The Weathered Heads are back with their follow-up EP to last year’s The Sinner and this time they don’t even need a title because it speaks for itself. They’ve really polished their sound on this latest offering and they’ve left us with their best product yet. Captured by Grammy award-winning engineer Brett Huus, just try your best not to enjoy these 5 jam pop rock nuggets. Catch them Friday, October 21st at Ed’s (no name) Bar for the EP release show with Whale House and TABAH.
The Interview Part:
It’s just simply who we are and what we sound like at this current moment.
First, have you guys ever questioned the nature of your reality? I kind of stole that line from HBO’s Westworld—but I still expect you to answer.
Oh hell yeah. Pretty positive this is all The Matrix. Then that begs the question: Do we forget about The Matrix and continue living in the world of illusion, or do we enter the painful world of reality? Who is our Neo? How do we find him?!?!
However, if we DO live in The Matrix, we have a hard time believing that The Matrix would have allowed the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies to be made, as they are awful. And so this cycle of questioning the nature of our reality spirals around and around.
So, why the self-titled album for your second release?
We went with self-titled because it’s very concise and blunt. It’s just simply who we are and what we sound like at this current moment. There’s something cool about that, having people just listen for the sake of curiosity to what we sound like and trying to figure out who we are without having an opinion before going in. There’s no preconceived notion anyone can create in his or her head before listening to it. We actually heavily debated having our first album, “The Sinner”, be self-titled but chose against it, so it made a lot of sense this time around.
Tell me about the recording process this time as compared to the last EP.
For starters, last album, Andy recorded everything in his basement and we did everything in-house. For the new EP, we recorded with Brett Huus, who we absolutely loved working with. This time around, we wanted to do less writing in the studio so our time with Brett could be focusing less on songwriting, and more on adding textures or bits and pieces to make the songs we already had sound a bit more complete and interesting.
So, we did a lot more pre-production and we think that helped make the experience more enjoyable and the end product sound better. Having us show up to Brett’s with multiple tone ideas, different ideas for solos, and multiple ideas for where additional parts could go was something we didn’t really do the first time around.
We knew where we wanted everything and for weeks we literally practiced only these 5 songs – just hammering them into our heads so when we went in, we could nail ‘em with minimal takes.
I see you waste no time dropping the F bomb on this one, track number one. If Tipper Gore were still alive, what do you think she’d say? And who are you voting for?
Oh, she would fucking love it. We like to think Tipper beginning the movements for the Parental Advisory Label is the reason Al and her got divorced. Not going to back that up with any factual evidence, just a hunch, just a #hottake. A #spicytake. Additionally, we’d like to publicly put it out there that we are open to collab-ing with Al Gore.
But yeah, a lot of that writing was just trying to be honest and real about the lyrics and how they contribute to the songs. Not being afraid of what people might think about it, saying how we’re honestly feeling and making sure it fit with the overall theme of the songs, F-Bombs and all. Plus, anyone that knows Craig knows he can have a bit of a mouth on him, so it just fits.
Voting question is easy: Joe Exotic.
As much as I like this recording, I think I’m equally compelled by the album art. What’s the story behind that?
Our good buddy Dan Wagner, who some of us have known since high school AND who works at Ambient Inks, created the artwork. We wanted it to be as true to the songs as it was a piece of art on its own, and he totally accomplished that. We sent him recordings and lyrics months ago and just told him to run with it. We love what he came up with! Here’s his ‘artist concept’:
“Being most of the songs deal with relationships, love, and loss, the focal point is a woman in a moment of realization or grief. The psychedelic, chaotic pattern throughout hints to confusion and grief, and how we often seem lost, or consumed in the trials of life. A whirlwind (loss of a loved one, break up, post-traumatic stress, or even the repercussions of a good ol’ one night stand) are tearing the woman apart, and spreading her thin on an emotional and physical level”
What’s your favorite song on the album?
Asking what an artist’s favorite song on their album is—that’s like asking a parent who their favorite child is. So, you know, obviously the first one! Lol, jk. I think Had Enough was the first one we pieced together for this EP and kind of gave a theme to the EP in a sense. And we love playing that one live. When It’s Over, the single off the EP, was actually written in 2011, had been re-worked bunch of times, and finally we felt comfortable putting it out there this time. The moment Johnny came up with the sax line was cool–Craig made him play it over and over again so he wouldn’t forget it and because it was so damn catchy. Everyone hammering the Heartbreaker (Riffy Boi) riff is really fun–rarely do we all play the same thing at the same time. Nick pounding the piss out of those drums live on La Quinta is a blast and we threw distortion on Craig’s vocals for the recording, which is something we’ve never done before. The lyrics of Don’t Leave Me always stick out. We love ‘em all.
The Details:
What: The Weathered Heads EP Release Party w/ TABAH and Whale House
When: Friday, September 21st at 9pm
Where: Ed’s (no name) Bar
Tickets: $5 at the door