Fantastic Wounds - Writing and Recording

Writing and Recording

All four members of Schoolyard Heroes lived together at the Seattle University District during the recording of Fantastic Wounds. Vocalist Ryan Donnelly noted that during the production of the album the band didn't do drugs or drink alcohol, and instead spent their time playing video games and eating fast food. Between recording sessions, the band spent their loose time watching episodes of classic horror series like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.

The album's style progresses from the one found in The Funeral Sciences; the more pop heavy aesthetic exhibited on that album was replaced with themes found within heavy metal music, and was more forceful and "merciless" in nature. Conceptual themes found within their first project are maintained on Fantastic Wounds, including lyrics inspired by science fiction and horror films. Like all of the band's projects, the album takes several of its themes from b-movies and horror films. Horror films had always been a substantial influence on the band; bassist Jonah Bergman's father had taken him to double features as a kid. According to Bergman, the band had grown quite a lot from their first album and had learned more about producing and recordeding music. Bergman, when describing the album, mused, "honestly, these are 10 of the most fucking killer songs I've ever heard in my life," stating that the album perfectly embodied the type of music the band wished to produce.

According to Donnelly, the band had been working together for five years, stating that if she didn't have the band, she wouldn't know what else to do with her life. She described the band as a work of passion, citing sources of influences such as the bands Misfits, Blondie and Iron Maiden, and singer Courtney Love. The Misfits in particular were a large influence to the album; their horror themed and often purposely over-the-top style to making music were important in shaping the way the band presented themselves in image. Donelly expressed an interest with progressing the style of music on their sophomoric effort, stating that she wanted to have a tighter focus this time around, and specifically noting that the song titles on Fantastic Wounds were more direct and confident in nature. Speaking about the creation of the project, she mused:

“I am so very happy with this record—both with the performances and the production. Blood, sweat and tears went into its making. It was the longest we’d spent on anything ever we’ve done. We knew how we wanted it to sound and we wanted to get it perfect, so yeah, we spent a long time on it. And I tell you; we had to make a lot of tough choices, with the sequencing. We wanted it to be perfect, we wanted all the different energies to flow into each other just so.”

While the album was influences by things such as macabre horror tales, zombies, and monsters, Donelly assured that the album was “always about something much more real", musing that "there’s so much genuine evil in the world. That said, I love that people take all kinds of different things away from our songs, and invest so much of themselves in their interpretations.” To prevent the album from being to depressing, the band attempted to present the album with the aesthetic of a b-movie, with a comical, overly theatrical tone. Donelly also noted the desire to become more diverse musically with the second album, as the band had begun to listen to more sources of music.

Bergman cited his desire to one day perform in Graceland as another influence on the project, musing that if the band became popular enough he would one day be able to perform there. Bergman commented "I used to sit in my bedroom and think, 'Damn, if we could just play Graceland, I would die a happy guy'". Before the album was released, it was promoted by the release of a music video for the single "They Live".