Emerging from the late ’90s post-hardcore scene, By A Thread first made their mark with Last of the Daydreams, a Revelation Records standout that fused melody and emotional intensity in equal measure. In case you don't know their history, By A Thread was co-founded by Strain guitarists Sean Lande and John Franco, a band I recently featured in a deep dive interview feature during '90s Hardcore Week on the website.
After releasing a self-titled follow-up in 2011 through Revelation Records, By A Thread went silent. A few years ago, Sean and John (who also handles vocals in the combo) decided to fire up the group again, bringing in drummer Gabe Mantle (Gob) to create Mirrored Life—a reverb-soaked, deeply reflective record shaped by grief, growth, and resilience.
With bassist Carl McBeath now holding down the low end, the band isn’t chasing a comeback but reaffirming what made their sound so timeless: the ability to turn hard-won emotion into cathartic, atmospheric anthems.
A few days ago, I spoke with Sean about Mirrored Life, their new label home, and the band's future now that they have a lineup in tact.
From what I read in the press materials for Mirrored Life, there was a lot of heavy stuff that happened in your life in the years since the last By A Thread record. Were you worried that the downcast nature would inform the material in a negative way, and how did you channel it into something powerful and inspiring?
There were heavy things, yes. The world in general also feels heavier than normal in our current times. I never thought about a negative effect, really. Channeling whatever we’re feeling has been a constant since we were young and doing hardcore bands. I think with this record though, it does feel like it’s more vulnerable and thought through in a different way with gained life experience.
Being creative is an outlet I don’t think I would be very happy living without. I hope that people can relate and take something for themselves too from these songs.
From a stylistic standpoint, did you approach this material differently from the earlier By A Thread records? Or was there a "BAT sound" that you felt beholden to?
Stylistically, we approached this record much like our first record, The Last of the Daydreams. No constraints. There weren’t too many discussions that I remember around approach, except that we were thinking this record would be on the darker side.
The BAT sound is whatever comes out of us. Now and moving forward, I think anything goes as long as we’re feeling what we’re producing. John and I both know right away if a riff or a song will work, and if we agree, which is almost always, that idea will stick for BAT.
With so many years away from the studio together, how did the recording sessions go? I’m sure you were even more appreciative to be in there now as compared to the “old days” since you’ve been removed from that kind of experience for many years.
The recording was done in parts. We did the drums and bass at a bigger studio, the guitars at Stu’s (he recorded the record) house and the vocals with our friend, Cheyne at his studio. This was a very different experience.
In the old days, we’d have a week or two to get everything done. This time, we had the luxury and curse of doing things on our own time. John, our singer/guitarist also mixed the record and was able to record bits and pieces at home too. This all helped bringing our vision to life in the end.
While it was a long process (about 2 years), it was a great learning experience. I think we’ll do things differently next time, but we’re really happy with how it all turned out in the end, and yes, super fun to have lots of control and be creative throughout.
How did you connect with Spartan Records for the release? Did you know John T. Frazier from way back?
We had recorded the record prior to connecting with Spartan. I had heard of Spartan, but didn’t know much about the label. It was through a couple of connections (shout out to Ryan M and Joseph G). One person led to another that led to John from Spartan.
John said he was up to hear it as he was into BAT previously. I think I sent him most of the songs. I remember him saying he would get back to me after spending some time with them. He ended up getting back to me right away with a really positive message and we were off to the races.
It’s important to us to work with people who are as stoked as we are and passionate about music. We also love that we were able to put out what we think is a beautiful, high quality product with some very cool variants.
What's the plan now that the record is out? How committed is everyone to keep working on the band?
The band is as committed as we can be. Meaning, no lengthy tours, but we all want to be a busy as possible. We all have individual personal/job commitments, but we’re also wanting to build some momentum with BAT.
We’re playing our first show back on October 10th and have plans for Europe in the works as a well. The focus the last couple of years has been to get this record out. Now, we’d like to do some shows and start writing for the next record.
Many, many years have passed by between the 3 BAT albums and we hope to break that cycle moving forward.
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Mirrored Life is available now via Spartan Records (order vinyl here).
By A Thread on social media: Instagram
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