Getting Raw & Real

Photo by Ed Aardwolf

What started as a solo project aimed at simply releasing some pent-up emotions, has quickly grown into Bedroom Talk; a Vancouver-duo on track to become Canada’s next biggest pop-punk exports. We spoke with frontman, Tyler Zanon about the impact music has on his battle with depression/anxiety, and details on their upcoming album, Letters To Our Former Selves.

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JA: How did Bedroom Talk start?
TZ: The band started as a solo project and an outlet for myself back in 2012/2013 to release rough acoustic demos/song ideas on YouTube & Soundcloud simply because I needed to get stuff off my chest.

I’ve always been one to use music as a way to express myself. I think it’s something that has become a part of who I am. Whenever I had those low moments in life and felt absolutely terrible – being able to transfer those feelings and thoughts onto paper and into a piece of music was my personal way of coping. That’s what helped take the anxiety away and helped me put my mind at ease when nothing else could. Bedroom Talk was honestly just a ‘Musical Diary’ so to speak [laughs]. The great thing about that is, that hasn’t changed. It will always be a very personal and honest project. Having a new member (Cody Muraro) in on the writing process and vocals has really helped the band form into what it is now. I couldn’t be happier about that.

JA: Your songs paint a dark introspective look at growing up. Can you talk about the things that influence your work?
TZ: They do for sure, can’t deny that! [Laughs]. Yeah, I mean to put it simply, it’s just a very personal thing. I’ve always been a fan of music that can speak to someone on a deep, emotional level. For myself, that’s what matters most in music. No matter how blunt a lyric is, they are usually the ones that cut to the core for someone, especially if it’s projected and sung in a certain way in the song.

As far as those dark moments that have influenced the work, a lot of it stems from battling with depression and really bad social anxiety over the course of 10 years. It’s also just from many life experiences – dealing with the deaths of loved ones, losing good friends and/or long-term relationships, self-image issues, internal conflict, existential despair and having that sort of ‘nihilistic’ view on life. I know Cody has been through some similar stuff, so a lot of times when we write separately we manage to combine our writing very well.

I’ve always been one to use music as a way to express myself. I think it’s something that has become a part of who I am.

JA: Tell me about your new album, Letters To Our Former Selves.
TZ: We pretty much started writing new songs right after we released our EP Grinding Teeth back in May. Over the course of the summer, we were super busy writing a bunch of new tunes together. The process went insanely smoothly and very fast as I was able to record/mix & master all of it on my own. The whole record is something I am very excited to share with anyone who is stoked on Bedroom Talk.  There are about three older songs on the album that we decided to re-record and make into something new. One of them is the title track and possibly one of the most meaningful songs to me. It reflects back on a time with someone who once truly meant the world to me. In the end, it turned into something very toxic and I think it’s a great feeling to give those times and my ‘Former Self’ a final goodbye through expression of song.

JA: Speaking of former selves, what’s one thing you would actually say to your younger self? What would you ask your future self?
TZ: That’s a fantastic question. There are too many things that come to mind but I think if I could tell the old me some advice it would probably be: No matter how blinded you are by all the terrible things going on for yourself right now, life does have a plan. You are not alone in this, so stay close to the ones that matter to you and keep doing what you’re doing. I can’t say for certain that life gets better, but you’re on the right track. As far as asking my future self a question, I’d probably want to know how he’s doing. I would be curious to see where I’d be in 10 years.

JA: You’ve gotten so much amazing feedback and have people from all over the world begging you to come play! Along with that, how has the past year been for you guys?
TZ: It’s been crazy and very surreal. The response/feedback from complete strangers has been insane. It’s incredibly humbling to know that there are people out there that genuinely care about the songs we’ve released. That’s all I could ever ask for. Just having one person that has felt moved by the lyrics I’ve written at some of the darkest points of my own life; to have that actually mean something to them is mind-blowing. On top of all that, seeing people show they seriously want to see us play places I’ve yet to travel to leaves me speechless. All in all, the past while has been going way better than I could have ever imagined. Things are picking up fast and quite positively that I actually get anxious from it all because I’m not used to it. [Laughs]

JA: What do you have in store for 2018?
TZ: Quite a lot! We will be releasing our full-length sometime in the new year. The official date isn’t confirmed yet, but stay tuned and keep an eye out for announcements on that! We promise it’s going to be worth the wait. Aside from that, we should be starting to tour/playing lots of shows throughout the new year. We just starting practicing as a full band, so hopefully we’ll make it out to lots of different new cities to share our music with some new faces.

Like them at Facebook.com/BedroomTalkPopPunk. Listen at BedroomTalkBC.Bandcamp.com and follow on Instagram @bedroomtalkbc.