Building the Fade: If Not For Me on Their Most Ambitious Album Yet

Building the Fade: If Not For Me on Their Most Ambitious Album Yet

If Not For Me have carved out a reputation for turning raw emotion into widescreen, high‑impact metalcore — and with their new album Where the Light Begins to Fade on Thriller Records, the Pennsylvania quartet push that vision further than ever before. Vocalist Patrick Glover dives headfirst into themes of grief, betrayal, healing, and personal rebirth, all while the band expands their sonic palette with bold collaborations, new‑metal textures, and some of their most ambitious songwriting to date.

Fresh off a breakout year that included Warped Tour Long Beach, sold‑out shows, and a rapidly growing fanbase, Patrick sat down with Highwire Daze to discuss the making of the album, the emotional weight behind its standout tracks, their upcoming run with Wind Walkers, and how far the band has come since their earliest days.

What follows is a candid, heartfelt conversation with one of metalcore’s most compelling voices — a look at the past, present, and future of If Not For Me.

We are here with Patty from If Not For Me. First of all, Where the Light Begins to Fade — let’s start with that album title. What does that phrase represent for you, and what story or concept sits behind naming the album?
This record was a little different for me in terms of the writing process. On our last several albums, I’ve usually had a consistent theme running through the whole thing. But for this one, we did so much experimenting and exploring with our sound that I tried really hard not to put myself in a box when it came to subject matter.

There’s a lot of different emotional territory on this album — grief, loss, betrayal, love, and some really personal stories. I wanted to explore as many things as I could.

The album title comes from a line in the chorus of Retrograde: “I’ll see you on the other side where the light begins to fade.” That phrase jumped out at me immediately when we started talking about names for the record. This album feels very transitional for us, and that line just encapsulated the feeling. It stood out right away, so that’s ultimately what we went with.

Retrograde opens the album with a huge emotional punch. What made it the right song to set the tone for the rest of the record?
We all feel like Retrograde showcases everything we do best as a band. It has these soft, melodic parts where I’m doing gentler vocals, and then it swings into ridiculously heavy sections. There’s a sick breakdown, a huge chorus hook, and even some hip‑hop‑influenced elements we’d never experimented with before.

As soon as we wrote it, we knew it was a single. Once we had the full record mapped out, it just felt like the perfect lead track. And I’m really glad we chose it — a lot of people connected with it emotionally right away. I had people reach out saying they’d just lost someone and the song hit them hard. Anytime something I write resonates with people, it means the world to me. So choosing Retrograde as the lead single felt absolutely right.

Now Prey for Me is the current focus track. Tell me about that song and the inspiration behind it.
That one was really cool. We wrote it with Jon Lundin from Point North, and getting to work with him was an amazing experience — we’re all big fans of Point North.

When we started writing it, the song had this nu‑metal vibe that I really loved — the guitars, the turntables, all of it. It felt like it needed a certain attitude. So we wrote it about people in your life who root for you in public but privately pray for your downfall. That’s why it’s spelled P‑R‑E‑Y instead of P‑R‑A‑Y. Sometimes you think people are praying for you, but they’re really preying on you.

It’s just a fun attitude track with sick lyrics and a great breakdown. I’m really glad we’re pushing it, and I’m stoked to play it live.

Lie Awake with Wind Walkers is one of the standout collaborations on the album. How did that partnership come together, and what did their presence bring to the emotional weight of the track?
We’ve known of the Wind Walkers guys for quite a while and always wanted to work with them. Our guitarist Hayden actually worked on a lot of the vocal editing for their What If I Break album. We’ve also used the same producer and video guy for years, so we’ve always been in each other’s orbit, but never really crossed paths creatively.

When we started talking about features for the album, Trevor’s name came up and it was like a light bulb moment — everyone immediately agreed. And with us joining them on their first headlining tour as direct support, it just felt like a no‑brainer.

Lie Awake already had a vibe that felt like it could be a Wind Walkers song, so Trevor was the perfect fit. His tone is so unique — I think he’s one of the most underrated singers in the game right now. His grit balances my softer, smoother voice really well. He absolutely crushed his part, and I’m really grateful to have him on the track.

We’ll come back to Wind Walkers and that tour in just a sec. Now, Novacaine with Catch Your Breath — your labelmates. What inspired that collaboration, and how did working with them shape the final version of the song?
We’ve known those guys for a long time. They took us out on their first headlining tour last year, and we hit it off immediately. With them being labelmates and friends, it was another no‑brainer.

We actually wrote Novacaine with their producer, Cvrt Martin. Anytime you’re in a writing session with a producer who also works with bands you’re close with, those bands are going to come up — you’re probably going to hear some of their new unreleased stuff, talk about their direction, all that.

So when we started discussing features, Josh just felt perfect. Catch Your Breath is known for their super emotional, emo‑leaning pop‑rock blended with metalcore, and Novacaine fits that vibe really well. It felt like the perfect song for Josh, just like Lie Awake was perfect for Trevor.

Much love to Catch Your Breath — I hope we tour with them again soon so we can play that one live.

That would be amazing for sure.
In time — it’ll happen.

We’ll cross our fingers on that one. Let’s go to the final track on the album, Close to Closure. It feels almost like a cinematic ending. What does that final track represent within the emotional arc of the record?
Close to Closure was actually the first song we wrote for this album — even before Say It to My Face. I think we wrote it back in late 2024. It’s interesting because anyone who’s followed the band knows I write a lot about mental health, mental illness, suicide — all the darker stuff. And I’ve never really approached those topics in a positive light. Honestly, most of our songs are pretty dark and moody. That’s just what naturally comes out of me.

But Close to Closure is different. It takes the mental‑health theme and puts a more hopeful spin on it. It’s written from the perspective of someone trying to talk another person down from the edge — that “I’m here, whatever you’re going through, we’ll go through it together” kind of vibe. I’ve never put that message in a song before.

When we were writing it, the whole track was heavy and riff‑driven, and then at the end this big, anthemic chorus just came out naturally. As soon as we put that final chorus together, I said, “This needs to be the last track on the album.” It just screams final song. The fade‑out, the guitar line — everything about it felt perfect for closing the record. And the title Close to Closure made it even more obvious.

I absolutely love that one, and I’m really glad it ended up exactly where it did. It has all the elements of a classic metalcore song, and seeing people connect with it has been amazing.

Now you have the upcoming tour with Wind Walkers — you’ll be heading out soon. Do you expect to perform Lie Awake together, and what are you looking forward to most about that run?
I think we’re gonna do it. We’ve talked about it, and every time we chat with Trevor we’re all like, “Man, we’re so stoked to do this song.” We haven’t said it definitively, but it feels like it’s going to happen.

When we dropped Lie Awake, we were already on tour, and I think it came out the day of Incarceration Fest, if I remember right. We only had one show after that, so we decided to load our set with songs people already knew and then debut Lie Awake live in the fall with Trevor. That’s the plan.

Honestly, I’m just excited to hang out with the Wind Walkers guys and the True North guys. We’ve crossed paths with all of them several times, and it’s always nothing but good vibes. It’s going to feel like a tour full of homies.

And the tour is doing really well — Wind Walkers are coming off a completely sold‑out Dayseeker tour, and they’ve been crushing it. Since this is their first headliner, a lot of the rooms are selling out or getting upgrades. I think the shows are going to absolutely slam. It’s a sick lineup, and I’m stoked to see everyone on it.

Now, you played Warped Tour in Long Beach last year, which was a huge milestone for you guys. What was that experience like, and what did it mean for the band at that stage of your journey?
Warped Tour was everything for younger bands back in the day. When we were teenagers playing in our first bands, Warped Tour was the dream — the coolest thing you could possibly do. And when it went away in 2018, I thought, “Well, I guess I’ll never get to play Warped Tour.”

So when we were doing Summer School last year and the offer came through for Summer School and Warped Tour, I was like, “Oh my god — it’s happening.” Teenage me was over the moon.

The crowd we had was absolutely bonkers. Our stage was really far from the main stages, and Beauty School Dropout played right before us. When they finished, everyone left to go to other stages, and I thought, “No… we’re going to play to nobody.” But by the time we walked out, it was completely packed — all the way up the hill to the palm trees. And they were wild from the first note.

Warped has so many stages, and those people could have been anywhere, but they chose to come to ours. That meant the world to us. It was a really eye‑opening moment — like, “They’re here for us. We’re doing the thing.” Very surreal experience, and I hope we get to do more Warped Tours in the future.

I want to go back about ten years. Written in Blood, your debut EP, quietly celebrated its 10‑year anniversary last year. When you revisit that era, what do you think of those early songs? And do you feel they still ring true to who If Not For Me is today?
Honestly, no — at least not in the sense of who we are now. It’s crazy because most of us weren’t around for that EP. Zac and I joined in 2018 or 2019, so we missed the entire Written in Blood era.

But it’s cool to look back on it because of how the band originally formed. We were all playing in different local bands growing up — going to each other’s shows, sharing bills, just being part of the same scene. When all those bands eventually fizzled out, Hayden basically took the most dedicated member from each one and recruited them into If Not For Me.

To us, the band didn’t really become what it is now until around 2018–2019, when the three of us came together and then Cody joined a little later. That’s when the core sound really began and things got serious. Before that, If Not For Me was more like Hayden’s high‑school project — something he kept alive because he wanted it so badly. And honestly, mad props to him for that. Without Hayden, this band wouldn’t exist.

The Written in Blood era feels wild to think about now. We don’t hear people bring it up often because it was so long ago and the band was so small back then. But a lot of people in our local scene still talk about it, which is crazy.

It’s crazy that it was ten years ago. I didn’t even know about that EP until I did my research last night — pretty cool discovery.
PYeah, you can’t really find it on streaming anymore. I’m sure some people still have copies floating around, but it’s definitely a relic at this point.

Just a few more questions. Going back to the new album — if someone listens to Where the Light Begins to Fade front to back, what emotional journey do you hope they walk away with?
I always hope people get something positive out of what I’m trying to say. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of what I write about is sad, dark, depressing, or angry. That’s because it’s an outlet for me. When I was getting into music, the bands I loved were talking about really dark stuff, but it made me feel less alone.

So when people tell me they got something out of one of our songs — that they feel seen or heard — it means everything. It makes all the pain, anxiety, and stress of living through something and then writing about it worth it.

In terms of pacing, I felt it was important for the album to start with Retrograde, which deals with loss and grief, and end with Close to Closure, which puts a more hopeful spin on similar themes. It just felt right. I hope people walk away with something personal to them. If this album helps someone through something, that means the world to me.

And finally, what message would you like to give to fans who are about to see you on the Wind Walkers tour?
Dude, we are so jazzed about that tour. I hope all of you come out and have the best time — go hard in the pit, sing, cry, whatever you need to do. As long as you’re having a good time with us, that’s what matters.

It means the world that anyone wants to come see our band. All these sold‑out shows and venue upgrades — we can’t say thank you enough. We can’t wait to party with y’all.

In Conclusion

As Where the Light Begins to Fade continues to resonate with fans old and new, If Not For Me stand firmly in their moment — a band leveling up in real time, fueled by honesty, connection, and the sheer joy of creating something that means something. Patrick’s reflections make it clear: every song is a lifeline, every show a celebration, and every fan a part of the journey.

Southern California will get its chance to join that journey very soon. Catch If Not For Me live when they hit the local stages this October opening for Wind Walkers:

October 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom

October 3 – Anaheim, CA @ The Parish at House of Blues

Two nights, two killer rooms, and one band ready to deliver everything they’ve built toward. Don’t miss it.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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