayson here. It’s been our home base and where everything has culminated to where we are now. We owe a lot to this city and community!
Fight Cloud at The Camel 3/13/24 photo Todd Raviotta
T-Rav: What’s up next? Where is the band playing as we finish the year and start the next?
Justin: The album release show is on November 9th at The Camel, with Human Worm and Ing. After that, we’re heading out for a short tour run to Chicago and back from 11/13 to 11/17, and we’re setting up a show with Midlife Pilot at Bandito’s in December. We also have an upcoming music video shoot that we’re excited about. Beyond that, we’re looking forward to getting back into writing some new music.
