CLIFFDIVER have signed to SideOneDummy Records and will release their upcoming album ‘Exercise Your Demons’, which was recorded by Seth Henderson and mastered by Will Yip, on May 6, 2022. The first single from the album, “New Vegas Bomb ft. Skatune Network”, and its accompanying music video can be streamed below.

Lead vocalists Joey Duffy and Briana Wright, guitarists/vocalists Matt Ehler and Gilbert Erickson, bassist Tyler Rogers, saxophonist Dony Nickles and drummer Eliot Cooper, have made a name for themselves in their hometown of Tulsa, OK, with stadiums and venues around city celebrating their recent record label deal with congratulatory marquees.

The band is unflinching when it comes to addressing mental health issues, which is a huge theme spread across the entire album. Both Duffy and Wright have survived suicide attempts in the past, and they want this record to offer hope and strength – if not a literal lifeline – to anyone who hears it. It is, by its very existence, a testament to what happens if you don’t let your demons win.

“We definitely haven’t painted ourselves into a corner musically,” says Wright, “but we also wanted to establish that we’re an authority on emo – especially for me, from a representative standpoint.” That representation is at the heart of CLIFFDIVER’s identity, matched only by the band’s intentionality. Already known on the Tulsa scene as a soul singer, Wright was asked to join CLIFFDIVER permanently after featuring on 2020’s single “Gas City”. One of many reasons for that decision is what her joining the band signified. They realized they could plug a representational gap.

“I’m going to be okay because I’ve decided I’m going to be okay,” continues Wright. “It’s resilience – and if you own your shit, it’s painful, but no-one can take that from you. That’s why the record’s called ‘Exercise Your Demons’, because while you may not be able to exorcise them and get them out of your life, you can train them and get them under control.”

A profound exploration of grief that takes place over a hedonistic weekend, the concept of ‘Exercise Your Demons’ was initially inspired by a recurring nightmare Duffy had in which an ex-fiancée of his who had taken her life was trying to convince him to do the same.

“Because we have this talented group of musicians around us,” says Duffy, “we’re able to trick people into talking about their mental health without them at first noticing what we’re doing. And I get to show my son that, no matter how life kicks the shit out of you to where you think there’s no hope, there is a ‘but’, there is hope and redemption, even for a burnt-out, used-up party kid like me. I’m looking forward to a future that I’m building that wouldn’t be here were it not for CLIFFDIVER.”

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Exercise Your Demons

By: Cliffdiver

Exercise Your Demons

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