Young Widows. Quite a fitting moniker when you sit down and take a look at this Louisville, Kentucky, USA band’s history. Both guitarist/vocalist Evan Patterson and Nick Thieneman, who pulls bass and vocal duties, carried their former band, Breather Resist from the ashes after their vocalist was asked to depart. Their latest effort, Old Wounds, is just their second (sort of) studio full length, but that by no means constitutes their salad days of pavement pounding.A precise live set that consists entirely of Old Wounds from start to finish on this European tour has got Young Widows continuing their legacy of a near-constant tour schedule. They’re on tour almost non-stop through mid-April, which takes them back to the US to play the famed SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. This three-piece, which also includes drummer, Jeremy McMonigle, has managed to keep a squeaky clean, explosive live show, without the fat. No colorful lights, no fog machines, no bullshit. The songs are stripped down—forget samples and special effects. What you hear on the album, you get live. When the band made a stop in Budapest on February 18th, we had the chance to catch up with them.
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HUB- So you're playing Old Wounds in it's entirety on this European tour, how's that been going over, especially in the places you haven't played before?
Evan- It's going very well. We are literally soiling ourselves every night.
Jeremy- Really awesome.
Nick- I second that.
HUB- In terms of the recording process for Old Wounds, why did you do just four songs in a live setting and not the whole album? With that said, the album sounds cohesive, not just in the songs, but in the recording, were you worried it wouldn't?
Nick- No, some of the songs we wanted to record live and some in the studio. We just had to feel it out through the live sessions and listening back to everything.
Jeremy- We had the utmost faith in Kurt’s [Ballou of the band Converge and engineer/owner of Godcity Studio] ability. So we knew that it would all come together.
Evan- Some of the best drum sounds we got were in our friends house the first day we met up with Kurt. We had mics going up staircases, in a kitchen, and it really came out huge.
HUB- The music industry seems to be changing as we know it, at least the sales of records, how did that effect this latest album? Was that a factor in the recording, sort of bringing it back to the roots of a live show?
Jeremy- Not really we just wanted to do it that way for our own gratification.
Evan- The music industry is boring and has nothing to do with our band. We aren't trying to bring anything back, we're trying to make new sounds, patterns, and songs that we find natural and compelling.
HUB- Vinyl as a format is looking like a better and better way to make money from album sales, especially with the rabid (illegal) download culture. It seems doing limited runs is the way to do things, for example your 7" series. Does the downloading/blog culture play any sort of role in the way you guys do things?
Jeremy, Nick, Evan- No.
HUB- With that said, how do you guys feel about this downloading generation? If people are stealing your album from blogs and the like, especially in a place like Budapest, where not so many stores are going to have your record, does that get you "Lars Ulrich angry?"
Evan- Denying it seems pointless. I just downloaded Crime and the City Solution and Swell Maps records right before this tour. It was my first time and I've been listening to those records non-stop this entire tour. Amazing music.
Jeremy- Not really. If that’s how people get into our band, cool. Maybe they will come to the show and buy a copy of the record. Actually that very situation placed at a show in France.
HUB- What about the economic crisis? Does that have an effect on you guys as a band/album sales/touring? Do you find yourselves needing to tour more to make ends meet?
Evan- We're under the crisis line and I honestly haven't even thought about its effect on our band. This band is more about the art and the ideas, nothing else.
Jeremy- Not yet and hopefully it won’t ever.
HUB- A lot of the stops on this European tour are pretty standard, and not so many underground US bands come through Budapest, it seems kind of off the beaten tour path. You mentioned during your set that you guys love this city, was that a main motivating factor to play here?
Nick- Well, Breather Resist played [in Budapest] in 2005 and the show went well plus we got to see a lot of the city and it's amazing.
Jeremy- It seemed like a cool place. Even though it was a bit out of the way it was worth playing because the show was nice.
Evan- Wonderful and passionate people have brought us to Budapest and that is what makes me love Buda, Pest, and the little island between [Margit Sziget] that brings the two together.
__________________________________
Check out Young Widows at their MySpace page here.
(Interview & Photos: Jacob P)
HUB- So you're playing Old Wounds in it's entirety on this European tour, how's that been going over, especially in the places you haven't played before?
Evan- It's going very well. We are literally soiling ourselves every night.
Jeremy- Really awesome.
Nick- I second that.
HUB- In terms of the recording process for Old Wounds, why did you do just four songs in a live setting and not the whole album? With that said, the album sounds cohesive, not just in the songs, but in the recording, were you worried it wouldn't?
Nick- No, some of the songs we wanted to record live and some in the studio. We just had to feel it out through the live sessions and listening back to everything.
Jeremy- We had the utmost faith in Kurt’s [Ballou of the band Converge and engineer/owner of Godcity Studio] ability. So we knew that it would all come together.
Evan- Some of the best drum sounds we got were in our friends house the first day we met up with Kurt. We had mics going up staircases, in a kitchen, and it really came out huge.
HUB- The music industry seems to be changing as we know it, at least the sales of records, how did that effect this latest album? Was that a factor in the recording, sort of bringing it back to the roots of a live show?
Jeremy- Not really we just wanted to do it that way for our own gratification.
Evan- The music industry is boring and has nothing to do with our band. We aren't trying to bring anything back, we're trying to make new sounds, patterns, and songs that we find natural and compelling.
HUB- Vinyl as a format is looking like a better and better way to make money from album sales, especially with the rabid (illegal) download culture. It seems doing limited runs is the way to do things, for example your 7" series. Does the downloading/blog culture play any sort of role in the way you guys do things?
Jeremy, Nick, Evan- No.
HUB- With that said, how do you guys feel about this downloading generation? If people are stealing your album from blogs and the like, especially in a place like Budapest, where not so many stores are going to have your record, does that get you "Lars Ulrich angry?"
Evan- Denying it seems pointless. I just downloaded Crime and the City Solution and Swell Maps records right before this tour. It was my first time and I've been listening to those records non-stop this entire tour. Amazing music.
Jeremy- Not really. If that’s how people get into our band, cool. Maybe they will come to the show and buy a copy of the record. Actually that very situation placed at a show in France.
HUB- What about the economic crisis? Does that have an effect on you guys as a band/album sales/touring? Do you find yourselves needing to tour more to make ends meet?
Evan- We're under the crisis line and I honestly haven't even thought about its effect on our band. This band is more about the art and the ideas, nothing else.
Jeremy- Not yet and hopefully it won’t ever.
HUB- A lot of the stops on this European tour are pretty standard, and not so many underground US bands come through Budapest, it seems kind of off the beaten tour path. You mentioned during your set that you guys love this city, was that a main motivating factor to play here?
Nick- Well, Breather Resist played [in Budapest] in 2005 and the show went well plus we got to see a lot of the city and it's amazing.
Jeremy- It seemed like a cool place. Even though it was a bit out of the way it was worth playing because the show was nice.
Evan- Wonderful and passionate people have brought us to Budapest and that is what makes me love Buda, Pest, and the little island between [Margit Sziget] that brings the two together.
__________________________________
Check out Young Widows at their MySpace page here.
(Interview & Photos: Jacob P)
1 Comment:
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23 February 2009 at 23:06
sweet interview dude. hopefully rapid cities will be joining these guys at MacRock this year!
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