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An Interview with Arland’s Greg Bowers

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Photo by Bobby Te

Greg Bowers is the vocalist and composer for the Dayton project, Arland. I sat down to chat with him in his Belmont home about the band, ballads, Black Sabbath, and his upcoming single, “The Day My Dream Comes True” (out April 8, 2024).

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Arland is your middle name?

GREG BOWERS: Yep, exactly. Exactly.

So with this project being mostly you, why not call it “Greg Bowers?”

BOWERS: I don’t know if you’ve ever searched Greg Bowers online but there is a jazz pianist who will come up. That’s my uncle. He releases music under that moniker, so I had to do something else. But, [Arland is] a very interesting name. It’s the single-name thing.

With building a band in the studio — without exactly having one — what does playing music ideally look like for you?

BOWERS: At this current stage, it’s not so much about playing music as it is the composing and writing of it, and eventually releasing it. I do need that band so I can actually start to go out and play music more consistently.

I think the beauty of what is happening with music right now is that bands can just exist on record. The live music aspect, as a form of getting the music out there, expands reach, but bands can exist without performing.

BOWERS: Yeah.

I know from the way you just said yeah that you wouldn’t want it that way.

BOWERS: It’s not so much that I wouldn’t want it that way, but I haven’t experienced it [as a band yet]. 

If you were able to make it work solely in the studio, would you do that?

BOWERS: I think I might. I consider myself a writer — a musician. So from that perspective, being able to focus on writing songs, composing songs — that’s what really appeals to me. Playing music is cool. But for me, the focus is really on telling these stories and getting them out there.

What kind of music were you influenced by?

BOWERS: I grew up in this very religious environment. And so we had a lot of your more traditional [Contemporary Christian music]-type stuff. Eventually, I started to move toward the crossovers. There were a few metalcore bands. Have you heard of August Burns Red? They’re metalcore.

No, but you can throw “-core” after anything and I generally understand what you’re saying. 

BOWERS: So metalcore, from my understanding, tends to be very heavy: lots of uncleans, but also lots of cleans. High soaring vocals, and very melodic guitars, as well. I was, and still am, very focused on the vocal side of things. I used to listen to Josh Groban, as well. Very vocally-focused.

I know how [Reel Love Recording Company Producer] Pat [Himes] works in the studio; he likes to double a lot of things. And when I’m listening to your vocals, I believe that’s what’s going on. There are points when I think you sound a little like Ozzy [Osbourne].

BOWERS: Ozzy. Interesting.

Have you ever gotten that comparison?

BOWERS: I have never listened to Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath.

Ever?

BOWERS: Ever. So that’s interesting.

That blows my mind.

BOWERS: I have a really weird musical background. 

We’ve gotta listen to some before I leave.

BOWERS: Sounds good.

So you released “Islands” in January 2022, which, for lack of a better word, is a ballad. There are movements, but…

BOWERS: One thing I have trouble with is music genres. What is a ballad? What is a ballad to you?

When I think of ballads, I think of hair metal that goes soft. Guns N’ Roses doing “Patience” or “November Rain.” Softer songs, but whoever’s pushing it has a heavier oeuvre. It doesn’t always have to be like that. There are just sweet people… are you confused by the ballad label?

BOWERS: I am, yeah. It’s not like I mind it at all. To my extremely limited and miniscule understanding, I’ve always kind of perceived a ballad as a “piano ballad,” or it’s a literal piano song. 

You say you have an extremely limited understanding, but it sounds like you have a firm grasp of music in general.

BOWERS: I guess my term is “rock opera.” Movements, stories you’re telling somewhat through the lyrics, through the sections of music, sometimes through the music itself, to introduce a different feel — those types of things. Structurally, I’m definitely doing things but I don’t have great terms for them.

It’s interesting that you say it like this because I thought your second release “Day Breaks” also felt like a ballad. Your new song, “The Day My Dream Comes True,” isn’t necessarily a ballad but it has elements of one. But when I first heard your music a couple of years ago [via a Google Drive link], I heard screamo. And maybe that’s another term you don’t agree with, but there was something on the verge of screaming happening. So with these three releases being so much softer than the other stuff, what’s the choice to frontload those softer sounds?

BOWERS: At this point, there’s no guarantee there’s actual metal coming out, but there might be. The idea of frontloading, I guess, is hinged upon that. 

You don’t disagree with the metal label?

BOWERS: No. I guess I don’t understand the metal side of things for the piano ballad. I’ve talked about a lot of this artsy-fartsy stuff, but I view “Islands” in a sort of quantum superposition, of being chronologically placed after my first two albums. But if you listen to the story or the message, it works well as a debut song.

So you’re saying that what you’re doing right now is George Lucas making the first Star Wars movie.

BOWERS: I don’t know if this will be anywhere near as successful, but I guess. 

But that’s the idea behind it: “Islands” could be a stand on its own, but to give context there is also a prequel series in the form of those first two albums.

BOWERS: So when I was thinking about my debut single, something that really gets out there, I was thinking about these first two albums and the story they tell and where it all leads. And so it does all tie together in that sense, narratively.

If you had to boil down that narrative thread, what is that narrative thread? 

BOWERS: It’s just a general person’s philosophy changing as they go through things, eventually sort of culminating in “Islands.” So that’s the trick: The answer is out there, but it’s not going to be obvious what it actually means until you’ve heard those first two albums.

When are we getting the first two albums?

BOWERS: The plan is [to release] “The Day My Dream Comes True” on April 8. Hopefully then, within the next few months or so, I’ll get the album out. It’s all written, basically all the music is recorded. We’re trying to get some strings in. And then do the final mix, mastering, that sort of stuff. Second album, obviously the lyrics are all written. [I’m] in the midst of writing the music. So, two or three years. Something like that.

To have it all.

BOWERS: Or at least this stage of it all. 

This new song [“The Day My Dream Comes True”] feels like a breakup — with someone or something. And that’s not definitive, of course; that’s just my interpretation. But do you think you’ll ever come out with the true meaning, or will you always keep things vague? Not just for this song, but for everything. 

BOWERS: It’s hard to say whether that’d be a good idea or fits where I want things to be in five years when this story is done. There are other songs that are more explicit. Other singles, other album ideas. This one in particular is much more open-ended.

In a world where everything is quick and constant, does it concern you that this long-term plan will be lost on people?

BOWERS: I don’t really worry about it, but I recognize that it’s absolutely a possibility. People are going to consume things at their own rate, to their own interests, and that’s fine. I still think in this perspective of telling a grander story across songs, across an album. Ultimately, all I can do is put out what I feel like I need to put out. And if people like it, they like it. 

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After the interview, I gave Greg Bowers a tour of Black Sabbath’s catalog — from “Paranoid” to “Iron Man” to “War Pigs” but nothing seemed to catch on. I think he might’ve been confused by the whole comparison, and I suppose I was a little confused, as well.

Arland’s third single, “The Day My Dream Comes True,” along with its music video, will be released on the day of the Solar Eclipse, April 8, 2024. The significance of that is up for interpretation.

Why He Went To Charlottesville? I Had To Know.

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White nationalists carry torches on the eve of a planned Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. via REUTERS

This weekends events in Charlottesville just really shook me up.  As pictures of the rally began to hit social media and some of the participants where identified as being from Ohio, I posted on my Facebook page saying  “We can not say this does not affect us- we must admit we have a problem and talk about it if we are to have any chance to overcome this.”

 

As you can imagine, there were a slew of opinions posted, amongst them people that where angry, many of the posts were filled with hatred and disgust.  I struggle to understand the motivation of what would make someone support this organization?

One of the posters said he knew one of the participants and had tried to talk him out of going.  I replied, “ It would be great to hear from him- what his experience was like and how did this make him feel? “    I truly believe the only way we can learn is to hear what others think- doesn’t mean we’ll agree, but I think honest dialogue is a good start.

 

So I had the chance to speak with a young man in the White Nationalist Movement and I asked him to try to help me understand what made him go to the rally in Virginia, what he expected to happen there and how he felt about what happened there.

He started off explaining that he believed that African Americans have the right to support Black Lives Matter.  Hispanics promote and defend their culture.  He’s proud to be white and believes he honors his ancestors and the sacrifices they made for him and it’s his duty to serve his people and his family be being a White Nationalist.

 

According to this young man the movement had been planning this rally for months and over 1000 people were expected to attend.  He emphasized that his organization was a non-violent group, but they were growing so quickly that sometimes it was hard to control all the participants. Here’s how he explained what happened in Virginia:

 

-The White Nationalist organized a peaceful assembly in Charlottesville called Unite the Right and organized by Jason Kessler.

-The organizers lawfully obtained a permit to host this event that was a protest of the removal the statue of confederate General Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park.

-Charlottesville illegally revoked the permit for this event, denying the White Nationals their legal right to assemble, which was a violation of the rights of pro-whites.

-Jason Kessler successfully sued Charlottesville for violating the First Amendment, and a Federal judge ruled that the permit must be reinstated and the right to assemble honored on Friday night at 8:20pm

-The city and their police were upset that the courts overturned their decision and therefore they didn’t protect the White Nationalists rights to protest, allowing counter-protestors like Antifa and BLM members to infiltrate the space and creating a violent situation.  Bricks were being thrown, pepper spray was used as well as tear gas and things got out of control.

I asked what his organization hoped to accomplish at Charlottesville and he said that they wanted to “Redpill” more people for the movement. (Redpill is a slang term in certain alt-right-adjacent Internet communities like the men’s rights crew. It refers to that famous Matrix scene where Neo takes the red pill and sees things as they really are. When alt-right dudes use it, they generally mean, “convince other white people that we’re better than others.) He shared it was working, they are gaining supporters and the turn out in Charlotte was double what they expected.

 

Asking him how he got involved, he referenced that when he was 16 in high school he became very interested in World War 2 and began reading about the history, the lies about the war that where spread and continued to read all about the ideology of the war.

I asked him if he identified with being a Nazi and he quickly threw back the question what did I define as a Nazi and I shared that I believed they were a group of people that believed there should only be one race- the white race.  He answered that he had no problem with blacks and Hispanics and Jews, but he was “fighting to secure a future for the white race.”  When I pushed for more information he told me the goal was to have a White Ethno-State where they could protect their white heritage.

When I asked who could be a part of that he shared that Caucasians, who might need to prove their lineage or take a DNA test.  When I pushed for more clarification he said that he wasn’t able to talk to specifics, but that leadership would make those decisions.  I asked if the movement was tied to religion and got a mixed answer.  They were open to those of Christian faith, or even agnostics, but atheists could absolutely not be a part of the movement.

When questioned if he thought this would happen soon and he said he didn’t expect so, it might take fifty years to happen, but he would dedicate his life to the fight.  He felt strongly that fighting for the cause was an unselfish thing to do and that while it was a hard road, it was better than just trying to be selfish and live for himself.

We talked about the ramifications after all the publicity from Charlottesville and he admitted he’s had death threats and that his family was being threatened and people were putting his life on the Internet, and that he’s scared.  But he feels it’s his duty to the movement to carry on and he won’t move away from the Miami Valley.  When asked how he deals with the threats, he says those people are the true oppressors, throwing things at them, chasing them down, vandalizing their cars.  He shared that the White Movement had to deal with this often, like when Air B& B cancelled many of their reservations in Charlotte once they found out why they were there- another example of white discrimination.

 

As we wrapped up our discussion, I asked him for a quote to represent who he is and this is what he shared:

  “I know what I believe, no one will deter me, you’ll always see my face, I know what I’m fighting for.”

So after spending 90 minutes with this young White Nationalist, I walked away and tried to evaluate what I’d learned.  He was a well-educated young man, who spoke eloquently and fiercely believed in his cause. I appreciated him taking time to share his beliefs, and yet his final quote, which is so strong, was negated in my opinion, by his insistence that this interview be anonymous. If he knows what he’s fighting for, and is willing to march publically with a torch, why isn’t he willing to be identified?

I had no idea what I expected, but as I left the meeting, I can’t help but worry about the violence that this young man is facing and that his involvement in the movement will continue to be a part of more violence. I have a feeling that as dedicated as he is to movement, he’s really just a lonely young man, trying to find his place in the world.

My take is that a group of very savvy organizers have found a way to recruit young broken men, who feel marginalized, abandoned or lost and give them a sense of community and a promise of paradise if they dedicate their lives to the cause.

And now we as a community have to find a way to reach out and save these young men, from those who use them to fight for their agenda. I’m not sure what that plan looks like, but after this discussion at least I realize what we are up against.