On July 15th two-thirds of Injury Reserve premiered a double music video at a special event in Los Angeles at the 2220 Arts + Archive. The videos in question were for a previous song released on their 2021 album By The Time I Get to Phoenix called “Bye Storm” and for a new song released under their new artist name By Storm entitled “Double Trio.” Along with the premiere of new material, Nathaniel Ritchie, stage name Ritchie With a T, and Parker Corey sat down with fellow artist Harmony Holiday for a Mythscience Talks discussion about the following presentation.
Once the event started, fans were ushered into a theater behind the small performing hall. The theater was large and supported ample seating. On the stage, in front of the wooded and bricked walls, was a grey couch and black chair facing toward the audience. As Ritchie and Corey sat with Holiday, the conversation began.
It’s been a rough couple of years for the Arizona-based group. Following the loss of their third member Jordan Groggs, who performed under the name Stepa J. Groggs, the band embarked on a worldwide tour whilst grappling with what to do without one of their core components. For the remaining members, it was always a battle of extremes, never in the middle. The internal dilemma they described during the conversation was almost verbatim what Ritchie had already told Huck Magazine two years prior, “ I can imagine him joking and saying: ‘Y’all better still do this shit!’. But then I can also imagine him saying: ‘You better not step on a stage without me!” Ultimately they decided that they couldn’t continue the name with just them two. Injury Reserve’s slogan was always 3/3, and there was no reason to change that.
They needed to find a way to transition into something different and reopen the conversation about the group making new material. After their time away they had finally figured out how. Ritchie described their circumstances, and how it took two years to make a single track. The subsequent video for the aforementioned song “Double Trio” as well as “Bye Storm” represents their rebirth into By Storm and the last thing they will ever do under the Injury Reserve name.
The video itself was ethereal and poignant first starting with the warm track “Bye Storm” which makes heavy use of a sample from Brian Eno. Clips of the band’s time together as a full team flash by in a heavily edited montage. For many, it was their first time seeing new footage of Groggs before his unfortunate passing. The second half of the video was a bit more traditional this time taking place in the very theater fans were sitting in. Ritchie lays in a makeshift wooded bed, which fans could recognize from a previous social media post. A linen blanket is placed precariously on top of him and interlaced is footage of him dancing in a yellow suit and rapping along with his own lyrics. The song itself is very reminiscent of their lo-fi material from 2020, the last 40 seconds break into a speedy footwork track while the camera spins around the art studio interior.
Post-screening followed another conversation about the video which according to Corey, in a very mild way is about learning how to cope with disaster. They also spoke on the struggle of honoring their former groupmate without commodifying his death. Even in past material, they wondered if what they were doing was ethically right, especially in an era where AI-generated singers and posthumous verses are now widespread. Corey remarked that creating the music video for “Knees” wasn’t easy referring to the silhouette of Groggs they added in post, referencing his absence in the video.
Aside from the creation of the dual music video, the group detailed how they aimed to maintain its structure with just Corey and Ritchie as the central focus. Ritchie described the process as a maturing period. How both members had to learn how to trust each other personally and creatively. Learning how to live with the flaw and natural processes that come with music creation. The breakdown at the end of “Double Trio” was heavily opposed by Ritchie, before he eventually gave in and allowed Corey to have more creative freedom.
At the tail end of the event, questions were opened up to the floor. Fans asked the group about their favorite records, their relationship with fellow musician and engineer Zeroh, and where they tend to draw inspiration from. This portion ended up going on longer than expected because Ritchie kept asking for more questions to “end on a better vibe.” Despite the extra questions from fans, something was still on our minds even after the event ended.
The whole purpose behind the shift from Injury Reserve to By Storm is not simply aesthetic but also ideological. With the new name comes with it a new set of principles and boundaries. Ritchie and Corey stressed the importance of the “now” and how they want to worry less about how future projects may be perceived once released. The members recalled how surprised they were by the overwhelmingly positive reception of their previous record, initially believing fans would hate it. They wanted to avoid having those fears from here on out.
Regardless, we spoke with Ritchie post-show to ask where he wants to see By Storm go from here; if there were any sort of endgame. His response was sanguine, “There is no endgame…I think a lot of what we do has no goal, it has a lot to do with just competition and boredom, and there’s never a like a grand scheme when we’re doing anything.”
“Has it always been that way?”, we asked.
“We’ve matured into that. I think when we made Floss we definitely had a visual goal of what we wanted to make, and I think maybe Phoenix was the second time that’s ever happened, but at the same time, it didn’t happen until we started making songs…I don’t know that’s kind of a hard question,” said Ritchie.
Despite the apparent lack of a traditional game plan, Injury Reserve has always made a splash when it mattered and it was clear that momentum was building into something that would have equal stopping power. The group would not reveal when the double music video would release but said it should be “soon.” They also assured fans that while Injury Reserve is no more performing songs from that moniker is still fair game. With that being said, it would seem this is all just the calm before the storm.
Turn off the Bright Lights 