For some people, the main goals are a pimped out ride and a pimped out life. Ask Self Against City lead singer Jonathan Temkin about his goals and he tells a very different story. “People are searching for something to make themselves complete,” he says. “If we can inspire people with our music, I can die a happy person.” Temkin may be on to something, especially in light of Self Against City's revelatory new Drive-Thru/Rushmore CD Telling Secrets to Strangers.
Produced by Steven Haigler (Pixies, Fuel), the songs on the album were written by Temkin and guitarist Jack Matranga. The two sketched out every progression and guitar riff in advance. The prep time paid off, as a seamless cohesion ties the album together. "Every song is a chapter," says Temkin, "a summation of everything we went through in the last year."
He's referring to rock ‘n' roll grad school, i.e., touring a big country in a small van. Every triumph and misbegotten adventure has been converted into song, starting with “Becoming a Monster,” a punch-drunk rocker Temkin calls “our mission statement.” The track exemplifies the band's signature sound: buzzsaw guitars, choppy rhythms and Temkin's trip-wire vocals. “We want to be energetic and melodic at the same time,” says Matranga. “But we didn't want just one song repeated ten times on the record.”
Their pattern holds true on songs like “Stroke of Luck”, “Ready and Willing” and “Even the Strong Won’t Survive.” Says Temkin of the latter, “It's a testament to growing up and having to put mental restraints on myself. It's about different forms of addiction and the inner struggles people have.” The tuneful guitar-centered “Disappearing Act” is about an eccentric former band member, while the acoustic-flavored “Tequila Moonlight” is one of the CD's more introspective tracks. “It's about an alcohol-driven memory of a few key events that happen over a night” says Temkin. “It was written mostly by Jack, and is so pure and honest.”
“Yours Isn't The First” is, says Temkin, an ode “to everyone who ever had their heartbroken because they got dumped,” while the sly “Smooth Silver” is one of the CD's most adventurous songs. “It's about frustration, desire and confusion wrapped into one,” he notes. The CD ends with “Back to Our Innocence,” a full-circle rocker that serves as the perfect grace note. “It's our way of saying when you're a child that's when everything feels so pure. When you get older things get desensitized. You lose the vivid colors. We're on a quest to feel like childlike adults.”
That quest wasn't born yesterday. Though the band made a big impression with their 2005 Rushmore debut EP “Take It How You Want It,” the origins of Self Against City stretch back further. The son of a single mother, the Texas-born Temkin grew up in Hawaii, Germany and northern California, raised mostly by a loving aunt and uncle. He
was given access to all kinds of musical instruments and became proficient on several. But it was a Matchbox 20 concert in Frankfurt that proved the tipping point. “Something changed in me,” he remembers, “and I said, ‘That's what I'm gonna do.’ From then on I begged for a guitar and at 15 I finally got one."
Temkin moved back to California's Central Valley and started playing guitar in various bands, one of which anointed him lead singer, even though he'd never sung in his life. Turned out, he was good at it. He also started writing songs, but the big break came in 2003 when he met Matranga and LaTour. “I spent every waking second figuring out what we needed to do to get the band together,” he says. “I was with musicians who wanted exactly the same thing as me.”
Jack Matranga had a very different upbringing from Temkin: living in the same home his whole life, parents happily married. But the two clicked right away as songwriting partners and performers. “He's nuts,” says Matranga of his friend. “I feed off of him. When we first started writing, we'd hop in the band room, turn on the amp and mold a song. Our confidence has grown since then.”
Bassist Patrick O'Connor and drummer Chris Trombley rounded out the line-up of Self Against City (the name came from Temkin mishearing a DJ announce the Bowie classic “Suffragette City”). The band cut a few demos, posting two on PureVolume. Those tracks caught the ear of Drive-Thru co-founders Richard Reines and Stefanie Reines, who kept tabs on the band's progress. Only five months after officially forming, the band had their Rushmore deal, and soon enough a debut EP. Buoyed by rave reviews, Self Against City toured the U.S. as well as performed at the CMJ convention. All the while, they were thinking ahead to the new CD. “We're a high energy rock band,” says Matranga, “but we wanted to write something a little bit deeper.”
O'Connor and Trombley played on the new CD but have since left the band. All five remain friends, and the others were sorry to see them go. But with the release of Telling Secrets to Strangers, Temkin, Matranga and LaTour are looking only forward. “The day we finished the album,” says Temkin, “I thought we did everything we set out to do: make a record we were proud of, write songs we believed in and let people know who we are.”
let you go
Self Against City Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And our spark would be turned into a flame
Winter nights are feeling hot like summer inside
I can't get you off my mind
I don't want to know
Why I can't let you go
So you need this
I remember the first words that you said
And I can't get that night out of my head
Complicated but I'm not frustrated
'Cause I know that you're out there
Patiently waiting
I don't want to know
Why I can't let you go
So you need this
I don't want to know
Why I can't let you go
You go
When the sun burns up
And the ocean dries out
I'll be all you need
All you need to breathe
When the moon falls down
From the black night sky
I will light the way
Promise me you'll stay
I know that you feel it
Still you won't believe in me
My heart pounds like thunder
I don't need to wonder
I don't want to know
Why I can't let you go
So you need this
I don't want to know
Why I can't let you go
The lyrics to Self Against City's song Let You Go describe the intense feelings of love and attachment towards someone that you can't seem to shake off, despite wanting to move on. The song begins by establishing the sense of anonymity and new beginnings that the singer feels when they meet someone for the first time. This encounter sparks a fire that has been burning brightly, making them feel like winter nights are hot like summer on the inside. The intense connection they have with this person seems to have consumed their thoughts and they can't seem to let go of them.
Despite the internal struggle, the singer realizes that they don't want to know why they can't let go because they need this connection with the other person. They remember the first words that were said, which they can't seem to forget even after all this time has gone by. The situation is complicated, but they are not frustrated because they know that the other person is out there waiting for them, patiently.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become more intense, describing a love that will be everlasting no matter what happens. The singer promises to be there for the other person when everything else falls apart, even when the sun burns up and the ocean dries out. They promise to be the light that guides them through the darkness, and they ask for a promise that the other person will stay.
The overall message of the song is about holding onto love even when it's difficult, knowing that it's worth fighting for. The lyrics are not just a simplistic love song but have a depth that shows the overwhelming power of love and the hope that it offers.
Line by Line Meaning
I met you where nobody knew my name
We first met in a place where I was a stranger to everyone and that's where our journey began
And our spark would be turned into a flame
Our initial attraction grew and blossomed into a passionate love
Winter nights are feeling hot like summer inside
Even in the coldest of temperatures, my love for you warms me up from the inside
I can't get you off my mind
My thoughts are consumed with you and I can't stop thinking about you
I don't want to know
Why I can't let you go
So you need this
I'm aware that I should let you go but I don't want to, and so I need this moment with you
I remember the first words that you said
And I can't get that night out of my head
I still recall the exact words you spoke to me the first time we met, and that moment stays with me
Complicated but I'm not frustrated
'Cause I know that you're out there
Patiently waiting
Our situation might be complex but I'm not bothered by it because I know you're out there, waiting for me
When the sun burns up
And the ocean dries out
I'll be all you need
All you need to breathe
When the moon falls down
From the black night sky
I will light the way
Promise me you'll stay
I'll be there for you even in the toughest of times, when everything around us is in chaos. I'll light up the darkest nights and all I need is for you to promise to stay with me
I know that you feel it
Still you won't believe in me
My heart pounds like thunder
I don't need to wonder
I know that you feel the same way I do, but you still doubt me. Yet, my heart beats loudly and I have no doubts about my feelings for you
I don't want to know
Why I can't let you go
You go
I don't want to understand why I can't let you go, but you have to leave
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Jeffrey Latour, Jack Thomas Matranga, Patrick Jordan O'connor, Jonathan Michael Temkin, Christopher James Trombley
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind