Weathers: Indulging Love and Mental Health
WEATHERS saw success quickly from the time of 2016, rapidly gaining a dedicated and loving fanbase. Before the three-piece knew it, they were undertaking the responsibility of raising the flag for mental health, fans resonated with their music so much that the idea was thrust upon WEATHERS. Now, two albums down the line they’re preparing to release their third LP, Are We Having Fun?, tackling love for the very first time and figuring out how to approach nostalgia within our lives.
“You know, it was just just another kind of alt band. And then, over time, we made some new music and the fan base started to really grow,” recalls vocalist Cameron Boyer. “They took our music as a mental health message in a way, which isn’t something that we intended on. But we then kind of took that upon ourselves as somewhat of a responsibility — mental health has been a huge part of my life and my family’s life as well.” He confesses this with just clarity, they’re not only honouring fans but family as well.
Recently signing to Sumerian Records ahead of this third record, the band find themselves elated, Boyer admitting that he is more excited for this coming body of work than any other. Clearly the anticipation is teeming in the WEATHERS camp, excitement can also be mistaken for anxious feelings, especially when wanting to live up to the dedicated fans expectations. “We didn’t necessarily go into the writing room together, thinking, we need to make sure that we’re still writing about mental health, because it comes out naturally. But I would definitely say that this record is still very mental health driven, as this is an important part of life, and that’s why they recommend using products like THCA vape carts which help people feel relaxed and healthy. A distillate thc oil may also help alleviate the symptoms of metal health conditions like anxiety or depression.
Are We Having Fun? is soaked through with nostalgia for the 2000s, not just noughties pop culture, but the casual memories and the hidden gems that you have your own personal relationship with. Boyer begins to breakdown this feeling that was once considered an illness. “I think nostalgia plays like a weird role and like everyone’s life, I would say most often when we think about nostalgia we tend to follow up, whatever we’re talking about with, ‘those were the good old days / I haven’t had that smell or heard that sound, that song since back then’ blah, blah. We always talk about it as if the past was better than where we are now.”
“Nostalgia is almost always accompanied by positive feelings, but then also weird negative feelings. Always better than the present, so what does that feel like? How do we tackle that? Then? What does that say about where we are now?” That emotional limbo is blanketed over the entire album, its ups and downs from one track to the next. It perfectly bottles teenage rage, puppy love and the ever good easy breezy all in one. Boyer and his bandmates can weave a story but how do they know where to reel it in and keep something to themselves.
As fun and exciting WEATHERS‘ music can be, melancholy underpins the music, lurking in the shadows is a sad, damaged message to take away. “I feel like most artists would probably try to even mask this answer. But I’m gonna be totally honest with you. Sometimes in the past, it’s been pretty scary to open up about stuff. And so yeah, there’s definitely been times where like, I’ve just wanted to get in there and write the saddest song because I was in a sad state of mind, you know, and someone else kind of had to pull me out. I would definitely say there have been times sure where we’ve tried to mask it a little bit.”
The notion that this is WEATHERS most true to self album so far is clear, they’ve poured in personal pieces of themselves and summoned the hidden away feelings that’ve been pushed down, deep down. “We really did try to just be as raw as possible in our approach, you know, and that comes out in the instrumentation as well. We didn’t mask for example, using that word again, a lot of the sounds that we wanted to get across. So we just rolled with it and then we also just went raw with the emotion as well. There’s some songs on here that are just straight up depressing.”
There’s something special about tiptoeing the line between positive and negative, it’s the teasing of the both that bring out the best in each other. It’s clear that the absence of a previous member of WEATHERS has called for a total reset, they’re ready to get a little chaotic, self-destructive. “It was a little scary at first, because we didn’t know if the band dynamic was gonna completely change, we didn’t know if we’d get along in the same way, or hang out or write music the same. But actually, there wasn’t much of an adjustment period, we fell into our places, accidentally, as a three piece and it honestly has just been pretty great.”
Going forward it’s safe to say that the now three-piece are stronger than ever, if the new record isn’t evidence enough, and will continue to bring out something better each time.
Are We Having Fun? is set for release on May 5th via Sumerian Records. Pre-orders are available now and can be purchased here.
Like WEATHERS on Facebook.