After a six-year hiatus following their release Epilogue, Kansas City-based post-metal band A Light Within is re-emerging with fresh material, a renewed perspective, and an evolving sound. Guitarist and songwriter Jeff Irvine shares insights into the band’s journey through lineup changes, the challenges of the pandemic, and their deliberate yet passionate approach to writing music. From the reimagining of their debut EP re:preface (review here) to the powerful new singles that signal a bold chapter, A Light Within continues their journey in the post-metal landscape.
It’s been over six years since “Epilogue” was released. How does it feel to return with new material and reconnect with fans after such a long hiatus?
So much has happened in the world and our lives since releasing “Epilogue”. It definitely feels great to have this new material to share. We had hoped to have been able to deliver a full release sooner, but life happens, the pandemic happened. So we worked on the new singles when we could. There’s a few more left to refine and record, so looking forward to getting those completed and shared.
Your latest singles—“Meteoric Fires,” “Count With Your Eyes,” “Terraform,” and “Identity”—showcase an evolving sound. What has influenced the band’s direction during this new chapter?
“Count With Your Eyes” was the last song we wrote as a functioning 5 piece. When Andy decided to step away, we talked about Josh moving from guitar to bass and getting a new guitarist. Then the pandemic hit, some of us would get together and work on ideas, but it was rough. Ultimately the idea of the new guitarist wasn’t working and instead of continuing to look, we just moved forward as a 4 piece. We had the ideas/structure for Meteoric Fires and “Terraform” before the lockdown, and afterwards we slowly got them together and recorded. “Identity” was a first of its kind for us. I had asked Kyle to write us an idea and when he sent me a demo, I was like, well that sounds like an A Light Within song and was pretty much done at that point. We all added our parts to it, to really make it an A Light Within song. Learning our voices as a 4 piece and being open to new ways of writing/recording has helped shape what we’re doing now.
The pandemic was a challenging period for many artists. How did it impact your creative process and the dynamics within the band?
For some reason, we’ve always been slow moving, when it comes to writing. I guess that comes from trying to organically grow the ideas in the room. Pandemic grabbed a hold of us and we really haven’t fully recovered from that, as far as consistently getting together. Like I mentioned earlier, some of us did get together during, but didn’t really come to anything. But it helped us realize that we can work independently on ideas and get them to a good point or even completed. Moving forward, I definitely feel like there will be more ideas born like this and either finalized in the room or individually. Either way, it’s exciting to know that work can still get done, even if we’re all not together in the room.
You’ve gone through some lineup changes, including Josh Bennett moving from guitar to bass. How has this reshuffling affected your sound and approach to writing music?
At first I wasn’t too keen on the idea of moving ahead just as a 4 piece. But as we were developing and finishing our latest singles, I realized the power was still there, but the dynamics hit harder. There’s space in the mix which has also helped Kyle bring in some synth/keyboard/sound design elements to the songs. When we were writing, we weren’t really concerned that something was missing and that was nice because I did think that might have changed the way we do things, in the end, it did, but for the better.
The re-release of your debut EP as “re:preface” is an exciting development. What inspired you to revisit and reimagine those early songs?
The debut EP was a great way for us to capture our voice and begin to develop our sound. While we all were very happy with the songs, as a DIY band, our lack of experience with recording and mixing techniques didn’t fully deliver what we had wanted to release. With each release we did on our own, Kyle’s experience and production grew exponentially. After we released our newest singles and were in a bit of a lull, I reached out to Kyle to get his thoughts on maybe revisiting that EP, since it was around its 10 year anniversary mark. To my surprise Kyle was already tinkering with some of the songs and from there dove head first into getting these songs sounding better.
How did you balance staying true to the essence of “Preface” while injecting fresh energy into the re-recorded tracks?
Basically all of the original tracks are on the re-release, just cleaned up and brought into the production standards Kyle has been achieving. We re-did some of my main guitar parts to help add some clarity and beef up the bigger parts. This also allowed for some new moments of synths and sound design to support the tracks and add to what we first put out, without taking away any of the identity.
Working with Paul Malinowski (Massive Sound) and Acle Kahney (TesseracT) must have been a unique experience. How have these collaborations shaped your music over the years?
For me working with Paul was amazing and frightening at the same time. I cut my teeth as a young musician watching Paul play bass on stage, being mesmerized and scared as hell of him at the same time. Watching the wizard at work on the board and recording with him was truly a great experience and I’m so glad we did it. The idea was to have someone outside the band record and mix us, so we wouldn’t agonize over every little thing. It was a great experience and ultimately I think it helped Kyle level up his production skills. When Kyle suggested we get Acle to master our stuff, I didn’t think we could make that happen. TesseracT’s production and sound is top notch and what he’s been able to do with our stuff makes me giddy. Again, I think this has also helped Kyle level up and the work Kyle has been producing, is right up there.
Your conceptual trilogy of releases, culminating in “Epilogue,” was centered on transcribed diary entries. Are you carrying forward this conceptual storytelling into your newer material?
It’s hard for me to say what Kyle will be writing about, but the concept of the transcribed diary entries are completed. We both like conceptual albums, so I’m pretty sure that will always be a part of the music we release. Don’t really know if it will be that involved moving forward, but you never know.
“Reconstruction” has been in progress for some time. Can you share updates about its development and what fans can expect from this release?
We started working on ideas on this after releasing “Epilogue”. When Andy left we had 2 or 3 really strong ideas and 1 completed idea. It was a huge hit to our momentum, as we were trying to bring in a new guitarist and that not working we took a few steps backwards. The idea was to have this be our 1st full-length release, but seemed to be marred by line-up changes, a pandemic, life changes, and work schedules. We still have 4 ideas in some state of completion that we’re working on and hope to get those completed and start working on a new batch of ideas that have started to germinate. Who knows, maybe those might make it out sooner, rather than 4 years from now, but only time knows that answer.
Post-rock/metal often evoke strong emotional responses. How do you aim to connect with your listeners through your music?
I know this will sound cliche, but we write music that appeals to our senses and how we’re feeling. We’re not thinking of what is trendy or hot. I feel like if you write music honestly and from within, it’ll connect with people because it’s genuine. I like music that takes you on a journey, whether it’s 4 minutes of complete intensity or a long slow burn. If you can get wrapped up in it, I think you have succeeded.
The Kansas City music scene has a rich history. How has being based there influenced A Light Within’s sound and opportunities?
The scene in KC is varied and rich, also very supportive. There weren’t a bunch of “post-rock/metal” style of bands in the area, still not, so it gave us the opportunity to develop our voice as a band and use our influences without too much outside influence from a thriving “post” scene. It was nice being able to do our own thing. With being one of the 1st kinds of bands in the area, we were often the first asked to open for touring bands like Russian Circles, Spotlights, If These Trees Could Talk, City of Ships, among others. Had the scene been more saturated, I’m not so sure we would have had so many opportunities.
As a band that takes a deliberate, slow-paced approach to creating music, how do you stay motivated and ensure the process remains fulfilling?
We’re doing this because we love creating, writing, and hanging out with one another. Sometimes it’s hard to stay focused when life gets in the way, but when you go back and listen to an idea that’s being worked on, for me that brings in a breath of fresh air and I’m ready to keep moving forward. I’ve said this before, but we really had some great momentum right after the Pandemic ended and I’m looking forward to getting back to that when life allows us to.
Are there plans to return to live performances soon, and how do you envision the experience of playing the new singles on stage?
Hopefully sooner rather than later. We’re all wanting to get back to the stage, it’s been too long. And we will get back out there and I’m looking forward to watching/hearing the new singles come to life on stage. We’ve played a couple of them live once, one has been played for a little while, but has changed over time to what it is now. It’s always something magical for me to witness what we created filling the room and grabbing everyone’s ear.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes for A Light Within as you continue writing, recording, and sharing your music with the world?
To continue creating music that we all love, evolve as people and musicians and just enjoy our time together and deliver something that other people will connect with.
