Naperville's Young Detectives remind us we can make it with 'In Your Roots'
Indie alternative rock duo Young Detectives delivers a follow-up to this summer's debut single, “One More Time,” with this week's premiere of “In Your Roots,” a track that flies in the face of the naysayers and the opinions of those trying to hold us back.
Christopher Bryant and Stephen Utterback answered a few questions about the new single:
Q: “In Your Roots” has a very clear message of triumphing over the opinions and advice of others who try to block you from achieving what you want. How does that play into your personal history?
Stephen: If you look at our current societal climate, it's easy to lose yourself in the opinions of others. The ability to motivate yourself, despite all of those opinions, is a testament to personal strength.
Christopher: We all face judgment, every single person has heard something that they internalize and it holds them back. When we can break through that wall and overcome our self-doubt we can accomplish great things.
Q: Toward the end of the song, there's a chorus of voices rising up talking about their own challenges. Who are they and how did they come to be part of the project?
Well, at first it was difficult to ask people to do. We weren't getting a lot of responses and people didn't really understand what we were trying to achieve. So we had to invest a lot of time searching for honest people to come forward and do this part with us. We reached out to our friends and family and were able to find what we were looking for ... Honesty. To name drop the brave folks who helped make this song what it is, a huge thank you to Noel Streacker, Rachel Streacker, Korey Gregornik, Alexa Utterback, Lauren Bryant, and Clay Hlavin. We are so very proud of them all!
Q: How does “In Your Roots” fit into the larger scheme of music you guys are releasing this year? Is it building toward a larger upcoming project?
We love creating fun music but the message is going to be a lot more bold than in some of our previous projects. The themes are going to focus on overcoming hardships we all experience in life. We want to normalize mental health and give people confidence in themselves to not be afraid to get the support they need and deserve. We are currently working on a larger project, possibly a 5-song EP, although there isn't a lot to show for it at this point. We can tell you this, you'll have something fresh and powerful to digitally shove in your Christmas stocking.
Q: Since Young Detectives is such a new band on the scene, tell us how you two became involved together musically? When did Young Detectives take root?
We actually grew up in the same neighborhood. The funny thing is that when I started The Weekend Run Club, I had asked Stephen to join the project, but at the time he was working with his other project Sapphire Sea. Young Detectives came together at the beginning of the pandemic. I had reached out to Stephen and asked him if he was down to start a project, yet again. I had sent him some demos and he finally came to his senses and said “yes, you're finally good enough.” So we began working on One More Time, and released that back in July. It's been a journey indeed, with the pandemic and a new project but there is a lot of beautiful music being written right now by this community, and we can't wait to get on stage!
• Find out more about Young Detectives on Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.