Promise to Myself talks NAMM, new album, and upcoming shows – exclusive interview

Promise to Myself is an alternative group from Phoenix, AZ and is currently signed to 8020 Records. The band released their latest single “Circles” in October and is dropping a new album this February.

Be sure to check out Promise to Myself on Instagram and Spotify!

Q: So, you guys just played at NAMM a few weeks ago. How was that experience?

Karl: It was really fun. I think we were all kind of overwhelmed, to be honest. But it was a lot of fun wandering the floors there. We played two sets there—Westone Audio and Yamaha Stage that same night.

Zack: Yeah, it was super fun! I love NAMM. I hope we get invited next year because it was a super cool experience. 

Q: Your latest single “Circles” is so catchy! What was the creative process for this song? 

Zack: It’s our favorite shape. We tried triangle and it just didn’t work. 

Karl: We like parallelograms, but I can’t say parallelogram. So. 

[band sings the chorus of “Circles” using different shapes]. 

Zack: I think all of us were kind of in the same mood. We sat down and said, “I’m angry at relationships” and everyone was like “I’m angry at relationships, too.” 

Karl: We wrote this song about a year ago, at least, and we were just trying to do something new with our creative process. We ended up having this really cool chorus and we built the song off around that, which is kind of interesting. 

Zack: And that’s how it usually goes sometimes. We’ll come up with a chorus and say “That’s a really sick chorus. Let’s build a song off that.” The song is about wanting something to work but sometimes things just aren’t meant to work. And we’re not squares which is why it is called circles [laughs] 

Brad: It’s ’cause we’re always around [laughs]

Q: So, what have you guys been working on since the release of One for the Runaways in 2018? 

Tony: We did a lot last year. 

Zack: We performed a lot.

Karl: We did a lot of music videos in between. We did videos for singles off One for the Runaways. And then eventually we were like “It’s probably time for another EP.” So, we went to work. “Circles” is the first single off the EP we worked on last summer.

Q: What is your favorite song from your upcoming album? 

Zack: We have such an old-school Fall Out Boy-like song. It’s so emo and angsty. It’s called “Now You’re Calling Me Psychotic (At Least You’re Calling Me).” Isn’t that just like, so emo? 

Brad: That’s probably mine, too. 

Karl: I like “I Love You, I Hate It.” It’s just a cool title name. 

Tony: I’m with Karl on this one. 

Karl: We try to create titles of the songs that reflect how we felt when we were writing it and how we feel now about it. We wrote these songs so long ago that we had to recall how we felt, and that’s how we named it. 

Q: What song best represents your band’s sound from your debut EP One for the Runaways? 

Zack: That’s hard because as an artist you’re always growing and experiencing new stuff. But if I had to say one song from that era of us, I would have to say, “Another Tragedy.” 

Karl: I would say “Tragedy” and “It’s Okay” are the two top.

Tony: Or “There Goes My Heart.” 

Karl: That’s straight out of a band from high school though. [laughs]

Zack: When we were writing this song, it was supposed to be a more serious, love-type of song. And the original lyric was “When I finally got the chance, I asked her for another dance.” But it wasn’t sounding right.

Karl: It didn’t feel right. But the rest of the tone of the song felt satirical. It was a reflection on how we viewed our relationships at the time, being a bunch of angsty high schoolers. So, when we were writing we were like “dance” doesn’t sound good… What about “chance?” Still no

Zack: I was just like, “what about if she went and took off my pants?”

Karl: And we were like that’s it [laughs]. 

Q: What is keeping you busy besides music nowadays? 

Karl: I study business entrepreneurship at ASU. I started as a music major studying music theory and performance, but then they brought out the didgeridoo solo and I knew I had to get out of there [laughs]. I still don’t know what exactly I want to do.

Tony: I’ve just been working. I have a firm belief that this band can make it, so I am not that worried about school or work or anything. 

Zack: All of our jobs are just jobs that give us the best schedule to do music. Like Tony said, I think we are all pretty confident in this band and this is what we want our career to be. We’re just doing whatever now and hope in five years we can just focus on music. 

Brad: I work in a grocery store; I love my life [laughs]. 

Zack: Sometimes we tell people we’re going to Harvard just because it sounds cool [laughs]. 

Q: So, you have a pretty big show coming up with Drake Bell. How are you guys feeling about it and what are you doing to prepare? 

Zack: I’m nervous for Drake Bell because he might be shown out by us. That is a complete joke!!! [laughs]. 

Growing up, Drake and Josh was everyone’s favorite show. And now, listening to his newer music and stuff, we think he is an amazing artist. So yeah, I am super stoked. I just hope we get to meet him. 

Karl: Yeah and that’s the goal. It’s one of those things where if we see him, we won’t know what to really say to him. We’d just be starstruck for sure. There is so much riding on it because he is someone we watched growing up.

Zack: I think we are all pretty nervous and it’s not going to go away until we start the first song of the set.

Karl: Hmm, maybe three in [laughs]. It’s our biggest stage and our biggest show. There is a lot of work being put into this. It’s one of those things where it’s our duty to put on a really good show to the best of our abilities because it is such an honor to play this stage.

Zack: And beach balls. We’ll be throwing beach balls. 

Q: If you could ask Drake Bell one question, what would it be? 

Tony: Would you have chosen Disney Channel instead? [laughs]. 

Karl: My question for him is just how different he thinks his career could’ve been if he just pursued acting or just pursued music. 

Brad: Something inappropriate [laughs].

Zack: I would just ask for advice and ask him if he could do one thing different with his career, what he would do and why. I think that question says a lot about everything. 

Q: Do you guys have any pre-show rituals that you do individually? 

Tony: I think I do some jumping jacks every now and then.

Karl: I have never seen you do a jumping jack [laughs]. I need to do my vocal warmups.

Zack: I make sure my shoes are tied double knot because I am really jumpy on stage. And I stretch. If it’s a huge show, I’ll do a quick little prayer like “God, please don’t let me mess this up.” 

Brad: I go and sit in my car alone a lot.

[Band]: Yeah you do. 

Karl: We’ll be like, “Where’s Brad?”

Brad: If there’s a lot of people I just go to my car and chill out for a bit. I just kind of zone out.

Zack: We just give each other a pre-show kiss, muah [laughs]. 

Q: Do you have any pre-show rituals that you do as a group? 

Karl: For big shows, we huddle. We talk each other up while we’re on stage setting up.

Zack: Even during the set, I go up to them and bit my head on their shoulder and say something stupid to make them laugh. 

Karl: We pump each other up because we all get nervous and I think knowing we are in it together helps. 

Q: What is the first song you put on when you get in the car? 

Karl: “hot girl bummer.” But it changes every week. Like right now I’m bopping to that new Justin Bieber song. 

Zack: I think everyone has diverse music tastes. Here are my most recent albums: “Some Kind of Disaster” which is All Time Low’s new single. I like blackbear’s new song “me & ur ghost.” Eminem’s new album dropped—he’s my favorite rapper, so I jam that. “Tongue Tied” is a good single. 

Karl: I have a lot of musicals in mine. 

Brad: Any 1975 song. 

Zack: What about you, what’s in your iPod? Wait… [laughs]. 

Tony: I’ve been listening to a lot of Podcasts lately. Two people made a podcast about The Office. 

Brad: Nothing, nowhere honestly gets my emo vibes going. And I like The 1975. Those are probably my top two. 

Q: What are your band goals for this year? What about goals for the decade? 

Karl: I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow [laughs]. 

Tony: I think band goals by the end of the decade is to be touring regularly.

Karl: Yeah, living comfortably off music. 

Zack: I would love to be like, All Time Low status by 2025. People say it’s like, a one in a million. Dreams are one in a million, yeah. 

Karl: But one in a million is still really good odds. 

Zack: I want to be retired by 30 [laughs].

Karl: I just hope we are putting out music that feels good without sticking to one specific genre. 

Q: What does All Time Low status mean to you? What would be that made-it moment for the band? 

Zack: I remember I was watching a Fall Out Boy interview and they were asked a question like this. And Patrick and Pete said, “We’re still writing songs and touring, so I don’t know what you mean by making it.” I think a personal goal for us is to just make a positive change in our fans’ lives and stuff, and I think that if we did that on a larger scale, that would be successful. 

Karl: We just want to have a positive impact.

Zack: I feel like we could be a successful band if we just did that for 20 people in Phoenix. If this band crashed and burned tomorrow, I would say we were still a successful band because I feel like we have done that for some people.

Karl: It’s a great feeling to know that someone out there thinks of you as part of their family and part of their life. At the end of the day, our job is to be there for our fans.