Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba Explains 8-Year Recording Hiatus

It's been 8 years since Dashboard Confessional released an album and after 2017's Emo revival with Joyce Manor, Tigers Jaw, and Modern Baseball leading the movement, it is a perfect time for the Boca Raton band to put out new material. Their seventh studio album Crooked Shadows is being released on February 9th through Fueled By Ramen. While speaking backstage to ALT 98.7's Harms backstage at iHeartRadio's ALTer EGO, frontman Chris Carrabba explained the hiatus, saying he "didn’t want (the new songs) to be a reflection of a Dashboard song. We wanted it to be something strong, pure, and real.”  

When asked if writing material was stressful or if it came naturally to Carrabba, he said, “both, I think. In the time off, I kind of resigned myself to maybe there would never be another Dashboard record but when the songs started to come I was all the way in but I’m still jittery now. It’s still nerve-wracking but I have to be honest with you, it’s not different than the old days. I was nervous in the old days, I continue to be nervous now. I’m really nervous with you now.”

“It’s a difficult thing to explain. It’s an impulse you can’t ignore," Carrabba explained what sparked him to record new material. "You can manufacture it and that’s dangerous territory and that’s why we waited so long because I didn’t want it to be a reflection of a Dashboard song," he continued. "We wanted it to be something strong, pure, and real.”

Dashboard’s new record “Heart Beat Here” finds the band in top form, with Carrabba’s heavy acoustic strumming and towering vocals on full display. The Emo-rockers also performed “We Fight” live on Conan which you can watch here.

Following the release of the album, the band will hit the road hitting several cities in Canada and the US through the end of April.

Watch their full interview backstage with Harms and Woody below:

Photo Credit: Rob Hoffman