Exclusive Interview: Weaponry on recording “Forever Nothing” (2 of 2)!

As if spending six days drinking off brand Monster, Iron Bru and Cherry Pepsi Max while witnessing Weaponry recording four new cuts for a new EP titled “Forever Nothing” with the help of Producer Daly George at The Ranch Production House and documenting it last week wasn’t crazy enough, we capped the week off with an interview with the Reading Post Hardcore quartet. But it ran over a magical word count and as frontman Al Bristow says on the regular “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus!“, so we split the interview into two halves, so this one is the encore, if you will…

What was your favourite part of the recording sessions themselves? Have you learned anything that you think you may take into future sessions?

Bassist Jay Rozentals: “My favourite part is the last day as the tracks get put together! Unfortunately I missed the last day this time round so I won’t hear them until we get the mix. Obviously bass day is up there as well. I’ve learned I am better than I thought and should push my playing more in the future”

Drummer Tim Doyle: “Learning that by putting in some more effort before hand and learning the parts more accurately with better technique, it allows Daly to realise experiment with how the track sounds”

Vocalist Al Bristow: “Just how detailed it should be when recording. Little bits like re-tuning after every take and if something sounds only 99% right then it’s not good. Get it to 100% or don’t bother! Daly’s great at pulling out the best from us and finding out which way works best for each individual member. Some of the vocal takes were so hard to get nailed on but I’m glad I did keep at them. Although I almost passed out when recording My Name Is Glory!”

Guitarist Max Ashworth: “Probably my favourite part was listening to Al, like how much he’s changed his vocals. That was really cool. They sound really crisp now and they have a melody line that you can follow. I also learned some production stuff like panning and how to EQ a guitar, which it’s good to learn from a pro like Daly”

How complete did you feel the songs were going into the studio? How much has changed between the demos that you sent to Daly George from the rehearsal space and the final recordings?

Al: “I think the songs were completed 100% before we went into the studio but you do always pick up on extra bits when you hear them so clearly for the first time so we come up with ideas while recording. Also I think we go in thinking we will change certain parts when hearing them back. That always happens. Daly suggests different ways to do sections and we’re always open to his suggestions as he knows what he’s doing!”

Max: “My main concern going into the recording was “Take It Or Leave It” as me and Al had had a few heated debates about making changes. It’s fairly simple and that bores me, I felt like it needed more too it, like synths and orchestration, violins and extra instruments. But Daly pleased both parties by adding in extra reverb and rounding out the sound. Also I was nervous about playing some of the parts, the leads are more complex on the new material but Daly and the guys put my mind at ease“.

Tim: “I feel the core of the songs were so much tighter as we had spent more effort in how each part across the record sounded. If it wasn’t tight or if it was improvised, we went back over it.”

Jay: “We had done a complete play through with every song before we went in but obviously things change, Daly has a lot of input in the studio as well so I guess there has been changes on all the tracks, for the better though of course”

We’ve talked about the development of “Mine” being something that has been around for years; how may other songs do you have in that phase that may see the light of day in future releases?

Jay: “Can’t say until I see what the others say! “Alan his asking awkward questions again”…”

Max: “We’ve recorded all of our songs now, but there will be changes to the way that we play these songs live because we’ve changed them in the studio compared to how we’ve played them before, I might need to slap some reverb on parts. The one song that bugs me is “Hard Place” because it’s the oldest on and I don’t have any cool stuff on it. I might tinker with it a bit live but it is cool to have one song that is your roots”

Tim: “How can you improve on greatness?”

Al: “Haha NONE BRO! We’re spent. Back to the drawing board for us”

Listening to the songs take shape in the studio, the Weaponry sound has become more development and has a more rounded musicianship about it. How proud are you of these new cuts? How excited are you to see where the project goes next?

Tim: “The lead parts have really improved on these new tracks and although we have tried to make them slightly more mainstream, it’s been a conscious decision whilst keeping our raw sound”

Al: “I feel these are the best recordings we’ve done. Something I Lack got such a great reception last time but we’ve definitely progressed in song writing together (Max has really got involved where as he didn’t used to have much input) and I can’t wait to hear what people think. Just want to get these out and start playing them all live!”

Max: “I’m really happy with how the leads came out. If you listen to the old stuff, there is a lot of Funeral For A Friend kind of Post Hardcore influence whereas now a lot more technical stuff on it, tapping and longer solos, more leads. I think our sound has started to change a bit but going forward I will have more creative freedom and I now feel like I have the ability to back it up. I want tunes that are catchy with riffs you can hum and funky rhythms, perhaps odd time signatutures to keep Jay on his toes. We’re not going to be ripping out sweeping solos or anything but I feel like this is the start of what is to come”

Jay: “It’s amazing to see us grow, each of us working on area’s to better the band and ourselves, I think what’s going on in life effects the music we play. To put that out is amazing”

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