#AlternativeFacts Podcast: Tonight Alive Tears Down the Rules of Its Major Label Past

“Someone said to me, the more polished our sound became, the less polished my image became.”

Jenna McDougall and her Tonight Alive bandmates just dropped their forth album, and the frontwoman is dead-on in describing this divergence. Underworld -- released Jan. 12 on Hopeless Records -- finds the quartet tearing down the pop-punk trappings of their past and joyriding through glistening, groove-heavy soundscapes. As for that image un-polishing, McDougall’s been working the baggy pants and beanie look for some time.

“Through my childhood, I always had my mom saying, ‘Why can’t you dress more like a girl?’" the 25-year old remembers. “Going through the whole major label thing, they wanted me to be more conventionally beautiful… Whenever I wanted to challenge people with my image, it was always thrown back in my face.”

Previous Episodes: The Front Bottoms | Jeff Rosenstock | Zola Jesus | PVRIS

Their first independently released LP is a total scorcher, the raucous coming-of-age story of a decade-old band realizing the potential of its high school beginnings. McDougall and guitarist Jake Hardy join us on this week’s #AlternativeFacts to discuss their whole evolution and the stories behind the new album: moving on without a founding member, working with PVRIS’ Lynn Gunn and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, their special connection to Evanescence’s hit-filled debut album. 

Listen to the ‘cast below:

#AlternativeFacts is a weekly Billboard podcast devoted to all things alternative music. Click here to subscribe to the #AlternativeFacts Podcast on iTunes. Let us know what you think on Twitter (@cpayneonaplane) and by rating the podcast on iTunes.