Underoath guitarist looks back on ‘They’re Only Chasing Safety,’ ‘Define The Great Line’

Underoath guitarist Tim McTague recently sat down with Emery’s Matt Carter for an extensive episode of the Break It Down podcast. The amount of material they cover is incredibly immense, so, being the Underoath fanatic that I am, I broke things down (no pun intended, Matt) and noted a few interesting quotes, which you can read below.

• Timmy and Matt cover some deep conversation on creativity and staying focused.
• Matt totally name drops AltPress for posting that video of Underoath losing their minds during a 2002 show. (Sorry about that, Timmy.)
• “[Underoath] were birthed out of the black metal scene,” claims Tim, referencing the band's first two releases, Acts Of Depression and Cries Of The Past.
• There is some deep, extremely cool dialogue on the intricacies behind songs on both They're Only Chasing Safety and Define The Great Line. 
• Matt brings the drumming and guitar work on “Moving For The Sake Of Motion” and Timmy drops an Easter egg about how an unnamed producer wanted to take out the song's drum fill intro. On the same day that had been brought out into the open, the band fired that producer.
• Tim fleshes out the idea that he, at one point in time, was ashamed of They're Only Chasing Safety. Despite them playing songs off that record until they were no longer a band, I have always felt as though the members of Underoath were never entirely proud of that record. While I understood that to an extent, I still felt as though they were downplaying their legacy. It brings closure to hear Tim talk about it in such a genuine context.

Personally, I love the concept of an artist, like Matt, interviewing other musicians that they consider friends, due to the fact that they can approach it on a different level than a regular journalist could. During the last segment of the podcast, Matt literally pried an answer out of Tim, and that may not have been possible if someone else were conducting the interview. Concerning that specific answer, I felt it was great that Tim expatiated what he did.

If you like what you hear, be sure to support Matt and the Break It Down podcast.