We are The World Ends With You, a five piece band from the suburbs of Chicago.
How did The World Ends With You get together?
We all met through the internet, musicians looking for other musicians with the same interests. It really was fate that brought us together.
How would you like to describe your sound?
We began our journey trying to emulate bands like broadway and other post-hardcore bands of a similar sound. However, throughout our life as a band we have begun to journey into other areas. We try to bring a sprit of rock and roll into our music. We try to stay away from trends and popular opinion. We like to think of ourselves as a rock band, using good musical ideals and timeless practices as our foundation.
What are your main influences ?
Rock and Roll, Metal, good music. We have a hard time naming specific bands as an influence. When we create music we like to let our personal tastes out and create whatever comes to mind. We don't limit ourselves to a specific sound. If we think it sounds good then we use it. We try to create music and then consider its impact afterwards, instead of trying to create a certain sound. We just create music and whatever sound it ends up to be we embrace.
Why should people listen to your music?
We do the best we can and create the music we want to hear. We hope other people will enjoy what we create. Why should someone listen to us is such an interesting question. I think the best answer is that everyone should be trying out new music all the time. If you're looking for traditional hardcore with constant breakdowns, chugs, dubstep (as much as we love us some Skrillex), and those elements, you have come to the wrong place. We may not be the greatest band to hit the scene, but we strive in everything we do to be original and create a sound that is all our own.
Have you guys been working on your next material? What can you tell about it?
We have a long list of new songs that we are working on. Our old music was extremely focused on rhythm guitars and lead guitars. We had a chord progression and a lead guitar part over it. We tried to stray from traditional breakdowns but you can hear that influence in our music to a degree. Our new music has branched out into new areas. We have embraced more technical guitar and more traditional rock elements. It is hard to place our new sound into a genre, because each song is very unique in its own right. This time around we let our personal tastes influence the sound more than the last time. The new music goes to places we have never been before and each song tells its own story. We represent a group of dudes with an extremely wide array of interests and i think that shows in the new sound. Nothing is off limits, if it works we use it.
Which song off your previous EP "Commonality" means the most to you personally?
As the vocalist I (Joe) personally am most influenced by jack frost and castles. Interestingly enough, I don't listen to music for the lyrics as much as the pure sound. I may be decent at writing lyrics and I definitely put as much soul into the process as I can but really to me the sound is the most important. I had a lot to do with writing the song We Were Wrong and that song means a lot to me. It may not be the most popular live, but to me its a journey and it just flows in a way I can relate to. Jack Frost and Castles are the same way to me. I love the flow and sound of those tracks and it all comes together in a way I can really appreciate. Thats what I am really excited about most with the new material. It's not necessarily the lyrics that excite me, it's the sound. I follow the flow and feel of the music and let it take me on a journey, and hopefully the lyrics will complement that.
It's been a little over two years now and we have definitely grown a lot. Working with Chuck Macak (Electrowerks Music Production) on our last record really helped us grow a lot as a band, that is why we are returning there now. Since the beginning I think we have learned how to focus our ideas in a more constructive way, It takes any band a lot of time to grow and learn how they work as a unit. I think one thing that helps us stand out is how we have remained a unit through this whole process. It has been over two years and we have only changed one member from when we started. We play music together because we want to play together. With us its not about being the best, it's about playing music with the people we want to play with. I know I speak for the whole band when I say that we would never trade any member of this band for another person. Watching the scene over all these years I see so many bands kick out members and find new people for various reasons. Two members of our band are in college and can barely make practice but we keep them around because these are the people we want to play with. This bond will not be broken.
Biggest Achievement as a band so far?
We know that as a band, we feel the biggest thing we have achieved is staying true to our own sound. We live in a scene of heavy music and we have a hard time fitting in at shows. Every show we play, we are the least heavy band, yet we are still too heavy to play with the lighter bands. This has been our struggle since the beginning. We know that if we incorporated more breakdowns and heavy parts, kids might enjoy our set more but thats not what we are about. We would never look down on any band, no matter what they do musically. A lot of bands in our area are very breakdown heavy, including lots of parts to allow for hardcore dancing and the like. There is nothing wrong with this, but its not what we try to do. When we play, and there's not as many broken noses as there were in the set before us, I take it as a compliment not an insult, as it proves that we are doing something different. But hey, we still get our share of kids that like to throw down, so we can't really complain. I think our biggest accomplishment though, is standing out as something different than what kids are used to.
Finally, what's next for the band?
We have a new drummer, and new music on the way. In every way possible we are a new band since the last CD. The new music has more riffs, is more guitar-centric than before, yet it still remains light and rock and roll. As we go into the future we are looking to take each member's talents and let that define us. Last CD we set out with a goal for a sound and we achieved that goal. We are proud of what we have accomplished so far. With that said, this time around we are trying to branch out into more areas. We are letting our ideas drive our sound, instead of coming up with a goal for our sound we are just creating music and letting the end result define us. We create whatever we want and whatever it ends up to be is our sound. We aren't trying to be "heavier" or "poppier" or something like that. This time we are just letting our minds run wild and creating with no limits. Whatever image and sound we create is our sound, we are only defined by what we can achieve.
Post a Comment