It’s been quite some time–over a century, at least–since multi-layered orchestral compositions dominated the Western musical conscience. Smaller bands and shorter songs have been the norm for as long as recorded music has been a thing, with Old World arrangements being relegated to the niche sphere of classical music, a genre so grounded in the past that even its name makes it sound antiquated.

Explosions in the Sky, a four-piece instrumental outfit from Austin, TX, have built a career out of blending that old style with good old fashioned rock. The string section may have been replaced by three electric guitars, but plenty of those classical conventions still shine through. Most of their albums–as well as many of their songs–are patient, drawn out and broken into a number of distinct movements that form parts of a larger whole. In a sense, Explosions in the Sky are music coming full circle.

If one buys into such an idea then Explosion in the Sky’s latest album, 2016’s The Wilderness, represents a band that has come full circle. Whereas past albums found the group crafting grandiose slow-burners, their newest effort is a lesson in subdued and concise instrumental songwriting. It’s also the band’s most “studio” album to date, complete with post-production effects that would have seemed foreign on earlier records.

Explosions in the Sky will bring their old and new sounds to New Orleans this Friday (May 13) when they headline the Joy Theater with support from Disappears. I caught up with drummer Chris Hrasky to discuss the band’s new approach, how they’ll pull off The Wilderness live, being inspired by Hurricane Katrina and more.

The Wilderness seems very much like an Explosions in the Sky album, yet there’s also a good bit about it that feels different from past records. Was that intentional?

Yes, it was. I think we kind of realized we were maybe running on a bit of a default setting without really realizing it on the last couple of records. This was a pretty conscious effort to avoid the typical way we’ve traditionally done things. It just felt like we kind of needed to push ourselves in some way. Otherwise, there’s a risk of getting bored or tired or maybe done. So it was a very conscious decision. You know, it’s a little strange because if you force yourself too much to try something different, it can come across very forced and fake. It’s sort of that balance of trying things in new ways and pushing ourselves, but also making everything work as a song and move us in some way.  So that was definitely the goal, or motive I guess, on this record.

You mentioned ‘making everything work as a song.’ It seems that on this record, at least from my perspective, the tracks are more traditionally song-like. Whereas past efforts would have a more symphonic feel to them—almost as if broken into movements–these songs build in one direction as opposed to hitting multiple high points.

That’s definitely true. I don’t know if we intended to write shorter songs or more concise songs, but for whatever reason that’s kind of what ended up happening. It’s a number of things. I feel like a lot of times I listen back at some of our older stuff, and to be honest, there are times where I feel like ‘Man, this does not need to go on this long.’ I don’t think it’s necessarily that we were like ‘oh let’s write these shorter songs’ but it’s more sort of a self-editing. Can we get to the point and still have it be effective but can it be done in half the time? I don’t know, maybe our attention spans are shortening along with everyone else’s in the world. So for whatever reason the songs just ended up being shorter and more immediately to the point, which we’re actually pretty happy about.  It felt right to do that. But I also feel like the songs  seem a lot stranger to me in a lot of ways too. With shorter songs, I think some people are assuming that we’re trying to somehow write these more commercial or poppier songs, but I feel like these songs are kind of weirder in some ways. Maybe because they’re short, and it’s just like ‘well that’s not what I thought they would have done here.’ I don’t know if that was conscious, but I think we were more comfortable with the idea of  ‘a song can be three minutes long and that’s fine.’   Whereas it used to be, ‘well we got it, this isn’t enough, we need more, we need more.’ And I think that it’s good that we kind of got away from it a bit this time.  

Did you guys utilize the studio a little more on this record? There’s a few more effects on these songs, things that aren’t just straight up you guys on your instruments.

Yeah, definitely. Pretty much all our other records are essentially the four of us setting up in the studio, kind of playing songs from beginning to end. Guitars and drums, some overdubs here and there, pianos, various things. But with this one, we went into the studio with the songs written and pretty demoed with a lot of detail of our own.  In the studio, it was very much a situation where it was pieced together as opposed to all of us playing live. And there was also a decision that  we really wanted to not worry about how we were gonna pull these songs off live. Record the songs, do the songs we want and then worry about how we’re gonna pull it off live later.  But yeah, it is more of a studio record and that was definitely intentional and really fun, actually. We had a really good time recording it. I think we felt a little bit looser in what we would try. It was definitely a different kind of recording for us, but I really enjoyed it. And then we had to spend three months figuring out how to play them live, so that was it’s own challenge.

Can you elaborate on that? In what ways is the live approach going to be different from what it was in the past?

In the past, it was us up on stage, playing the songs—and it still is that. We will still be up on stage, playing the songs. But we’re all doing a lot more things. We’re all triggering samples, we’re all stopping what we’re doing and going over to a keyboard, we’re kind of moving around the stage more. There’s just a lot more involved with the new songs. It’s definitely still taking me some time to get used to that, to finding that movement where you’re not just constantly thinking ‘Okay, this part happens, then I have to go do this, then I have go turn this down, and get back to the drums and do this.’  We’re slowly getting to that point where it becomes automatic, almost like muscle memory.  That’s when the show really starts to feel better to us, when it becomes like second nature.  It took some time getting to that point with the new songs.  There’s just a lot more stuff happening.  We’ve got samplers everywhere, and triggers, all sorts of crazy stuff.  It’s definitely very different in that sense, but it seems to be working pretty well.

With the live shows, are you guys keeping it pretty close to the new record, or can fans still expect to hear some of those sprawling compositions from the past?

Oh yes there is plenty of old stuff. I think we are doing longer sets with more songs, and a lot of songs off the new record are shorter. I think we pretty much do about 11 songs every set now. It’s usually five or six new ones and then five or six old songs. It’s pretty much split down the middle, half new stuff half old stuff. It’s a good mix.

So you guys are going to be at the Joy Theater in New Orleans next week. Do you have any history with the city, any particular love for New Orleans?

We’ve always enjoyed playing shows there. Asides from shows, we haven’t spent a whole lot of time there. But, we have always had a good time and have some friends that live there now and we are hoping to see them. We have played a lot of different types of shows in New Orleans. We used to play… was it the Mermaid Lounge? Was that what it was called? This was like early 2000s. We played there a lot. We really enjoyed that place. It was sort of this punk rock bar co-op  type place. We played a couple sort of punk rock squat places once, and that was pretty fascinating. But then we also did the Buku Project a couple years ago. We’ve played some varied shows there. Every time we play it’s a very different type of venue, which I kind of find interesting. But we’ve always had a good time. That’s the problem of touring though; you see so little of the city. You’re just kind of there and then the next day you’re somewhere else. It’s difficult to really get a feel for anything.

Speaking of New Orleans, I remember when I first heard your album All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone many years ago. It was just a couple of years after Hurricane Katrina had come through and, having grown up around here, the album really spoke to me in a way. Maybe it was the song titles or the album title, but it brought me back to that moment. It was really interesting to read later that you guys were inspired by Katrina with that album.

Yeah it’s weird, it’s very strange. That album came out in early 2007. The artwork is a guy in a boat going across a flooded city.  What’s so strange about it is at the time no one was asking about it. We mostly wrote that record in 2005, and while we were writing it that stuff was happening and we were working on songs and we were watching CNN. We were pretty, like most people, we were pretty shocked and sad. It somehow seeped into what we were doing and then the artwork reflected that. But it was strange that nobody, when that record came out, nobody really brought that up. Nobody ever mentioned like, “is it about New Orleans and stuff?” So we never really talked about it a whole lot. We didn’t want to exploit it and turn it into our record about New Orleans. It was more that this is what was on our minds when we were writing it.  Yeah, I mean, that artwork and us writing our songs were definitely very connected to that.

That’s so interesting. I guess I was a little younger at the time, but for me it was the first thing I thought. All Of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, that title was just…that was how I’d felt.

Yeah, and I guess I assumed lots of people would think that, but they didn’t, which was strange and I’m not sure what that means. From the record that seems pretty obvious, so I don’t know. Particularly the artwork, it was a man in a boat floating through a city. The record came out a little over a year later, so it was still fresh in people’s minds. But yeah it didn’t really come up to anyone in interviews till years later, which is pretty interesting.

Something else I wanted to talk to you guys about was your cinematic work. The sort of rock-band-as-a-symphony style you guys have really lends itself well to film scores.  I know you’ve been brought on to do a lot of that. Obviously it’s a different process than making an album, can you talk a little about that?

It’s very different. Overall, it’s kind of an easier process for us. Only in the sense that, whenever we put a record out we go on tour for a couple years, and then we take some time off, and then we start getting back together to start working on songs. It just feels like, what do we do? What are we writing songs about? What is this going to sound like? It can be a lot. With a score, we already have a map. We have a story, that we’re putting the music to. A lot of what is difficult for us is coming up with the first idea. You already have a ton of stuff to work with like a tone and emotion but with this it’s like, this scene calls for something that feels like this. So we do that. It’s a real different process than working on records. It’s generally been a much easier process. Then at the same time, you know, most of a soundtrack is background music. With a record you want every song or every part of every song to grab someone immediately. You don’t really have that pressure with soundtrack. So it’s a pretty different process for us. It’s fun. It goes a lot smoother for us than writing a record and you have a specific deadline. You have to have this done by this point. You can’t spend five days pondering something you just have to do it, which, makes it easier for us.

What’s next for Explosions in the Sky after this tour wraps up?

Oh god, this tour isn’t going to wrap up until October of 2017. So we’ve got about a year and a half. It’s not straight, but for the next year and a half it’s basically three weeks of touring and two weeks at home, then three weeks of touring and two weeks at home. That’s the next 18 months. After that, I think we are going to hang out with our wives and kids and stuff for a while. Then we will regroup and start working on the next record. Beyond that, we don’t have any solid plans.

Explosions in the Sky will perform at the Joy Theater in New Orleans on Friday, May 13. Tickets for the show are available here.