Fidlar put out Surviving The Dream this past Friday, and it’s nothing less than a big F you to pretending everything is alright in a world where things are anything but. Anyone who has ever listened to Fidlar knows they are the epitome of restless pop-punk angst, to the point that it’s nearly impossible not to get up and bop along to their infectious rhythms.
The tenacious trio, comprised of vocalist, guitarist, and keyboard player Zac Carper, bassist Brandon Schwartzel, and drummer Max Kuehn, have put all their energy into this new record. This is music meant to be played on stage and paired with a lively crowd; you can hear in each song that these guys are itching to take Surviving The Dream on tour.
“It’s a big payment on the soul,” says Carper. “We just want to play these songs live.”
“Because seeing kids and their reactions at shows,” says Schwartzel, “is something you can actually take home with you.”
Ever since their hit “Bad Habits” was released in 2015 and brought with it a more mainstream following, their willingness to openly talk about drug use and addiction has been a central theme within their music. Carper has also been outwardly vocal about his struggles with substances over the years, and while Surviving The Dream maintains those themes, it carries with it a new sense of self understanding and accountability.
Just a few months before the release of the album, Carper was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This diagnosis gave him new revelations into the triggers behind his reckless abandon throughout much of his life. While it may offer some peace of mind, it doesn’t change who Carper is at the core, and he chooses to embrace all the parts of himself, both good and bad. After all, he describes how being off his meds and falling into a “hypomanic” state is what allows him to get things done when making music.
“When I’m working on music,” he says, “I literally can’t stop moving. I’ll just be pacing around the studio, and I’d only get two or three hours of sleep a night. So it was very nice to know what was happening to my body and my brain. I don’t consider myself sober because it doesn’t work that way for me—It’s more fluid, like a wave or the ocean, and it comes and goes. But I’m very conscious of whether or not I’m going too hard these days, and I have people who tell me that I need to chill out.”
Going through the album, you’ll find some softer, emotionally vulnerable tracks such as “Hurt” and “Break Your Heart” which slow things down in such a way that you can peel back the layers to really understand what is going on behind the lyrics. It’s these songs that tie the rest of the album together. Surviving The Dream encompasses everything we all love about Fidlar, and it has you riding their rollicking wave all the way through.
Stream the album here.
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