Ryan Meyer Admits Highly Suspect Wanted New Album to ‘Be Real’

When Ryan Meyer was asked how he’s feeling to have Highly Suspect‘s latest album, As Above, So Below, out, he wasted no time with his reply.

“Honestly, never been better,” Meyer told Chuck Armstrong on Loudwire Nights (Sept. 20).

“The past couple of records were experimental. They were difficult to make for the wrong reasons and those challenges and experiences led us to realize what we didn’t want and what we needed — and that was to strip back all of the bullshit and just make a record in a room, all together.”

Fans can hear exactly that when they listen to As Above, So Below; you can hear feet stepping on pedalboards and Meyer putting his drumsticks down.

“A lot of the takes on the record were one pass all the way through,” he said. “We wanted it to be authentic and real and something that people could resonate in because, to each their own, but there’s a lot of records out there that are so perfect and so clean and the drums are quantized to a grid…”

Meyer said that they’ve tried all of that before, but it never felt right.

“This record feels like us and that feels so good … That’s how we’re going to be doing records from here on.”

The Make-or-Break Moment For Highly Suspect

As Meyer opened up about the difficulties of recording previous albums — and along with the sudden struggles the COVID-19 pandemic presented — he admitted the future of Highly Suspect, at one point, didn’t seem certain.

“There was a conversation in the back of a hotel on a rainy night in Houston,” he recalled. “We were talking about going into pre-production and there are all kinds of ideas being tossed around about how we were going to do it.”

Eventually he and Highly Suspect’s bassist, Rich — who is also Meyer’s brother — had enough of that conversation and put their collective foot down.

“We were like, look, here’s the deal. We’re either going to finish up our contractual obligations, the festivals we have booked and the tours we have booked that the fans bought tickets for, and we’re going to call it quits. Or, we’re going to make an album together in the same room, writing together, working through our issues together and we’re going to make this album as a band, as a unit — or it’s not going to happen.”

Meyer admitted that it took that make-or-break moment for the band to realize what they wanted to do. Even with that clarity, though, nobody knew exactly what they wanted the new album to sound like.

In fact, Meyer said he didn’t even care.

“I [wanted] it to be the thumbprint of the band,” he said.

READ MORE: Shavo Odadjian Explains Why He’s So Happy With His New Band

“It needed to be the unique thumbprint of Highly Suspect and the only way we’re going to get that is if we go in there without any sort of idea of what it needs to be or what trend it needs to compete with or what sound is doing well at the time.”

Eventually, the sound that emerged was one that everyone was excited to hear.

“This feels like all the music that I grew up with when I was on construction sites and there was a boombox blasting in the corner … It just sort of came out in the music.”

What Else Did Highly Suspect’s Ryan Meyer Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• What it was like being a new band and all of a sudden having fame and success — and Grammy nominations
• Why he felt like Highly Suspect was a cover band when they performed songs like “Natural Born Killer” live
• Why he believes As Above, So Below is the best record Highly Suspect have ever made

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Ryan Meyer joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, Sept. 20; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.