WHERE FEAR AND WEAPONS MEET

 

 

 

This is an older interview with Where Fear And Weapons Meet that was done after the release of their excellent album "The Weapon", so at that time there were no line-up changes that took place afterwards. I will ask the guys about all the stuff that happenen in the meantime in another interview, but until then go ahead and read this one…

Hey, who are you and what’s your job in WFAWM?

I'm Jason, I play drums.

Please give me a short introduction to WFAWM.

O.k. I'm Jason, I'm 26, I play drums. I was in Beyond Reason, Machine as well as other bands. John plays guitar (he’s no longer in the band – Stefan), he's 25 and he was in Morning Again. Ryan plays bass (he’s also no member of WFAWM anymore – Stefan), he's 22 he was in Poison The Well. Alex is the singer, he's 23, this is his first band. The line-up is the same.

Where do you guys live, close to each other and how often do you practice?

I live in Miami, the other guys live more north of me, we don't live by each other. We rehearse about once a week.

I heard you played at last year’s Youth of Today reunion show that took place somewhere in Connecticut, right? How did you like that gig and what do you think about reunions in general? Which band would you like to see reunite?

The show was good, we had a good time. It was good to see y.o.t. again, I think it was cool for kids to see them who never got the chance to before. Honestly I'm not into reunion shows.

If I had a chance to see a band it would be Van Halen with David Lee Roth singing. How do you like that one? Not what you expected (exactly, I thought of something like Judge, Bold or Slayer with Dave Lombardo – Stefan).

How did you get the deal with Revelation Records? I’m glad they signed you ‘cause your sound’s great. Are you satisfied with Revelation? Which other labels do you like?

We sent them a demo. They liked it and that was that, thank you for the compliment. In the beginning we had some problems with Revelation but everything got worked out. I like Equal Vision, I think they are very sincere in what they do.

Now a standard questions, but as you’re an old school act I have to ask (hehe): Are you guys sXe and what do you think about the sXe and the HC scene nowadays in comparison to what it was like some years ago?

I'm not straight edge, I really don't keep up with what happens in the straight edge scene, too much drama. I think the hardcore scene is like a roller coaster, it has it's ups and downs. It's hard to compare what it was like a couple a years ago, things are always changing. Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

How did you get involved in the HC scene in the first place?

I got into hardcore at a very young age, around 12. I used to hang out with older people that would sneak me into shows, it was pretty crazy.

Do you think that political lyrics should be a part of HC and that political topics should be combined with HC?

I don't like to get into politics, it really has nothing to do with hardcore or punk rock. Not to be a jerk but that's just how I feel (I think it’s ok if people try to express their beliefs through their lyrics as long as they don’t try to convince me with their stuff and as long as they don’t start preaching – Stefan).

Have you guys ever been to Europe before? Will you return in the near future and do you think there are any major differences between the European and the American HC crowd?

Me or the band except John has been to Europe, we will go to promote the new record. I think American and European kids are alike, hey know what they like and what they don't like.

Where did you record "The Weapon" and who produced it? Are there any more songs left from this recording session?

It was recorded at Studio 13 by Jeremy Staska who is awesome. We didn’t record any bonus tracks, the record is basically a description of what the band is like live, we wanted to make a real live and raw sounding record not to polished. Alot of bands record great records but when you see them live they suck. We wanted the record to sound like we were playing right in front of you.

What’s your alltime fave record?

The Bad Brains "I against I", I listen to that record everyday.

Which influences make it into your songs and how do you write the songs? How would you describe your music?

We all have different influences, I like Jazz and Fusion, Rock, old Metal. Everybody listens to different things. As far as what influences our songwriting we have a formula that works, if it takes us more than 20 minutes to write a song we scrap it. Pretty simple (indeed – Stefan). Me, Ryan, and John all write the songs. Fast and aggresive, really raw yet with a lot of energy and emotion. Also it's fun.

So this is it, did you like the interview?

The interview was excellent,thank you very much. Hope to see all of you soon.

(Stefan)