The latest era of Actor Observer is already underway, but with a ferocious follow-up single to the initial introduction to their next record, the band is digging even deeper past the surface to confront an ever-present issue with no chill to be found.
As the second single off the New England-based post-hardcore band’s upcoming album Songs For The Newly Reclusive, ‘Man, Enough’ is a direct, yet eloquently crafted evisceration of toxic masculinity, the rejection of its atrophic affects, and the complicated definition of what society has deemed what “being a man” means. While the album’s first glimpse “Fool’s Gold” provided an anthemic voice to the gentrified arts community in Boston and its surrounding neighborhoods, frontman Greg Marquis drew inspiration from within for the scorching new track, in search of answers to questions surrounding the idea of masculinity that he’s had for years.
“It started from a place that I’ve thought of my whole life, but I wasn’t sure how or if we could put it into words,” Marquis tells Vanyaland. “But I proposed to the band because I wanted to talk about how limiting and debilitating it is to identify as a man, and then feel like my whole life, I’m supposed to fit into a very narrow definition of masculinity while realizing that, all the way from childhood, I’ve never aligned with most of traditional definitions of masculinity. And the guys in the band agreed that we weren’t down with any of that macho shit, so we wanted to write a song that showed that we recognize that we’re all men, and that we’re in a genre generally dominated by men, which has fortunately shifted over time. We really feel like more men should be talking about how toxic masculinity, from an early age, holds us back in our own development.”
Now, while Marquis more than shows his capability of getting his point across with poetic, vulnerable lyrics detailing his own battle with the subject matter, he turned to a longtime friend in Chris Preece, frontman of Inspirit (the revamped original lineup of Boston metalcore legends Vanna) to lend a hand in making sure it was both brutally delivered and brutally clear.
Preece and Marquis’ connection has traveled with them over the years from the early days of Vanna, which was founded partly by Marquis’ brother Shawn. To have Preece be a part of this song and contribute to the sort of tongue-in-cheek breakdown, which Marquis admits offers a blatant opportunity to mosh and act somewhat primitive, was not only a highlight for the music fan in Marquis, but it also represents a sort of full-circle moment as Preece and Vanna were instrumental in their own way in Marquis’ evolution and understanding within the scene, as well as his growth in trying to figure out what being “masculine” meant. With the ability to not only see them throw down on stage over the years, but also operate as an openly emotional band of brothers and fathers behind the scenes has added even more understanding of what “being a man” is and isn’t for Marquis, and he’s hoping that mutual vulnerability shines through with this collaboration.
“I really wanted a vocalist who I look to for heavy music. When the Vanna guys came back as Inspirit, we became really close with the guys again, and I hadn’t seen Chris in years,” says Marquis. “It was like being reacquainted with long-lost brothers where Chris and Evan [Pharmakis] remembered me from when Vanna was writing songs in my parents’ basement. I really wanted Chris’ voice in this song because it’s just that huge, visceral and epic metalcore breakdown voice, and when I reached out to him about it, he was all for it.”
As an artist who makes an elite effort to clearly and articulately convey what he’s trying to say, Marquis is hoping this song’s message is no exception. He’s not trying to play the “it’s tough being a man” card by any means, but instead, he and his bandmates want to actively and loudly challenge the status quo of what has been accepted as masculine or manly, and hopefully boost the conversation as men who want nothing more than to help break down and rehabilitate the harmful and non-constructive attitudes that they’ve experienced from their fellow “man.”
“I just really hope people embrace it and know where we’re coming from,” says Marquis. “There are plenty of people that have screamed from the mountain tops about toxic masculinity forever. Plenty of women, trans folks, and non-Cisgendered men. But I wanted to add to the conversation from within the demographic, and I hope people can appreciate that and that it’s something that is welcomed in this genre.”