Already Heard EP Premiere: Dozer TX – Centerpiece

With their new EP, ‘Centerpiece’, San Angelo, Texas’ Dozer TX face the issue of toxic relationships and mental health issues head on. Dozer TX formed three years ago when vocalist and guitarist Kevin Cale became frustrated with his “real job”. Joined by vocalist/bassist Miles McMillan, guitarist Eli Kypfer and drummer Mark Jimenez, the quartet developed an emotional pop-punk sound that is certain to entice fans of The Story So Far and Basement.

‘Centerpiece’ is the band’s second EP, following 2015’s ‘Self Sabotage’. Consisting of six songs, the EP sees Cale and company deliver a core message of “never be afraid to put your happiness above someone else’s”. Although the EP is released tomorrow, Already Heard is exclusively streaming ‘Centerpiece’ early. In addition, Kevin Cale and Miles McMillan talked us through the EP track-by-track.

Smoke Screen

Miles (McMillan): This song is about how it feels to have someone in your life that you care about, that ends up hurting you but you’re unable to really acknowledge it. You can’t really see it because you wouldn’t want to believe that person could hurt you, hence the name ‘Smoke Screen’. These conflicting feelings create self doubt and denial that you can help anyone since you can’t help that person that hurts you and in cases like mine, I blame myself. It’s the first song on the record and also the oldest, we wrote it shortly after we released our last record (‘Self Sabotage’).

Leech

Miles: In reference to ‘Smoke Screen’, ‘Leech’ is essentially about cutting that person out my life. Realizing that there are people that you may love that just aren’t good for you and you can try to help them out but if they don’t accept it or try to meet you in the middle, there isn’t much you can do at that point. Never be afraid to put your happiness above someone else’s, especially if you aren’t happy with your life. Don’t let someone you love abuse you physically, verbally, or mentally and think it’s okay, stand up for yourself. That’s what ‘Leech’ is about.

Centerpiece

Miles: The title track of the record and also one of my favorites. It came about at a point in my life where I put everything I had into something that was long gone, having so many good things around me that I unfortunately lost sight of because I lost someone close to me that, at that time, I would’ve given anything to regain. As far as what ‘Centerpiece’ means for the name of the record, my personal take on is the idea of when we deal with life and go through problems, it’s hard not to get bogged down on the negative and what we’ve lost, the centerpiece being those things and we can’t seem to let go of. You aren’t your depression or your anxiety or your suicidal thoughts. It’s okay to talk about those things and to be able to confide in something or someone and for me that’s always been music, specifically this record.

Fixated

Kevin (Cale): All the music for this song was written by Eli. We all just kinda let him get to it. This song is about moving on after putting time and effort into someone who isn’t worth it. Regular life is stressful enough and then something like heartbreak happens, and makes everything all the worse. This song is about picking up the pieces after a heartbreak and moving on the best you can. Just keep your distance and move on. It’s tough but it’s ultimately better for you.

Breathe Deep

Kevin: This song is all about how I self-medicate my crippling social anxiety with marijuana. Anxiety is something I struggle with daily and marijuana is the only thing that seems to work for me. There’s a huge stigma around marijuana and anxiety and I wanted to break those stigmas. Anxiety is nothing to be ashamed of and everyone deals with it differently. Marijuana is how I deal with my anxiety.

‘Centerpiece’ EP by Dozer TX is released on 10th March and is available to pre-order on Bandcamp.