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For some, the path that Trash Boat has taken over the last decade may seem surprising. From their frantically scrappy pop-punk roots to monolithic riff merchants, it feels like quite the jump on the surface. Yet, for the band, things would always be like this. This was always the plan. It was just a case of following what felt right then, what reflected their mindset, and what motivated them to create how they wanted to. For vocalist Tobi Duncan, the version of Trash Boat that broke out of the UK underground reflected the time. Youth in revolt, trying to find their place in all of this.

“When we were writing our early stuff, we were in our late teens and early twenties,” he explains. “There was a lot of angst and anxiousness about whether this band we were putting so much into would work alongside things going on in our personal lives that were good and bad and great fuel for lyrics. Those first albums were reflections of our situations, which were worse than they currently are. We still have troubles and negative thoughts now, all things that will fuel music. But I couldn’t be a genuine artist and creator if I was just drawing on past experiences that I have already written about that are becoming less and less relevant to my current status.”

And that current status can be felt coursing through ‘Heaven Can Wait’, a record that serves as an anchor for making the most of now. Gritty, grandiose and gripping all-in equal measure, it is the sound of trying to figure out what the fuck is going on right now whilst also trying to make the most of it at the same time. Pushing the limits of what is expected from Trash Boat whilst also showing them off at their most creatively confident and terrifically thoughtful demonstrates what happens when you just let things happen as they are supposed to. Because you can try and curate a direction you might head in as much as you want, what will always be.

“There’s a part of me that wishes in every part of my life, I could be one of these artists that can create a powerful, poignant, and digestible message. But trying my best to do that only comes about in the context of being honest and doing whatever I can at the time. The last thing I would want is to feel like I had written punk rock for dummies to get everyone to listen to our songs. That’s what I want to avoid. I would hate that.”

To dive into the complexities that have made up this wonderful record’s deeply personal creation, Rock Sound sat down with Tobi for a cup of tea to dissect it all.

THE SOUND

As mentioned, the most notable part of Trash Boat’s trajectory over the last decade is how the sound that they desire to embody has shifted. One listen-through of ‘Heaven Can Wait’, and you will be hit by nu-metal, alt-rock and metalcore lashings. Let it enfold you a little bit more, and the layers will keep peeling back, revealing the essence of glistening shoegaze and tectonic post-hardcore. Even in Tobi’s vocal delivery, his scream in particular reaching new depths of brutality, there is a desire to cover as much ground as possible. Yet it has never been with the intent of escaping their past or erasing how they got here. It’s just a case of seeing what comes out,, and working if it is worth investing their energy into.

“It’s not like we sat down and said, ‘Guys, we need to change this. We need to be a completely different band’. We just started to implement more wild and crazy styles into our writing. Many people thought we were changing for a specific reason or wanting to get away from pop-punk. It’s never been that. We just do whatever we feel like at the time. That is not a comfort for some people and not what some people like, which I totally understand. Some people want consistency and want bands to write albums that sound like things that they already like. That’s just not us.”

It’s how you end up with the icy breeziness of ‘Burn’ and the throwback pummels of ‘Are You Ready Now?’ rubbing shoulders with the thrashing intent of ‘Liar Liar’ and the woozy balladry of ‘Better Than Yesterday’. Such a variety of sounds bouncing perfectly off each other, exhibiting so many different parts of the band’s vast musical obsessions, makes for an album many won’t expect. Yet it exists in this form simply because Trash Boat felt like it could conquer the universe whilst making it. And if you don’t have that sort of belief in your band, then what’s the point?

“I’m always so proud of everything that we have done, and I will always expect more from myself, for or worse. But we sit in the studio each time we make something and say, ‘Boys, this is good’, and that will always be the case when it comes to releasing it. We will never release something we don’t fully believe in, and we write many songs within the creative process to get there. We always think we could take over the world with what we do., which will never change.”

THE COLLABORATORS

In the past, the band have never found the sweet spot regarding how much time they should spend on an album. For their 2018 album ‘Crown Shyness’, they were in the studio for six weeks but finished in four, meaning there were 14 days of overthinking and dial turning more than they had hoped. For 2021’s ‘Don’t You Feel Amazing?’, they needed more didn’t time, with some ideas not able to be fleshed out as much as they had hoped. And always trying to explain what they were trying to hit to an external producer each time made the ordeal even trickier.

That’s why, rather than looking for outside assistance this time, they took it upon themselves to produce and record with the equipment they had personally accumulated. The result was less strain and more time to pick and choose when the creative juices were sweetest.

“We have equipment in our houses. We can make a vocal booth and have good software and pedals, so let’s not spend all that money on things we don’t need. We don’t need the fancy studio and to splash out to get the results. This time, it came together in its own time, and it sounds great.”

That doesn’t mean they didn’t welcome a couple of guests. Crossfaith‘s Kenta Koie pops up and incites carnage on ‘Flithy /RIGHTEOUS’, whilst I Prevail‘s Eric Vanlerberghe matches Tobi’s energy furiously on the vast ‘Be Somebody’. And though the band didn’t have outside influence from a producer during this process, they did look to their friend’s and collaborators’ journeys to let them know they are aiming for the right stars. Of continuing to push when it feels like you’re working to a fault, of not letting numbers get in the way of your inventive incentives and of not giving up at any point. Because you never know how close you are to the treasure room.

“Having a peer like I Prevail, you go on tour with them and see them sell tens of thousands of tickets all over the place. On the one hand, you look at that and think, ‘Damn, we would love to sell that many tickets’, but on the other, you remember and realise that you are still there and still a part of it alongside them. It’s about keeping going and seeing what happens when you’re almost at the other end. You never know what might happen.”

THE LYRICS

Though ‘Heaven Can Wait’ is a statement of making the most of the here and now in a positive sense, the lyrical content comes from a pool where negative energy was allowed to run wild and free. Inspired mainly by six months of deep and desolating confusion for Tobi. The long-term effects of a degenerative knee injury, something he has written about heavily in the past, continued to hang heavy over everything that he was doing. His mental health deteriorated to a point where even considering getting out of bed in the morning was a mammoth task.  This cocktail of frustration and sadness left him wondering what the future may look like properly for the first time, and mixing that with starting to wonder if this pit is just where he exists now.

So rather than following suit of other bands, writing about what feels hot and fresh right now, he wrote about what he was actually feeling. And if the result of that was dark, then so be it.

“What I try and do is be as transparent a version of myself as possible,” he explains. “I might not be that interesting. I might not be that easily digestible, too. But I don’t want to make anything up to make people buy a few of our records. Nice and clean and shiny. I will also do my best not to pander to the current trend. The whole, I’m an outcast, come and be an outcast with me’ thing. Maybe I should do that more. There’s no authenticity in that, though. It’s never something I have gravitated towards artistically before. If I get a place where hundreds of thousands of people listen to my music and how I feel, it will be on the terms that make me feel comfortable.”

Because despite being so unrelenting and raw on these tracks, there is a comfort in expressing himself in such a way. Aside from the vulnerable admissions that define ‘Better Than Yesterday’ and the stark ultimatums of ‘Break You’, there is one song where this idea of pandering to what people think you should be singing about shines the brightest. That’s ‘The Drip’, a song which Tobi admits he feels holds the finest lyrics of his career so far, all about those bands who attempt to speak about socio-political issues whilst not actually grasping the fundamental knowledge, thought and empathy to make it worth it. These subjects aren’t just things to discuss on stage or marketing ploys, so why are they used that way?

It all stems back to the point that Trash Boat would rather be known for things they actually believe and feel rather than what others think they should be known for. Because Tobi has seen both sides of the coin, and writing about what is right for him will always come out on top.

“Success is good. Bigger shows, bigger tours, more people. It’s all great. But I have seen trash musicians release trash music and get massive, whilst some of the most beautiful personal music gets 2000 views in four years on YouTube. It happens, there’s no formula to it, and it can be brutal. But in the moment of creation, you have that moment where you feel, ‘This is fire, and I’m really proud of this’. We have never not had that feeling with anything we have written,”

THE TITLE AND ARTWORK

As mentioned, ‘Heaven Can Wait’ is about existing in the here and now. Not always wondering what shade of green the grass on the other side is all the time and enjoying the shade you’re currently standing on. Though to some, the combination of Heaven and the imagery found on the cover, showing an angel standing at a gate where blue skies and endless wonder can be seen in the great beyond, may feel like a religious statement that’s far from the case. Heaven is whatever you make of it. It could represent your relationship with your job, significant other, or aims and ambitions in life. Considering that things could be better elsewhere blocks you from appreciating what you have built right now.

It’s within that sentiment where Trash Boat, and Tobi in particular, feel as though they are at right now. They can ponder what the future holds and whether the steps they are making will pay off, but in doing that, they aren’t paying attention to how special a position they are in. So, by taking back the power and doing everything on their own terms, they are able to enjoy what this era of the band means to its full potential. The way it should always be.

“We all always imagine that there is something better somewhere else or things are better on the other side,” Tobi explains. “Some people even surrender to the fact that it doesn’t matter how crap their life is; there’s a heaven, and they are going to go there someday. Take stock of what’s around you. Be grateful. It’s supposed to be a name that says what it says, it doesn’t need to be dissected. Because things are great right here, and we don’t need to focus on something that may or may not exist in the future.”

THE FUTURE

In focusing on right here and right now, Trash Boat are set up better than ever for whatever the coming months may have to offer them. However, the most important aspect is that they are enjoying what they are doing in a way that every band should strive to. Savouring every second they have on stage, enjoying each other’s company as brothers as much as creatives and taking in everything that they experience like it’s all they have to hang on to, the result is total clarity. For Tobi, despite the difficulties and doubts he has written about on ‘Heaven Can Wait’, that doesn’t mean he adores who the band has allowed him to be. And even if everything changed tomorrow, he would still be that way. Gratitude is everything.

“Even if everything started to crash and burn, and it got to the point that we were washed and 50 people came to our farewell show, I would still love it,” he smiles. “I just love doing this; it’s my favourite thing in the world. We are always going to step foot on that stage and leave everything we have on it. That will always be the way. And you will see that and feel that in everything we do, forever”.