Weston Interview

I sat down with Jesse and Dave of Weston recently, before a show in a converted dining hall in Long Island, New York. The band was in great spirits, laughing and joking with Midtown and New Found Glory, the two other up and comers on the tour.

The US Music Vault Online: Hi there. First off, I love your disc... I wish I had been sent your early stuff, so I could’ve seen the progression. I hear it’s quite different.

Weston: The earlier stuff is definitely more energetic... punkier.

USMV: So are you guys mellowing with age? You got together in high school, right?

Weston: Yep.

USMV: Now I’m not saying the album is mellow, but there is definitely a nice flip side to it. Great harmonies, some a capella stuff thrown in here and there. Is it tough to stay angst-ridden?

Weston: Well, I don’t think we’re really angst-ridden, as far as like, smashing the stage and stuff. There was never really any anger in the band, except for maybe the new record. Jimmy, who wrote and sang most of the album, he probably got a little angrier on this record. At least on a few tunes. But then you have the total flip side where we just love to mellow out. I think that maybe frustration bleeds through, but of course, that could lead to anger too. You know, when we were younger we were sexually frustrated. Now that we’re older... we’re still sexually frustrated!

USMV: But with a different sound!

Weston: Absolutely.

USMV: OK. Production-wise... you say on the disc that it’s basically a live recording, done in maybe one or two takes. Throughout rock and roll, various people have gone into the studio and done that. Were you influenced by anyone in particular to do that? I’m thinking of Robert Fripp and his production of the Roches. He called it Audio Verite, after the term “cinema verite” from filmdom. Did you ever hear that term?

Weston: I’ve heard the Cinema term, never the audio one.

USMV: Well it struck me as similar to the “Art of Live Production” terminology you guys used.

Weston: I don’t know if we were influenced by anybody, at least for that part of it... I think it was more of a decision we kind of came to on our own, more of an internal decision.

USMV: Did you do your previous albums yourself or work with outside producers?

Weston: We had always worked with outside people before. We’re the kind of band that has our own language when it comes to song writing; none of us is really schooled in theory or anything like that. I don’t think any of us could even sight read music. We have such an internal language that it’s hard to convey that to someone like a producer. We really had an idea of what we wanted this record to sound like, and having an outsider in there just never really seemed right. So, we just went into the studio every day and just banged it out!

USMV: Did you have much more stuff written then ended up on the album?

Weston: Yeah, we recorded, what… about 18 songs? And only 12 made it on the album. So there were definitely a few leftovers that we’ll either work on for the next record or will be released in some other way.

USMV: Is there something different working on a national level now? Were there more restraints on you somehow?

Weston: A little bit. We’re still kind of weary about playing some of the moodier stuff, just because of the past of the band...

USMV: Why? Because it is such a departure?

Weston: Yeah, it’s a definite departure. We’re finding that some fans are really turned off by the new sound. I think it’s just freaking people out, because a lot of people didn’t get to see the progression. Matinee didn’t get a really big push, and the studio album we did after that was released only in Japan, so they never heard that. If those records had had a little more push behind them or had been released in the States, I think this one wouldn’t have been so shocking to the kids.

USMV: I just covered the Warped tour, and MxPx was up on stage ripping apart Bad Religion’s new album, while to me it’s the best thing they ever did. I mean, they’re not 18 anymore, they’ve matured and produced a slick album...

Weston: Did you ever hear their keyboard album, Into the Unknown?

USMV: No, I never did.

Weston: I think it came out in ‘83 or so and it’s all keyboards... the only way to get it is a bootleg or Napster... it’s great. And that was a ballsy move back then for them to release that.

USMV: To me, their fans hating them now is just ridiculous... One has to grow. That’s what music is about... synthesizing, changing.

Weston: They’re a great band; they’re really awesome. We played a week with those guys once, and they were so cool.

USMV: So, you guys have been together for about ten years, right? And you definitely have a following, but I only started hearing about you because of this release. So, any changes because of that? You’re obviously taking a step up in the world.

Weston: Yeah, I think we’re thinking of this record as a kind of rebirth in a way, and for a lot of people it might be the first record you hear. I think as far as that goes, without having anything to compare it to, you can just kind of look at it as a really great record.

USMV: It’s a nice, polished disc, and it goes all over the place. There’s screaming and then there’s those... who did the orchestrations?

Weston: That was Jimmy James.

USMV: Do you know if he listened to anything in particular, any special influences orchestration-wise?

Weston: He’s a big Pet Sounds/Brian Wilson guy.

USMV: That’s very cool, because I picked up the whole album ending, that “I hate most what I love the best” thing, as Wilson-esque. So, what’s the whole “Mono” thing on the disc? Is there a mono version of the record?

Weston: No, when we were designing the album art, we looked at a lot of old ‘50s and ‘60s records and whatnot, and we’re just kind of fans of little things that make no sense at all. Things that make people wonder just like you’re wondering.

USMV: How long have you been on the road now?

Weston: Actually, we’ve kind of taken the last three years off. Our drummer just had some babies a few years ago, and he took some time off for that. And when we released the Return to Mono album that was only released in Japan, we were planning a tour for that. When the US domestic release fell through, we just kind of went through a time when we didn’t know what was going to go on, or if the band was even going to continue. And then the whole Mojo thing happened and we made this new record, but all that took three years. In that time, we probably played maybe fifteen shows a year, regionally. But we’ve been on this tour now for a little over a week, and it’s going well... it’s fun.