MyHeartYourGlove wants you to persevere
Midwest emo that feels like watching DBZ at your friend's house and pouring your heart out to them between episodes.
MyHeartYourGlove don't mince words on their debut album, No Maps For This Distance. Over chaotic bursts of Midwest emo, singer Jared Waterwash-Rodriguez belts out frank reflections on loneliness, alienation, grief, and the discomfort that comes with growing up. And though the Ohio band has explored these themes in the past, their latest really hones in on them with a sharp precision, triggering stomach-dropping waves of melancholic nostalgia as the songs unfold. And that’s what emo’s all about, right? It’s a genre that exists to turn your growing pains into a thing of cathartic beauty, replete with shimmering guitars.
No Maps also taps into another valuable hallmark of the genre - a strange sense of camaraderie. Not only are the songs’ emotional outpourings relatable, it also feels like you’re being let into MHYG’s world; hanging out at their house and watching DBZ while you take turns pouring your heart out between episodes.
A few weeks ago, Jared hopped on a video call with me to talk about the album, and we chatted a little bit about the best anime music videos.
Is it exciting now that the album’s been released?
Yeah, especially because we got a lot of traction on our first two singles. Big thanks to We're Trying Records for helping us out. I'm excited to have something out there that's really capturing the direction we're going for.
The artwork for the album is cool, where was the photo taken?
So, we have a dim sum restaurant here in Cleveland. The food's alright, but the coolest part about it is there's an Asian shopping plaza attached to it. It's a bunch of old Asian antique stores and stuff like that. And for some reason I was like, “a picture here would work perfectly.” We had our friend Murphy come out and take a bunch of pictures, and then we picked the ones that we liked the most.
I like the inclusion of the funky little Pikachu lamp.
Yeah, we almost came home with one of those, but I decided it wasn't financially responsible.
I would not have been able to resist. Okay, so I’ve listened to the album a few times now and it’s been driving me insane - what is the opening sample?
Oh, it's Freaks and Geeks. It's the episode where the bully poisons Bill by putting peanuts in his sandwich, because he has a peanut allergy. The scene is Bill basically on his deathbed and the bully telling him that he doesn't want him to die. It’s episode 13, "Chokin' and Tokin'.” Make sure you guys put that one on later, it's a good episode.
That’s such a good trope too - the samples over the Midwest-emo guitar, I mean. I always get hyped for those.
I feel like TikTok and Instagram Reels culture made that even more prominent - like, you'll see the ones where it’s the most bizarre scene but the guy's playing a nice riff over it.
There's an anime sample on this too, right?
Yeah, on “SSJ2 Gohan Vs Cell {AMV} [1080p]” - I wanted something Dragon Ball there, but I think [drummer Kyle McGill Percy] said it was a little bit too on the nose considering we've already named the whole song after Dragon Ball. I think the sample’s from Rurouni Kenshin. And then at the end of “Pipsqueak,” we put a sample from the classic 2000s sitcom The Bernie Mac Show.
That's kind of where I grew up - around the TV, you know? I feel like a lot of kids, especially in single-parent households, are raised by the TV, so a lot of that stuff factors into the songs themselves; it kind of works its way in.
Was this sort of lonely nostalgia something that you really wanted to capture with this album?
No, but I think that's just something that's like…inherently part of me, you know what I mean? And those themes of being uncomfortable or having social issues and stuff like that - I feel like that's just me, so that can be reflected in the music. But I don't go into songwriting with that in mind specifically.
If you had to describe the core of this album, what would it be?
I think the big theme would just be that the world is kind of crazy and things sometimes don't go the way you want them to. Not to do like, an All-American Rejects “Move Along” type of thing here, but it's like…you really do have to live your life regardless. Shit sucks, but you gotta persevere.
Are you the primary songwriter? Or is it like, everyone's coming in and pitching stuff?
I would say it's about 90% me. Before this band, and even early on with MHYG, all I did was play guitar. Never was a songwriter. Never was a singer. So it always starts with a guitar riff and then we figure it out from there.
In the sense of the album, it sort of came organically. We already had four songs that we liked, and we didn't want to do another EP, so we were like, “let's just write four more.”
I really like the way these songs are sequenced and how they flow into one another. Those drum transitions really help bring everything together.
Yeah, Kyle does a lot of the actual set ups for the recordings, so he gets the luxury of deciding how the structure of the songs go and have all the fun with that. A lot of the transitions are just cool drum parts because he got first dibs on it.
There’s a few synth laser-y sound effects between some songs, too, right?
Yeah, our bass player [Ivan Suñer] is big on electronic music. He's got a whole bunch of synthesizers, a whole bunch of keyboards and stuff. And we feel bad because like…for the most part those wouldn't really fit what we do, you know what I mean? We told him, “hey, we need something here in a transition, have fun with it.” And then, in typical Ivan fashion, he just got really wacky with it. So yeah, it sounds like a spaceship landing or something from a shitty 80’s sci-fi movie, but it works.
I think you guys did something similar on Buick Killer, right?
Yeah, we’re nice and let him have one synth per project.
Where did you record? In a home studio?
Yep, my childhood house is now the house my older brother lives in, and he's super chill about us using his space to record. He also does music. So we recorded at home, did all the recordings and stuff by ourselves, and then sent it off to mix. You save a lot of money that way.
Recording a Midwest emo album in your childhood home …I mean, that feels like the best place to do it, in a way. Fits the genre’s vibe.
Yeah. Plus, like, I wouldn't want to do it in my two-bedroom apartment in the suburbs because I’d get yelled at. Actually, we tried that for the earlier projects. We were just like, “oh yeah, sure, we can just sing in our apartment.” But the second day of us doing it, I remember hearing a knock on the door and opening it up to this person, arms crossed, all angry. So we never did that again.
You know, I think one thing that we pride ourselves on is - while there's nothing wrong with digital drum tracks or anything like that, we just like the sound of an amp or a drum kit in a room. We made sure that it's all real instruments, and in order to do that you have to have a space where you can actually be allowed in for a while. It takes a long time to record.
Do you remember what the first four songs you guys wrote were?
“Pipsqueak” - we put that one out as a single, actually. That was written in October of 2023, so going pretty far back. I think the first four were “Pipsqueak,” “A Losing Battle,” “SSJ2 Gohan vs Cell,” and then “Batista Bomb,” all written at least over a year and a half ago. So we built “Bobby Frey,” “Terre Haute,” and “Gawrsh” to become a part of the album. And then of course there’s the two “album-only” transition tracks, they can’t really be played live.
Oh, but busting out the Freaks and Geeks episode clips at the gig would go hard.
We do have a weekend tour coming up at the end of August, and I think what we're going to do is have a sampler. So we'll probably go on stage, play the Freaks and Geeks sample, and then play the album in order.
So here's a silly question to close out on - if any song on this were to be set to a 1080p AMV, what song do you think it would be?
That’s a good question…I think “Bobby Frey,” the outro song, because I think there's a lot of cool dynamics there. Actually, I think it should just be a compilation of Master Roshi from Dragon Ball. His character is that he's a really crude pervert. I think it would be funny to have this very sad heart-on-the-sleeve song with aggressive moments, but then it's Master Rochi getting slapped for being a little freak.
But the best AMV of all time is still a SSJ2 Gohan vs Cell one with the Three Doors Down song, “Kryptonite.”
Anything you want to tell everyone before we wrap up?
If you're only going to listen to one song, listen to track eight, “Bobby Frey.” Because I know some people in today's day and age are like, “I'm only listening to one song!” So listen to that one. If we ever get to a point where people are singing along, I want it to be that one.
Follow MyHeartYourGlove everywhere, and snag a No Maps For This Distance cassette from We're Trying Records. And, if you're in the area, go catch one of their release shows!
8/30: Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's
8/31 Buffalo, NY @ Amy's Place
9/5 Cleveland, OH @ The Little Rose
