-Interview- Weaponry (10/11/21)

Weaponry talks about their catchy yet heavy sound, the Post Hardcore scene and much more.

www.facebook.com/weareweaponry

www.facebook.com/weareweaponry
From: United Kingdom
Sounds like: Post Hardcore





1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name “Weaponry" and is there any meaning behind it?

From going to Reading Festival (where most of us are from) from an early age it just makes you want to get up on that stage and do the same! So we did. Still haven't played the festival yet though! We used to write songs in our mates garage that he called the bunker, so from that we've had a few names about weapons knocking around. Weaponry was our favourite as it's just a one word name which we like and it was easy to find on Spotify! We like it because we can all call each other weapons and we're not sure if we're being nice or not. You can be a weapon if you want! You weapon.


2. What do you want people to take away from your music?

Just enjoy it and take from it whatever you want. We write music we want to hear and write about things that inspire us to write about them. Sometimes personal, sometimes stories we hear, sometimes happy, sometimes sad. If you feel anything though, then that's great.


3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?

Sad songs with happy endings! Big choruses, angry ranty verses, heavy music with chugs all over the place. You'll be singing them all day.


4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?

I've seen Architects, Deftones and A Day To Remember play Wembley Arena so those 3 because you know you're gonna hit some massive crowds! We always say no matter if we're playing a sold out show or to 2 of your mates and one randomer who's dog got in for free, we play as if we are playing Wembley. So there's the big goal.


5. How has Covid affected what you do as a band?

We've obviously played much fewer gigs than normal but we've had to think of new and inventive ways to promote the band. We've started a behind the scenes vlog style video series called No Lasting Memories on our YouTube channel which has over 6,000 views total aswell as releasing a mobile game called Flappy Steppy! Available on the Google play store now. Along with that we're releasing 8-bit versions of our first collection of songs. They're also on our YouTube channel which is here.


6. What’s your take on the current state of Post Hardcore?

Most of us were fans of the early 2000's UK Post Hardcore scene. Bands like Funeral for a Friend, Hell is for Heroes, Reuben, Hundred Reasons, early Enter Shikari etc. That's kind of what we're aiming for with our music with maybe some more metal/metalcore inspirations in there. Black Peaks are now gone and they were incredible - even being played on Radio 1 in the day time. Palm Reader, they played with Glassjaw! Marmozets are great but haven't heard much from them recently. We're playing with Lastelle in December and they could hit the heights of those bands I just mentioned. But there's not too many I can name to be honest.


7. What’s the current music scene like in the UK?

This is why I can't name too many Post Hardcore UK bands, because a huge chunk of the UK scene now is straight up hardcore. Really brutal, death inspired bands that are heavy as hell. We play a lot of gigs with bands that are much heavier than us and that's because it's the hot thing at the moment, which is awesome because we've been the heaviest band on the bill before and we'd much rather be the least heaviest because if you're there for an acoustic singer songwriter you're much less likely to be into us shouting at you for 30 minutes.


8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?

Everyone who has their music on them knows the state of it and it's not good. It used to be the record labels would take all the money so all the streaming services have done is found a way to remove record labels but instead of giving that money to the bands they've just taken the labels and the artists money. Mad. There are streaming services starting to pay out fair amounts but I doubt they'll ever get big enough to matter. If you wanna support artists buy their merch and physical music and go and see them live. Click here for merch if you're wondering!


9. What’s next for Weaponry?

We're playing Rabidfest in Oxford on November 6th with bands like Diamond Head and Osiah and then Reading Rising on December 18th with Press To Meco! Then next year we will have new music coming from our EP 'Forever Nothing'.


10. Any shoutouts?

Go and buy tickets to Rabidfest and Reading Rising! Huge line ups that we're lucky to be a part of!

Rabidfest
Reading Rising