Written by Shea Roney | Photo Courtesy of PPM

Earlier this month, Austin-based punk band Guiding Light released their debut album Fear On My Own Time via Post Present Medium. Composed of drummer Charles Powell, vocalist Elise Cook, guitarist John Morales, and bassist Rachel Kirk, Guiding Light create music that is bold, and gloriously so. Honing instrumental fixations that combat the dead ends of our societal collapse, these songs burst with intensity and linger with purpose as Guiding Light break through the isolation and unease that absorbs our world.  

Guiding Light also made a mix of songs that inspired the making of Fear On My Own Time. 

I know that Guiding Light came together in a rather serendipitous manner, where the instrumentation was complete without a lead vocalist, and vice versa, lyrics written without a band. Now that you see your debut LP about to be released, what was it like to write an album all together as a fortified unit?

It was really easy. We work well together. It was easy when we met, which is what made it so fun for us, and I’d argue it’s even easier now that we write as a unit!

The recording process for Fear On My Own Time was split up into two sessions with a 6-month gap in between. What did that lapse in time offer to these songs and the final product that we get to experience?

Honestly, the only reason there was a gap in between recording was because we didn’t have all the songs done yet, and some members are in other bands who had their own things happening. We didn’t want to rush. I think the result of having time between recording allowed life to happen and therefore themes of the album became more complete.

The songs across this album range in focus from the aftermath of a relationship ending to the overreaching fascism that we are all living in now. What does it mean to you as not just individuals, but members of a community to write and explore these topics of very human problems and faults?

What else is there to write about? 

The phrase “Fear on my own time” is a stunning depiction of agency and what we let into our day to day. Can you tell me more about what that phrase means to you and why you saw it fitting to name the album?

I mean, it’s whatever you make of it.. not to sound like a prick. At the time that I wrote that track, I felt like my life was falling apart and I was living in so much fear. I knew that at the end of the day it was my own choice how I would deal with those fears, how much time I would devote to fear, whether that was worth anything or not. I think a little bit of fear is good when you’re making something. Only a little bit, though. The phrase itself was the title of the record in my head LONG before we finished all the songs.

How do you all plan to celebrate the album’s release?

We’re having a release party at Tweedy’s in Austin on August 21st!

Tweedy’s is the spot, and it was the spot before it was Tweedy’s. Half of us work there, we all spend a lot of time there. It was, in our minds, THE place to celebrate. It is also my (Elise’s) birthday when the record comes out. Believe it or not, that date was not my suggestion, just happy coincidence.

All roads lead to Tweedy’s…

You can listen to Fear On My Own Time out now via Post Present Medium.