Return to Dust Have Released Their New EP 'Speak Like the Dead'

LA-based alt-grunge rock band Return to Dust's new EP, Speak Like the Dead, was released on August 1, 2025, via Republic Records and LAVA Records. The band consists of Matty Joseph on guitar and vocals, Graham Stanush on bass and vocals, Sebastian Gonzalez on guitar, and London Hudson on drums.

What can fans expect from your live shows that they wouldn't get from streaming?

RTD: Yeah, new songs, we have a lot of new stuff coming out. We extended a lot of our bridges and outros too. They can expect real music, real rock. You can always listen to any band, but to go to a show and get that same feeling, but more enhanced, is the best part of experiencing our live show.

What does the creative process look like? Who does the songwriting?

RTD: Me (Graham) and Matty do the songwriting. The creative process differs really from song by song. Sometimes Matty will write an entire song, sometimes I will, sometimes we'll just have a hook or riff idea. Then we'll bring that into the rehearsal room and jam on it full band and demo it out. Then we bring that into the studio. There's times where we bring a verse and chorus and basically track the whole song. Then wrote the second verse two days into the tracking session. Then recorded the whole song. That's what happened with “Abyss,” which is on the EP. There's so many different ways it goes, but we try to keep it exciting and loose. Set no parameters or rules and let the song take it where it needs to go.

You're opening on tour for Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace. How have you developed your shows from previous shows as you fill these bigger venues?

RTD: We're actually just getting into that. It's definitely a different beast. We don’t even know how it's gonna feel like yet, walking out to 10 thousand people. I think the first step is practice and getting better as a band, and then focus on lights and all that. It's really a challenge to figure out, especially since we're opening, so you don't have a ton of control of the lights or music on the PA. you have a short amount of time to pack a punch and get the hell off the stage. You have to think in that box. How do we say the most in the shortest amount of time. We have to build a set full of exciting songs and close in a way that's really special. Hopefully, it resonates with the crowd. We're actually talking about different production elements. Our producer is good at programming atmosphere stuff, so we're talking about little transitional pieces and to make the show unique.

How do you believe that the new EP expands on the sound you established on your debut album and how do you think it can open up possibilities for larger projects in the future?

RTD: It's going to be a huge transition in many ways. Even with “Bored,” we haven't had a song that's alternatively feeling like that and has precaution stuff and weird things in the background. I feel like that's really left field for RTD. It's cool a lot of the songs were written when Graham and I first moved. We were very young, we were like 19 and 20. We had a lot of initial thoughts about what life was and what our struggles were. It's interesting to see how it's changed and developed with the new body of work. These songs were written in the last couple of years. It's cool to lead with this new thing and turning a huge page for the band.

I read that you wrote “Bored” in an underpass. What was that headspace like? Do you think writing it in that environment amped up the inspiration for the song?

RTD: It’s right behind our buddy's house. Privacy is number one when you’re trying to write. You need a place to freely express your ideas. For our music like scream and belt you can't do in an apartment. So we found this place was good because it was totally secluded, and Graham and I could just sing and express ideas. There was good reverb as well, so it sounded really good.

How does this project reflect your growth, not just as artists?

RTD: I definitely think it's a big step up musically. It's still our sound, I think we're just pushing more for what we want to do sonically. It’s a step up in every way with stuff that we're adding, us as players and them as singers. It's cool to experience tour and grow with that. It feels a lot more layered sonically.

What other things outside music inspire your sound, whether that be an experience, a feeling you want to evoke in listeners, etc.?

RTD: I think that vibes are something that we chase a lot. I read that if you're feeling down to go somewhere new and change places. It’ll hopefully shift your view on things. The camaraderie of the band is really inspiring. The fact that we all do things together, we’re sharing all these experiences at once and growing together. Feeling them all at once, and we’re all musicians, so we can share them with the world.

What was the artistic vision like for the cover of the EP?

RTD: This was an out-take. We worked with this talented photographer, and he has an incredible vision. We had some ideas and he was like, lets through a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what happens. No one could have said it's going to be a woman pushing through latex with a butterfly. We took some of the themes we were mood boarding and brought those things to the shoot and saw what happened. This was one of the outtakes. It wasn't what we originally thought it was going to be.