Thank you again for giving us this opportunity to do an interview with you as we trust you are all psyched to have announced your brand new release to the world- which brings us to the first point we would love to address: what caused you to cease touring and releasing new music, in addition to what or who was the catalyst for the return of Conquer Divide?
Izzy: We initially paused touring because we all felt that we had toured enough with our first album. There’s only so many tours you can do before fans are expecting something new! We have actually been writing new material for years now, regular life just kind of gets in the way you know?? We are also currently self funding and self releasing everything....kind of slows everything down!
Kia: I would say the biggest catalyst for our return is finally feeling satisfied with our song "Chemicals." We worked on it for so long, and were so lucky to be able to have filmed before COVID closures across the globe. Like Izzy said, we all have a lot happening in our personal lives, and it finally felt like things were getting back to normal-ish.
For many of us long-time fans we recognize a new face in Conquer Divide. What can we learn about the new personality in the group, and was the process for selecting the new member similar to the inauguration of the original lineup?
Izzy: Samantha is awesome! She actually auditioned for the band before we had Tamara and at the time it just didn’t work out. She actually stayed at my house when we shot the video for ‘Chemicals’ and we had a lot of fun. She’s super easy going and down to earth.
Kia: I love Sam! She is so funny, and she fits in with us really well which is so important. She is insanely talented and we are super lucky to have her as an addition to the group.
Much has changed in the world, as we are sure all of your lives have over the last handful of years. What would you say to how the group has matured over the years since we last heard from you, in addition to, when we last spoke there was mention of an acoustic album- where does that project stand?
Izzy: I feel like a lot of us have matured just by getting older and growing up haha? Our current band dynamic is the best it’s been, everyone gets along and is super chill. Being in a band can be super stressful, we have had to overcome a lot of obstacles over the past few years and we all can relate to the struggle.
Kia: I would agree with Izzy, we all have grown up a lot, I know I have. Our dynamic is amazing, and we are really like a family now. We've all been through so much over the past few years, and it has brought us closer for sure. And as far as the acoustic album, that feels like so long ago when we talked about that! I hope we can still do one, because I love the rawness of acoustic music so much.
As you can imagine, we are all thrilled to hear the new release and have been jamming these ever since. Do you have new releases planned coming up, or even possibly an album we can expect in the near future?
Izzy: Yes! New releases are coming soon (maybe even before this interview goes live !?!) We currently have about an E.P length of music, a full length would be sweet but I’m pretty sure the plan is to keep busting out singles for now.
Lastly, we absolutely love the unknown, although we all know Squatch is real, can you tell us any experience(s) you've had with unexplained events, unidentifiable objects, or even spotted Squatch yourself? We would love to hear your experiences with the unknown?!
Kia: I have never seen Squatch, and I hope I never do!! But I definitely believe in ghosts, and I've lived in a haunted house! When I was about 12 years old, I lived in this old house with my mom, sister, and brother. We all knew it was haunted but never had any real proof, just gut feelings. So one day, my sister was really sad because her favorite necklace went missing. We looked everywhere for it with no luck. I gave up and went to take a shower. I locked the door behind me, placed my folded towel on the sink by the shower, and got in. When I got out, my sister's necklace was laying neatly over my towel, like someone had placed it there, but the bathroom door was still locked!! This was only 1 of many weird ghostly experiences I had in that house. We just assumed it was a nice ghost though, so I was never too scared.
We here at Squatch in the Pit and Pop Deflators want to thank you all for taking the time of your days to answer these questions and give us this opportunity.