HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Never Happy, Ever After – As It Is

AS IT IS have long become beloved in the UK pop-punk scene. The group’s debut album, Never Happy, Ever After saw them propelled to international significance, and championing the UK pop-punk scene of 2015. Ten years since its release, it is still as beloved as when it was first released, waving a flag for UK alternative music, and the fans that related to its emotional vulnerability.

AS IT IS formed in 2012, following vocalist Patty Walter’s post on JoinMyBand.co.uk. Andrew Westland and Patrick Foley responded to his advertisement, and joined the band on guitar and drums. They were also joined by Benjamin Biss, Patty’s friend from University, and as a four piece began playing shows and releasing EP’s. Over this time, Patty had also gained a following from posting pop punk covers on YouTube. In early 2014 Alistair Testo joined the lineup on bass, and the band had garnered a fanbase that allowed them to crowdfund the making and release of their fourth EP This Mind Of Mine, which featured an early version of Never Happy, Ever After track Can’t Save Myself.

The buzz they had built touring the UK and through these EP’s led to their signing with Fearless Records in October 2014. It was also at this point that Patty announced he would be stepping away from his YouTube channel in order to focus on AS IT IS fully. When AS IT IS signed with Fearless in 2014, the group became the first UK band on their roster, marking a shift for UK pop-punk and the opportunities that UK bands were beginning to be afforded. Flying out to Florida to record their debut album, they worked alongside producer James Paul Wisner (PARAMORE, DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, NEW FOUND GLORY) to create the kind of album that could stand in the shoes of the bands they looked up to. Patty particularly cites the Drive-thru Records roster, and bands like THE STARTING LINE amongst influences for their sound.

Propelling the band’s success was the album’s lead single Dial Tones. Released in January 2015, the track got to no. 26 on the Rock and Metal Singles chart, and is still their most streamed track. In an interview for Dscvr, AS IT IS explained that “It was quite late in the writing process that we wrote Dial Tones. So we’d all been missing our girlfriends very very much and it was a huge weight.” The track was followed up by Concrete, and Cheap Shots And Setbacks before the release of the album on April 20th 2015.

Never Happy, Ever After was received positively. It peaked at no. 39 on the UK Albums Chart, no. 2 on the Rock and Metal Chart, and was listed as no. 19 on Rock Sound’s ‘Top 50 Releases of 2015’ (January 2016, Issue 208). The following year, the band were nominated for Best International Band at the APMAs. The success of the album and the popularity they had gathered from subsequent frequent touring led to the release of a deluxe version of Never Happy Ever After in 2016. This version featured acoustic versions of Dial Tones, Concrete, and Cheap Shots And Setbacks, as well as a new track, Winter Weather, which received a music video the following day.

What followed the release of Never Happy, Ever After was a string of constant touring for the next few years. The band embarked on a support slot for SILVERSTEIN throughout Europe, whilst playing their own album release shows, and then went on a co-headline tour with THIS WILD LIFE throughout the UK. The album also saw the band taking to the US, playing every date of the 2015 Warped Tour, and returning to the UK for Reading and Leeds festival before heading to Australia and Japan throughout the autumn. They then set off for the Alternative Press Tour with MAYDAY PARADE throughout the states in the December, and returned to the UK for a support slot with LOWER THAN ATLANTIS the same December and SLEEPING WITH SIRENS in early 2016. In the May of 2016, AS IT IS embarked on their own headline tour across the UK, playing Never Happy, Ever After and their EP This Mind Of Mine in full each night. 2015 totalled over 170 shows played.

AS IT IS exploded throughout 2015, with Dial Tones leading the way for the band’s position amongst the leading bands of the UK’s pop-punk scene in the 2010’s. This is an experience that Walters reflected on in his return to YouTube video in 2024. “Our lives changed thanks to a song”, Walters reflects, but he also speaks candidly about the detrimental impact such a take off had on his mental health. “When everything you’ve ever wanted doesn’t fix everything that’s broken it turns out that that can rather efficiently unravel your mental health. Which became the inspiration for more songs and more albums.” This vicious cycle is one that Walters attempted to break in 2022 when he decided to leave the music industry entirely. Through the years spent focusing on himself and healing, he felt as if he had reached a place to reintroduce music back into the picture.

This reintroduction to music included a return to Never Happy, Ever After for its 10th birthday. On September 2nd 2024 AS IT IS posted to social media that they were back together, with Foley, Biss, Walters and Testo reuniting. Discussing the comeback, Walters and Biss embrace the power in being able to “come back on our terms” this time around. This includes intimate shows in London and their hometown Brighton, sets at Slam Dunk in May where the band will be playing Never Happy, Ever After in full, and a return to Warped Tour. In February 2025 AS IT IS announced they would be re-recording the album. Each track on Never Happy, Ever After X features a collaboration, from artists that directly inspired the original like HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW, to touring friends ROAM, and new artists in the scene like ARTIO and NOAHFINNCE.

It is easy to underestimate the influence AS IT IS had on the UK’s pop-punk scene. As the first UK band to sign to Fearless, AS IT IS were given a major platform that boosted both them and the UK’s pop-punk scene into international significance. This whirlwind propelled the band into a variety of ups and downs, and even led to the need to take a step back and embark on a journey of soul searching. A decade since its release though, AS IT IS stand back together on their own terms, embracing the vulnerability at the album’s heart and celebrating Never Happy, Ever After as a seminal album for a generation of pop-punk.

Never Happy, Ever After was originally released on April 20th, 2015 via Fearless Records.

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