The Breaks Inc are a New York City based band that marries classic rock with contemporary indie. Their sound expands with every song; sonically, each is exceptionally written, including a perfect balance of instruments and tones, with Bob Dylan-level introspective lyrics paired to the melodies. The band includes Danny Marra (vocals), Adrian Cardenas (rhythm guitar), Gilberto Simmons (bass), Michael Massiah (lead guitar), Katie Marra (backing vocals), and Jason Ruiz (drums). The Breaks Inc. is undeniably one of the most talented up and coming bands in New York City. After several years, their album, “Hotel Earth,” is releasing November 14th.

Can you talk about how you all met and how the band formed.

Danny: Well, me and this guy [Adrian] have known each other since 2016. We went to college together, and we kind of had crazy aspirations of doing something music related. We sat at a Wendy's at about three in the morning on 8th Avenue with our other friend at the time and said, “yeah, let's start a band because that's a good idea.” And we were awful. We had no talent or ability or songs or anything. You [Adrian] were learning guitar at that point. And I couldn't sing at all and I still can't, but that's besides the point. I originally played bass because we didn't have a bass player, but then we [Gilby] also met at college in 2014 and he decided he wanted to join. And he's [Jason] drummer number four, but he is the final drummer. We've come to that point where the search is over.

Adrian: I think it's important to mention the music club. I think that's where we all knew about each other, but we weren't friends per se.

Danny: You [Adrian] and I were friends from day one. He came into the club room with a David Bowie backpack. I think it was his third day of college.

Adrian: Second day of college. I was a commuter.

Danny: So he was super upset after two days. He was not enjoying college at all.

Adrian: I was like, “fuck this.”

Danny: But then he came to the club room and after we met, we kind of haven't been apart ever.

Jason: I wasn't supposed to be the drummer. I was supposed to play organ and keyboard. The last drummer we had, it was right before Covid.

Danny: The day before the show he wanted to cancel it. And I was like, “that's totally fine. Hey Jason, can you play drums for us?”

Jason: That's what ended up happening. It was mentioned in the room that I played drums and he asked me if I could do it, learn 20ish songs that night. And I said, “yeah, why not?” I've done that before, and after I played he [Danny] made a note that they didn’t want the last guy back.

Danny: Mikey is lead guitarist number three. And he joined two and a half years ago.

Katie: [Danny] called me up randomly and was like, “do you still sing?” And I was like, “yeah, sure.” In high school I used to do little coffeehouses and open mics.

Danny: But the reason I called you was because the songs I write have a lot of harmonies. And whenever I tried performing them without harmonies, they just didn't sound right.

Katie: All three of us, me, him [Danny] and our sister sing. But me and him have almost the exact same voice. So he was like, “do you want to sing in my band?” I was like, “sure.” He was like, “I'll drive up and teach you all the harmonies.” So before he got there, I wrote all of the songs out on my iPad, all the lyrics, and highlighted what I heard had harmonies. And we sat there for like, I don't know, two hours, three hours.

Danny: She lives two hours away too. So it was quite a trip.

So you did your homework?

Danny: Yeah, I was very impressed. I wasn't expecting that either.

Katie: And then I only thought it was for one or two shows, and then he just kept me.

Danny: Here you are two years later.

Katie: Well, you always used to say I’m not in the band.

Danny: Sibling joke.

Adrian: She was always in the band.

What's the origin of the name?

Adrian: It involves Captain Crunch cereal and a phone call on my end.

Danny: Are you serious?

Adrian: Yeah.

Danny: I don’t know. It's his name. Well, it was “The Breaks.” And then five years ago when we were starting to put music out, I was so dismayed because there were five of “The Breaks” on Spotify and I was so upset. I was like, “crap, what are we going to do?” And the sensible thing would be to pick a better name.

Adrian: No, why would we do that?

Danny: Well, because I think there are better names. But at that point in time we were like, “oh my god, we have all these t-shirts printed.” It seems so silly in retrospect. So our solution was to add something to make it different. So I added the “inc” at the end.

What would you change it to?

Adrian: Oh, we don't have anything better.

Danny: I've tried to think of one in fact. Some people say they like it, but I just don't believe them.

The newest album is coming out November 14th, “Hotel Earth” Let's start at the beginning, where did the idea for the album come from?

Danny: Being dejected and despondent and miserable and just attempting to do something productive instead of something destructive. So if I feel horrible, I might as well attempt to channel that energy into something good that people might enjoy. But I'll say this, every line is intentional and references a specific snapshot or a memory in my brain that exists. I think of lyrics like little photographs that only I have seen and people like to interpret lyrics and photographs in their own meaning. And that's great. I don't know if I can explain further.

Were the songs written for the album or were they songs that were written prior and that you accumulated into an album?

Danny: I wrote them all as one piece, and I started writing them in 2019. I had them all written by 2022, but it took a while to record and mix them.

I was curious about the storytelling of the album. The beginning starts with this dystopian dialogue, and then the side one ends with a soft instrumental song. Side two opens with a really powerful song and then closes with a slower, very nostalgic sounding song. Was the storyline intentional? If so, what was it like finding the through line?

Danny: That's an excellent question. I think it follows this kind of loose narrative of waking up from a dream. And the middle of the album kind of deals with the anger or hopelessness or fear that goes about and follows a person that is not necessarily happy in the reality that exists. And it ends with a rather bleak kind of almost giving up. And it's interesting that you said the last song is kind of soft and nostalgic. It's softer compared to the other ones. The lyrics are kind of bleak as well. It's almost like a retreat back into this fog of a dream.

Jason: Which is actually what nostalgia does to people anyways.

Adrian: It’s not about an astronaut?

Danny: I kind of came up with the concept of imagining or likening this personal experience to some kind of tangible thing. And I thought of something lonely, like an astronaut. I can only imagine that it's kind of a lonely thing to be up there with none of the people you really love or care about. I got this picture of a porthole where everybody else is and you're so far away. So yeah, there is kind of this astronaut concept or story written literally in the lyrics.

I was going to say there's a lot of repeating themes, the idea of dystopia and in some cases utopia. Blue was a consistent repeating word along with others. What made you find these themes in all of the songs, and were they meant to come together in a way?

Danny: Where did I find the themes? Day-to-day life. People I met, things I've done. Repetition I feel is a thing I'm comfortable with. I prefer repetition in monotony. Often I feel like the majority of people enjoy doing different things. Variety is a spice of life. I kind of hate that expression.

What was one track on the album that was the hardest to finish?

Adrian: We re-recorded one of them.

Katie: The entirety of “Station IX.”

Jason: Luckily it didn't take that long to re-record it, but we did have to just go from scratch essentially. Again, it wouldn't have felt right if it wasn't.

Adrian: Well, I think we write songs and then I think they tend to grow up, evolve. And also once we're playing live, you have to fill a lot of the sound stage and you come up with parts.

Katie: The more that it was played live the more that it became “Station IX.”

Jason: We feel the song more as we play because while we're writing it we're trying to be creative rather than feeling what we're doing.

Danny: I'll also say this, I mean we recorded the album over two years. It took long because we played our gigs every couple of weeks and we saved up all of our money. Then we’d be like, “oh great, we can afford to go to the studio now.” And it would be like every couple of months we'd go and do a whole day, a whole 12 hour session.

Adrian: We were very efficient.

Danny: So when we started recording, the songs weren’t necessarily as good as we could have played them. We do a very kind of noticeable cut in “Station IX” in the choruses. The band kind of stops all together and when we recorded it, that cut didn't exist and it just wasn't the same. It stopped sounding right. “Something to Find” was the hardest one to finish because that's the one that we didn't redo. I really hope people enjoy it. However, really my goal is to get it as close to sounding how it does in my head as possible.

What is one song or memory from making this album that's been your favorite so far.

Jason: So in “Something To Find,” Michael has some parts that always manage to pop out in such a way that’s not invasive, they're not forcing you to hear it because you always manage to pick up on the lines that he's doing. And then me and Gilby, we always play along with that part. It’s weird describing it this way, but that section of the song when he starts doing that lick feels so good.

Katie: I feel like that’s everybody's favorite part.

Danny: My moment is the beginning of “Eleanor,” when the drums come in.

Adrian: Oh, you're stealing my shit.

Danny: But he plays a note that opens the song and it's just like the perfect hit, the perfect tremolo, the perfect feeling for the sadness of the song. I love the violin runs on “2055.” I wrote that part because I love Electric Light Orchestra and Eldorado is one of my favorite albums. I love the pre-chorus of “Only A Dream,” this chromatic ascending thing. It's one of my favorite things I've ever written. “Floating In The Sea,” I'm very proud of the lyrics, proud of that story as a whole.

Jason: He's stealing everyone's answers.

Danny: I'll shut up now.

Gilby: Alright, so one of my favorite parts on the album is “Eleanor.” I'm a big fan of arpeggios. So when Mikey came up with his idea for his rhythm part, that's by far my favorite thing that Mikey has ever done for this band. Another one is the last chorus for “Blue” because it's a driving force and it just feels good.

Danny: I've listened to this album too many times over the last few years.

Adrian: Oh, trust me, I can hear you listening to it.

Danny: I know every second of every part of every instrument obsessively.

Is that healthy?

Danny: No. And I don't recommend anybody falling into that, but it's hard to avoid.

Gilby: The last one that I like are the harmonies at the end of “2055.”

Danny: It's layered essentially. And you [Katie] hit the notes that I can no longer reach.

Katie: And I had to do it like 40 times in a row.

Danny: Yeah, because we have to layer.

Katie: He doesn't like copy and pasting to double track things.

Danny: That’s cheating.

Katie: He had me sit there for at least I'd say a half hour doing the “Ooh” over and over.

Jason: I'm a big fan of the breakdown in “Station IX.” That entire song just feels amazing.

Adrian: “Eleanor,” I had different parts coming to the studio and I just knew that they weren’t going to work. So I kind of had this melody in my head, and it just worked out and I'm really glad it did. But I felt really unprepared for that song, and I'm really surprised how it came out.

Michael: I'm going to talk about everything but myself. I think that the lyrics on “Blue” are my favorite from the album. Jason's drums on “Station IX.” Gilby’s bass playing on “Only A Dream.” Adrian's playing on “Eleanor.” And Katie’s sick harmonies on “Something To Find.” It's hard to choose. There’s no line that I would say I would play one more time over the other in any song.

After five years of making this album, what does it mean to you to have it done and coming out?

Danny: It's a big weight off my shoulders.

Jason: Onto the next album. That's how I feel.

Danny: I can sleep at night now.

Jason: We were kind of writing something a couple of days ago and that's getting me excited to write again because we sporadically write. We were writing random songs throughout the process of the album that aren't actually on the album, but they were more very quick, like, “let's just do this.” And I'm excited to find our new “Station IX” or those songs that took us a minute to really sit with and play over time to get to a certain point where we all were happy with it.

Danny: I'm not writing darker anymore.

Well, I have a question about that. You said that this album is darker in sound than some of your previous releases. In what ways did your sound change specifically for this album? And do you foresee it changing for the next set of releases?

Adrian: Yes and Yes.

Danny: Yes and Yes.

Katie: It's so different compared to what is out currently.

Danny: Those songs that are out now that I put out in 2020, 2021. It's like just silly little attempts at being Beatle-esque and recording songs in my basement on borrowed equipment.

Adrian: The chord progressions are fucking cool though.

Danny: I think they hold up as a piece, but it's not me anymore. So when I shifted to write for this album, I was in a certain state of mind and I'm not in that state of mind anymore because I'm happy now. It's hard to write songs when you're happy, and that makes me sad.

Gilby: He says this, but we literally sat down with an idea for five minutes and because this guy wrote a couple lines on a piece of paper. He was like, “I got this” and just wrote the whole thing.

Danny: Sometimes it happens.

What is a typical songwriting process for you guys?

Danny: Usually I bring an idea to them. They build their parts off of it.

Adrian: Sometimes it's just us in the living room and I've been like, “oh, what do you think of this?”

Danny: And you'll play something. That's what happened with “No Words.” I wrote that song in 15 minutes after you showed me a little melody. It doesn't happen like that very often though. Most times I come up with a progression that I like that's unique and different. I don't like writing the same thing over and over again. I'll come up with a melody after that and then I'll write the lyrics. But I have to have something to say. If I don't have something to say, then I can't write it.

Jason: To me, I feel like we write a song together and then when we perform it, we finalize it. When we write it, it's not really there yet. We just kind of throw a bunch of things all together because we all have very different music tastes. And because of that we end up clashing at times. But sometimes it works where I bring something that's not technically the sound that he was used to, and it still sounds good and he doesn't tell me to not play it.

Besides the album that's coming out next month, any upcoming plans?

Danny: We're going to go to [Alex] Poeppel.So we’ll call Poeppel and we'll record two songs, potentially a new song. It's a new song which we wanted to play tonight, but you vetoed it. He's probably right. It would probably be a train wreck if we attempted.

Do you choose the set lists together?

Katie: They don't make setlists until 20 minutes before.

Danny: Sometimes.

Adrian: Well, we used to be better before, but my printer broke.

What’s one goal that you want to accomplish?

Katie: I want to go on tour.

Adrian: I'm hoping that this album opens doors.

Jason: Tour is the main one. I definitely want to play and bring our music to different areas. Writing a new album that we all collectively write together is something I'm excited for because as he [Danny] mentioned, the stuff that is on the album is stuff that he's been writing for years prior to even me and Mikey being in the band. We added our ideas in it, but he had his idea already. But I'm excited to now venture into collective songwriting.

Danny: I want people to not think that we're a joke because I've poured my heart and soul into this album. And by all regards, I think it's pretty damn good.

Follow The Breaks Inc. on Spotify, Instagram, and their website. Listen to their newest album, “Hotel Earth,” releasing on November 14th.

photos via Tori McGraw (@afterr.hourrs)