Not Enough Space are one of the most talked about bands in the scene right now, and there’s very good reason for that. The last six months has seen them rise from local legends to viral sensations, racking up millions of streams, thousands of reactions and sparking endless discourse.
Their sound, a blend of throwback crabcore bludgeoning and heartfelt and honest storytelling, feels pertinent for the boom that metalcore experiencing right now, and they are taking it all in their stride.
So, as they reach more and more milestones on the journey towards their debut album, Rock Sound sat down with vocalists Lizzie Raatma and Liv Mitchell to chart their journey up until now and find out how fun it is to be at the centre of the conversation…
Rock Sound: How has it felt seeing people connecting with Not Enough Space in the way they have over the last six months?
Lizzie Raatma: It feels really good. I like seeing that our hard work has allowed us to grow in such a way. The endless hours, sunrise to sundown, pulling all-nighters to ensure we are getting what we need done, and seeing it pay off is really rewarding. I always want our music to help people, so it’s been really cool to see that actually happen.
RS: Well, since 2021, it feels like you haven’t stopped searching for who and what you want to be. Yet the thing that has stayed consistent is that want and need to offer support for people. When you think back to the beginning and compare it to where you are now, what do you feel the biggest steps have been?
Liv Mitchell: The biggest thing has been the team around us. We started recording music in a closet and then started building out. We now have producers Chris Linck and Kala Blehm from Attila, which was a huge step for us. Now, we aren’t afraid of tackling any new thing. We started out with a post-hardcore/ pop-punk vibe, and the growth from there came from us saying, ‘Okay, let’s make it a little heavier and make metalcore our thing’. Then, as soon as we added Chris and Kalan to the team, I can happily say that we truly became a multi-genre band. It feels like we are experimenting with a lot of different ideas that mean that we aren’t just going to be metalcore anymore, and that’s really exciting. With the message that we are trying to bring, the album we are working towards is going to bring forth a lot of different topics and a lot of different emotions and feelings. It feels like it will have a song for everybody and anything you’re going through. If you want a hype moment to celebrate life or a moment to stop and reflect on what you’re going through, we are now going to be able to provide that. We all have such different tastes in music that we all bring to the table, and now we are able to show that within the band all at once. Now, we have fewer limitations around us.
RS: To discover that there are people who believe in your vision and what you want to bring into the world, there are not many more gratifying feelings. It must provide so much comfort and more confidence in stepping into those new spaces…
Lizzie: A lot of the topics that we talk about are relatable to a lot of people. We talk a lot about mental health awareness and bad break-ups. We write songs about movies and concepts that we have created. It’s comforting to see that a lot of people out there are as to so many different things as us. The metalcore community has grown to a point where you really can do anything you want. You look at Bad Omens’ ‘THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND’ and see how it’s not all heavy and screaming. There are songs on there that are soft, airy and pretty and mean something to many people. That comfort comes from knowing there are people out there who are looking for those aspects. I feel like the turning point from emo pop-punk to metalcore was a big turning point for so many of us in our youth, and I feel like what we do comes together with that big ball of understanding that we all had the same experience.
Liv: There’s a lot of nostalgia in there, too. We’ve talked to a lot of people, and they have said that they can hear these different elements from so many different artists in what we do. That’s exciting because it means this couldn’t just come out in 2025, it could come out a few years ago, too. It’s new and refreshing alongside the nostalgia, which is a really interesting place to be. I hope it means that people will feel less weird about saying the music that they like. Like I want to scream my heart out but I also want to sing something pretty. It’s cool that we can support both sides of that.
RS: You can tell whether someone has lived through those transitions or not when you listen to something. And the fact that you as a band have grown up around these different scenes in your local area whilst spreading your wings as far as they can go, that now reflects in the music that you’re making…
Liv: Being able to experience such a vibrant scene in Florida has helped. There are so many different genres compiled into our own little local scene. In Central Florida, most of the shows you want to go to are either in Orlando, Tampa or Gainsville, and the community is so strong. I have never seen a scene as together as the Orlando scene. It’s so tight and impactful, and that does help. It’s nice when we get to play shows in our hometown you see all of the familiar faces you bump into when you go to other shows. Our community is so strong, which helps when it comes to curating what we have curated with the band. It gives and gives and gives.
RS: In many ways, it feels like you’ve been prepping yourselves for the explosion that has been the last few months, where things have gone from a local level to a worldwide level. And much of that has come from ‘Primitive’ and the rise of “moancore” as a moniker to describe you. What was it like watching people gravitating towards that song and that description in real-time?
Lizzie: We actually had a giant gap of not releasing music before that, so the anticipation was really cool. It was obviously frustrating, too, because we had been holding onto ‘Primitive’ for so long. We finished it in Winter 2024 and didn’t release it until October. But with having that break, we felt like we could throw whatever we wanted out with that song. And that’s what moancore was to us. It’s weird and experimental but still a serious and very emotional song. But the point is being messy and chaotic with it and having fun as much as we can within those serious elements. The reception was really amazing, too. The people who get it get it, and the people that don’t don’t. Even if you don’t like the moan, there’s loads more to like in the song! But people are like, ‘I hate this band because of the moan!’. Like, okay, if that’s what you believe in.
Liv: The reactions have been so fucking funny. Most of them that we have got have been amazing. It’s just funny watching YouTube reactions, and you see them pause the song and walk off saying, ‘I’m sorry, what was that?’. It’s gratifying because that’s what we were going for. We wanted that clickbait-style thing to grab people’s attention when it dropped. To see that it grabbed that much attention was crazy, especially watching people giggle about it.
RS: The reward comes from that wait being worthwhile. Again, seeing that people are on the same page as you and are down for having fun as much as taking this seriously. A year is a long time, and to see people resonate with something on both sides of the coin after it simmering for that long that’s all you can ever ask for…
Liv: It makes me think of ‘Stand Up And Scream’ by Asking Alexandria. Like, none of it was serious, you know? None of what they were writing was serious, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t be taken seriously. I love how fun and chaotic those songs were, all about such crazy topics. ‘Not The American Average’ is a crazy song. So for us to release this and see the reaction, it made us think, ‘I feel like this is acceptable’.
RS: For some bands, all of a sudden, being at the centre of the conversation is a lot to take. But it’s clear just how much you are taking it all in your stride…
Liv: One of our biggest things is rage-baiting! I love seeing the hate comments. These people don’t know you personally, and they base their opinion on you and your band on one video. There was a video of us that went viral for months on end, and each time it was loaded with hate comments about the way I look and the way that my scream sounds. I love all of it because I can sit there and go, ‘Yeah, and I bet you wish you were me’. The whole band will sit there commenting back at both the positive and the negative.
RS: It’s also when you listen to songs like ‘Solace In Silence’ where you show that this isn’t all you’re about. You can be serious and write about genuine issues and present them in a poignant manner…
Lizzie: That contrast is really cool. The reaction to that song was also beautiful, just because you could see how everyone was so connected to it. We definitely want always to cover those complex topics. In the way that we aren’t afraid of boundaries, we also want to make sure we are talking about taboo topics, whether mental health su, inside awareness or other uncomfortable things. It’s essential to bring those things up while adding your own twist. Putting some harsh emotion behind them but making the songs feel freeing as well. No matter how uncomfortable these things are, we don’t want to repress them.
Liv: The song’s themes are about speaking to your past loved ones and what it feels like for a family to have to sit and deal with what that person has done. It was a hard song to write because I didn’t want it to be taken in a different way. I wanted it to be spoken plain, and the way that we approached it did exactly that.
RS: It feels like, as a unit, you are all on the same page, especially between the two of you, and that being open to getting your hands dirty and not shying away from anything is a huge part of what makes Not Enough Space function…
Liv: Everyone in the band works so hard and really well together. Between me, Lizzie, and the guys, we all blend well. Tristan writes all of our instrumentals then Lizzie and I will sit down for lyric work. Then Reece and Jake will come in and add their own suggestions. Going from doing that independently to working with the Thriller team, you can see just how much of a family unit this is. They are open to sitting and letting us be as openly creative and free as we want. We all have this cohesive vision within this.
RS: So, now you’re looking towards the future and the debut album. With the foundations you have built, the surprises you still have in store, and the potential for what is still to come, how does it feel to be at such a pivotal point in this journey?
Lizzie: It’s super surreal. We’ve released four songs off the album now, and there are still seven more to go. Being able to showcase all of the different elements within the band and within mine and Liv’s screams and voices feels awesome. We’ve released our full deathcore moment [‘Devil Left Me On Read’] but then we still have some real pop-rock moments to showcase. We have plenty of opportunities to share these songs live in different places, and it’s really fun to see all the different reactions people have to us because they don’t know what might come next. I joined the band in 2018 and went into it thinking we would just be playing open mics. But I had to make the decision of how seriously I wanted to take this. So quit my day job; I used to be a therapist because I knew I couldn’t do both. It was a huge turn, but I don’t regret it because this is my passion, and there are so many therapeutic elements to making music. I’m super grateful for all that has come so far, and I can’t wait to see what is still to come.Liv: This band will grow so much more, both with us as people and as the entity that it is. It’s going to be cool to watch that unfold. As hard as balancing everything has been, it’s also one of our biggest blessings, and we are just working with it. There will be a lot this year that will change the game and open the scene up to so many new ideas, and that’s as exciting as it gets.
Content shared from rocksound.tv.