Introducing SLIT, a metalcore band from Dallas, Texas that have just made their big debut.

Made up of vocalist Justin Mitchell, drummer Leo Aguero, guitarist Nicholas Casares and bassist Keegan Adair, SLIT formed as a way for the four members to find their way back into creating music after taking a few years off. And now, just a short jump later, the band have just released their debut EP “Nothing Left.”

Tackling the difficult topics of depression, substance abuse, and recovery, “Nothing Left” provides listeners with an honest look into the band member’s pasts as well as their hopes for the future. It balances emotional lyricism and vulnerability with heavier instrumentals that serve as a form of catharsis for both the band and listeners- helping them express their inner anxieties through the use of intense music. 

Now just under one week since “Nothing Left” made its public debut, we had the opportunity to chat with SLIT about their EP as they shared what the most difficult part of creating it was, their favorite tracks, and more about their Lil Lotus feature, in addition to sharing their hopes for the coming year.

You can read the full interview below, and be sure to stream “Nothing Left,” linked at the bottom.

Second Society Report: First off, how are you all doing? Besides your musical endeavors, what have you all been doing to stay busy/sane/healthy during the past few months as the industry essentially shut down?

SLIT: We’ve been doing pretty well, we’ve all mostly just been working or trying to find ways to stay creative so we don’t lose our minds.

SSR: Now for musical talk- How did SLIT come to be? Why did you choose SLIT as the band name?

SLIT: It pretty much just started as a project for all of us to get back into the music scene after being out for a little bit. The name just came from something we all at some point felt like we had to resort to and heavily contemplated, but made it through, which is something we feel many people can relate to. 

SSR: You’ve just released your debut EP “Nothing Left” this past Friday. How do you feel now that it is officially out to the public?

SLIT: We are actually very excited for people to finally be hearing what we worked so hard for throughout our first year being a band, but even more excited to get out everything we’ve been working on lately.

SSR: When writing the EP, which did you find came first most of the time- the lyrics or the instrumentals? Which do you think is harder to write? 

Definitely the lyrics came first for this EP. We all went through such a rough time the past couple of years that the lyrics were pretty written before we even started writing the instrumentals.

SSR: How long did it take from the first thoughts of creating the EP to the finished product’s completion?

Surprisingly not that long. Once we got started, we just worked as hard as possible for the few months that followed and were able to get out everything we envisioned relatively quickly and still were able to portray exactly what we wanted to, which we couldn’t be more happy about. 

SSR: Out of the four songs on the EP, which is the overwhelming favorite? Why?

SLIT: Definitely “Dead Roses,” at least for us, because it touches a subject we all feel we’ve had to go through and expresses a lot of emotion we’d all been holding onto for a long time, so we all definitely hold that one very close to our hearts. 

SSR: Which track was the hardest to write? What made it difficult?

SLIT: Probably “Habits.” It’s definitely a song that was tough to get through, lyrically, considering the subject on addiction and substance abuse and how hard it is to come to terms with the fact that you have a problem. 

As far as instrumentally, our producer and friend, Jojo Centineo, was a big help in helping us convey the heavy side of it while still maintaining the emotion behind the whole song itself, so we’re definitely thankful to have had him helping us and making it just a little bit easier.

SSR: When writing new music, what do you take your inspiration from lyrically?

SLIT: Being completely honest, it’s mostly just traumatic experiences we’ve all gone through in the past that we want to share because we feel like a lot of people could also relate to. 

SSR: Do you prefer to base your lyrics in reality or in fiction? Why do you prefer one or the other, if at all? 

SLIT: Definitely reality. It just feels more genuine to write about things we’ve actually gone through, as opposed to just spewing out random things that don’t hold any significance. Also, we want to give our fans a little insight into who we are and maybe help them gain a little bit of perspective in what they may be struggling with. 

SSR: How did your collaboration with LiL Lotus, who is featured on “Dead Roses” come to be? Did you know each other prior to the collaboration?

SLIT: Yeah, he’s actually a really good friend. We’ve known each other for years from being in previous bands together or just hanging out with the same people before that, so having him feature on the song was great and the recording process for it was a fun time for sure. 

SSR: What other artists inspire you either when writing or as performers?

SLIT: We definitely try to look at older artists like Korn, Slipknot, or Linkin Park we all listened to and watched growing up because we love the energy the music they play and the way they express it on stage as far as how much energy they put into their performance.

SSR: What do you wish fans knew about SLIT that you don’t think many people do know? 

SLIT: Definitely despite our imagery and the way we portray ourselves, we are all very approachable and willing to talk to any fan that wants to talk to us.

SSR: Is there anything else you’d like to share that we haven’t asked yet? 

SLIT: Nothing in particular besides that we are already working on new music to share with everybody and hope everybody is enjoying “Nothing Left” in the meantime! 

You can stream “Nothing Left,” out now, and be sure to connect with the band on their social media accounts, linked below.

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