Love Letter To A Record: Stefan From The Montreals On Rise Against’s ‘The Sufferer & The Witness’

March 31, 2018

Many of us can link a certain album to pivotal moments in our lives. Whether it’s the first record you bought with your own money, the chord you first learnt to play on guitar, the song that soundtracked your first kiss, the album that got you those awkward and painful pubescent years or the one that set off light bulbs in your brain and inspired you to take a big leap of faith into the unknown – music is often the catalyst for change in our lives and can even help shape who we become.

In this series, Music Feeds asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share with us stories about the effect music has had on their lives.

Here are their love letters to records that forever changed their lives.

Stefan Athanasov, The Montreals — Rise Against’s The Sufferer & The Witness

Heyya old friend,

Hope you’ve been well!

(FYI) Your CD has been crammed in my 1995 Toyota Camry for god knows how long.

There is a distinct fissure down the spine, so the case doesn’t open properly, it just kinda flops into 2 pieces like some shitty IKEA job. But you’re the type of album where I actually read the little pamphlet in the cover (like a Bible), d’ya remember those???

I loved everything about you, I could recite you top to bottom. There was no yearning for shiny production, you simply had a lot to tell me as a 15-year-old dumbass teenager. Every single track had guts on the wall, deadest anthems. It was all 1000 BPM, and god damn when you played it live – you’d be swimming in sweat.

You were the soundtrack to my trash adolescence. That golden period in everyone’s life where you’re still figuring out what the hell is going on ya know?

If I was drinking goon in the park with townies you were right there, baby! The first time I was in trouble with the cops, every garbage house party, you name it.

You taught me the power chord haha! & more importantly gave me the pluck to just be a weirdo.

I will forever have the softest spot for you, so soft you could squish it with a gosh darn butter knife.

Love u forever n’ always!!!

P.S. the ending to ‘The Good Left Undone’ is my favourite outro ever made. Period.

“All because of you, I believe in angles,

not the kind with wings, no not the kind with halos,

The kind that bring you home,

When home becomes a strange place

I’ll follow your voice,

All you have to do is shout it out.”

AHHHHH u bastards.

—

Adelaide indie rockers The Montreals have just dropped their new single ‘Sardines’ and announced a headlining tour to celebrate! Cop the tune and the dates below.