Letlive.
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Letlive.

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“While I was creating this record I wanted to feel scared,” he says. “I wanted to be outside of my zone of comfort. People often put up parameters to give themselves the illusion of safety, but I wanted to be free from constraints. 

“I don’t know what to expect [from this release] and I like it. I’ve always had a penchant for adversity and maybe I’m playing into that. But I’m really excited and I love the feeling of the unknown.”

Afropunk described Letlive’s last album as, the “first truly unique” post-hardcore album in years, and with the unveiling of If I’m the Devil (out via Epitaph Records), this reputation is set to continue. Letlive are a band on a mission, partnering political messages with rock music. The new album includes lyrics commenting on corruption, faith, greed and self-belief, but it’s development hasn’t been easy.

“When we started the creative process for this record it was fucking hard,” Butler says. “We were in a weird place as a band. But as we went along I think we all realised that Letlive, as a band, is bigger than the four of us at this point.”

Butler lights up when he talks of learning to trust his bandmates and surrender himself to the project. “Trust is everything – one hundred per cent. Our band has a couple of primary songwriters, but the Letlive that you hear on this record is the final product of four men. There was a lot of back and forth. We spent the most time trying to figure out what’s going to best service the record, and being aware of not just indulging ourselves artistically. That was the largest issue we had to face when writing the record. That, and letting ourselves trust that this dude knew what he was doing, or that this dude had a vision.

“We really needed to feel comfortable with each other again,” Butler adds. “In some ways it was new territory, unfamiliar and alien. The last few Letlive records were organic and we allowed it to be what it was, but this record was very deliberate. There was a lot of intent in this record.”

Butler has been outspoken in the past about his troubles growing up in a disadvantaged area of Los Angeles with a black father and white mother. Butler has said he often felt estranged from his father and took on the role of man of the house at a young age. He recalls a time when his mother was undergoing treatment for leukaemia and he was left to look after his younger sister.

“In some ways it’s extremely difficult for me to talk about certain things to the degree that is necessary to write a song. I can’t just meet someone on the street and start talking about the shit that I talk about in my record,” he says. “I’ve spent most of my life keeping it completely removed from any conversation, because that’s what I thought being a man was all about. These days I’m trying to be a lot more open and free in my life.”

If I’m the Devil is a beacon of hope for the disaffected and disenfranchised. Butler says that while many things divide us, these can also be the very things that unite us. “I’d love for people from each side of the coin to feel like they’re represented. For someone to think, ‘Oh wait, maybe this person understands. Maybe I’m not the only person who feels this or thinks that or has had these experiences.’ Feeling a sense of harmony and liberation within oneself is the first step to really changing anything.”

Letlive will be spreading their message of freedom and hope across the United States during the Northern summer, but the good news is that Australia has a special place in Butler’s heart. “Unfortunately we’ve got stuff lined up for the rest of the year, so you won’t be seeing us in Australia anytime soon. But we’re trying to make our way back at the beginning of 2017, and I can’t wait.

“When my friends from The Ghost Inside first came back from Australia they said, ‘Yo, I’m telling you man, the people there are beautiful inside and very much on the outside too.’ You know, the fucking typical American – ‘Oh man, they’ve got hot people there.’ But they also said that you guys were hungry for live music, and the music that we were playing was something very special and unique to Australia. So I just want to thank you guys for sharing that shit with us, because I get it now. My friends told me that five or six years ago, and now I get to experience it for myself.”

BY NATALIE ROGERS