From a personal place: Friendship Commanders release 'Mass,' make first stop in Santa Fe at Tumbleroot Brewery

Nov. 11—Buick Audra pays attention to the narrative at hand.

She has a lot to say and doesn't back down.

"I write what's in my heart and in my mind," Audra says during a recent interview. "The most recent music was important for me to get off my chest."

Audra is one-half of the rock outfit Friendship Commanders. She is joined by drummer/bassist Jerry Roe in the band.

Friendship Commanders released its latest album, "Mass," on Sept. 29, and is slated for its first New Mexico show when the tour stops in Santa Fe at Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery, on Tuesday, Nov. 14.

Audra says "Mass" is a concept record about memory, language, and the state of Massachusetts, a place where she spent time as an adolescent and younger adult.

She was prompted to write the 10-track body of work after the death of a longtime friend and musician Marc Orleans, who died by suicide.

"I wrote the entire album in just under three months," Audra says. "It was a pretty short time for the process. It was an emotionally tough record. It's such a personal record for me and the entire record was sequenced before we even had it recorded. I felt like a lot of that process was really intuitive and came from the writing process."

Audra and Roe co-produced "Mass" with Kurt Ballou, who recorded and mixed at his GodCity studio in Salem, Massachusetts.

Audra says choosing Ballou to collaborate with was intentional, as the product bears the impact of the in-person collaboration, sonically and energetically.

The project marks the third year of working with Ballou, who has mixed Friendship Commanders' releases since "Hold On To Yourself," which was released in 2020.

Audra says "Mass" will be accompanied by a memoir of her essays.

Audra and Roe work well together by balancing each other out.

She will bring music and lyrics to Roe and the two collaborate to finish a song.

"Jerry is the outlier in the process and when we come together, he will have his ideas," Audra says. "On this album, there were 13 songs and he gave feedback on how the three didn't fit and we cut them."

The band's current setlist consists of six of the 10 songs on "Mass" and tracks from the 2020 release, "Hold On To Yourself."

"We didn't get to tour on the 2020 album obviously," Audra says. "We've sprinkled in a brand new song called 'Keeping Score' and we're playing 'And If My Body,' which I wrote in 2022 after the Roe v Wade ruling.'

Audra says after the album was recorded, it took six months to roll it out, which has allowed more healing.

"I felt much more bare at the beginning and right before we put out the album in September, I was ready emotionally," Audra says. "Since it's been released, it's been surprising to see how many other people relate to the music. This album is a concept record and I didn't think it would be too universal, but it is. Fans have expressed to us how the music has connected with them and it's been liberating."