Music Bugle Exclusive – Q & A – The Missing Peace

By Nicholas Jason Lopez

If you ever wondered what a modern-day mashup of 00’s predecessors such as Armor For Sleep, Underoath, Boys Night Out and Chiodos sounded like, we’ve found The Missing Peace for you.

Always getting by on their youth and their familiarity with this digitally-obsessed millennial generation, fans have no longer than a month’s wait for new music to drop from this Washington, D.C.-based outfit.

The decision to start #TMPthursday was made after the release of their March 2021 debut EP ‘garage’ and the first single chosen for the promotion was “we’re not weebs,” which recently had its music video debuted and showcases all of its punchy, scream-filled, alt-rock goodness that still brings out those summery vibes, even when the calendar pages spell the dead of winter.

The group – composed of guitarist Nico, singer Luke, drummer/tech/composer Max and guitarist Lazarus – have also kept up a presence on their YouTube channel, as they regularly post witty reaction videos, song play-throughs and other relevant topics.

The Music Bugle had the chance to talk with the band about “we’re not weebs” and more.

Music Bugle – What excites you the most about your style of music? 

Nico – It’s something fresh and genuine. Constantly hearing from our supporters that our music is good and they can’t think of other bands that we sound like is so fulfilling, it makes us feel as if we’re paving our own little sub-genre. Also, it’s carefree. We can go all out on some songs with intricate structure and lyrics, but then on others, dial it back to more basic, simple and catchy.

Music Bugle – How would you describe Washington, D.C. to someone who has never been there before? 

Luke – I absolutely love D.C.. It’s very Federal. It’s sort of like New York, but mellowed out. Claims to have a huge tourism scene, but doesn’t, which I’m fine with. The food is a talking point of the city. Sometimes, you walk into a restaurant and you leave begging for more. Other times, you leave wanting to throw up, but either way, you’re gonna pay an egregious amount of money.

Music Bugle – What made you want to release a new song every single month? 

Luke – People always want more. You release a single, everyone says the next week, “Hey, what’s next?” You release an album and everyone says the next week, “Hey, what’s next?” We are a young band with not a lot of money to work with, so we might as well pump out as much consistent content as we can while we are young, hungry and before we graduate from college!

Music Bugle – How did you decide the band name? 

Luke – Every action you take in life adds to your essence as an individual. Throughout life, we absorb the good and the bad. Your legacy is never in its final form until your final breath, at which point, your essence has been decided. This is when you find peace.

Music Bugle – What was it like putting together your EP? 

Nico – Unreal. We utilized virtual recording sessions and recorded the songs with our producer over Zoom, in real time. It really brought into perspective for us how easily we can make and distribute our music. The internet runs the world, baby.

Music Bugle – What made you want to put “we’re not weebs” out as the first single of #TMPthursday? 

Lazarus – To be honest, it was just a song that we’ve been extremely excited to release. We thought it would be a fun display of our musical versatility and accurate depiction of what’s to come with our tunes. 

Music Bugle – Does social media help or hurt musicians? 

Luke – Social media helps expose musicians to potential fans never before possible, across the entire world. In general, it allows bands to target their music toward a specific community of people who enjoy their style, across diverse locations. However, you can get absolutely eaten alive in this social media rat race, unless you are extremely savvy. We are not, but we stay afloat and we’re learning to understand what a “TikTok” is.

Music Bugle – How have you been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? 

Luke – Before COVID, we had a bunch of live shows lined up and music ready to go. It was going to be great! Then, all those hopes came crashing down, but it turned out to be the best thing for us. We re-centered ourselves, had some time to reflect, got some new collaborators, found some new team members and now, we are ready to hit the ground running with a better strategy, a better angle and a better sound than we’ve ever had before.

Music Bugle – Who are you listening to right now, music-wise? 

Nico – It’s a week-by-week thing for me. I’ve been delving back into my emo boy roots and binging both Armor For Sleep and Chiodos’ entire discography. Love the raw energy and passionate songwriting.

Music Bugle – Where do you go when you need a break? 

Nico – Cabin in the woods, I know it’s cliche, but as an introvert, I find being alone with the world is invaluable. In a society where people constantly seek validation from others, whether it’s social media followers or likes, I truly cherish moments where happiness can be derived from the Earth’s natural beauty.