The Score: overcoming obstacles, handling pressure and constantly growing
Prior to the trophy match and then again before the winners’ ceremony today, fans in LANXESS arena will be treated to a performance from American band The Score. Featuring Eddie Anthony on vocals and guitar, and Edan Dover on keyboard and as producer, The Score have reached millions of streams with their two EPs, Unstoppable and Myths & Legends, as well as their full-length debut released in 2017, Atlas.
The two are sports fans, but being from the US, exposure to handball has been limited to physical education class at school and even a different version of the game, more similar to squash – so both Dover and Anthony are excited for the new adventures that await in Cologne.
Your songs have been used in sports advertising campaigns, including for the NBA and NFL, as well as in movies and video games that tie in with an explosive, powerful kind of theme. Was it a surprise that people related your music to these events?
Edan Dover: We’re writing about our experiences. We’re on this journey to pursue our dreams in the music industry. It’s challenging. There are constantly obstacles that you have to overcome, and you have to be patient and really stick through and persist. Whether it be in music or whether it be in sports or whether it be in your day job or whatever your dream is, those themes really work across all those different places.
At the VELUX EHF FINAL4, you will perform your hits ‘Legend’ and ‘Born For This’. What can you tell us about those songs?
Edan Dover: ‘Legend’ has been a huge song for us. We’ve seen it being used in tons of television shows, commercials, sports programmes. Recently we had an experience where we were on the road and we went to get a beer after the show, and the song came up on the television screens in the bar during a football game. It’s been really huge for us – it’s been a great way for us to get exposure.
Eddie Anthony: ‘Born For This’ is one of our newer songs. We experimented with different sounds, using a different progression style than we did before. It’s still the same just kind of an updated version of it. That song has really done well for us since we released it a couple of months ago.
Do you have a favourite song from among all of yours?
Eddie Anthony: It’s kind of like kids – we don’t have kids – but I can imagine that you can’t have favourites, even though you probably do. We love playing ‘Legend’ live cause the whole place will kind of pop off and people sing along and it feels like a rock show.
Your music has transitioned through different themes, from motivation to keep moving forward to dealing with external pressure and overcoming internal conflict. How did those themes develop?
Eddie Anthony: ‘Legend’ and ‘Atlas’ did really well for us, and so there was pressure to follow up from that and to live up to the expectations that we have, other people have and our fans have. It was a period of: how are we going to do this, what are the themes we’re going to write about – trying to figure out where we wanted to go with that. But there was a lot of pressure.
Edan Dover: It was like we were trying to show a different side to glory than what we showed in ‘Atlas’, and that side exposed the darker part of that journey of pursuing your dreams. The challenges you have to overcome, the more negative things, the scarier part of the whole thing. That’s what we wanted to write about.
The handball teams you will see at the VELUX EHF FINAL4 are also under pressure to meet expectations – from themselves, their clubs and their fans. Is it something you actually feel from fans?
Edan Dover: It’s a pressure from fans not to let them down. It’s also just pressure on ourselves to keep moving forward, continue growing. It’s hard not to feel that pressure. I’m sure sports teams feel it the same way.
As musicians we have lots of friends who are also in the music industry, and they’re doing a lot of big things, and it’s hard not to compare yourselves to them and see where they’re going and get competitive. Ed and I are by nature competitive guys, so it’s impossible for us not to do that and feel that pressure. I’m sure it’s the same way for the handball players.
Have you performed in Europe before?
Edan Dover: We performed in the UK a few years ago when we first got signed, but that was only show really, one show in London. That was it. So, this is a lot of new stuff for us. It’s going to be a new adventure, and we’re really excited to explore Germany. Then we’re going on to China, then to Russia, then back to Europe after that. A lot of firsts for us. We’re very excited.
Eddie Anthony: We’re very excited for central Europe though, because one of the biggest bases on our streams, on our Spotify, happens to be Germany. So we’re really ecstatic to play in Germany – all of Europe, but Germany specifically should be fantastic.
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