wbtw: The whole thing started shortly after Nick (vocals, keys, sax) moved to Massachusetts from NYC in 2018. He linked up with Andy (drums, vocals) through Craigslist, and they quickly bonded over math rock, prog, and jazz. They actually first joined an Ethiopian jazz group before forming wbtw in the fall of 2018. By a further stroke of luck they managed to find Scott (vocals, guitar, sax) and Kev (guitar) around the same time, also through Craigslist.
At the time Scott had already produced solo demos of a few songs, including an early version of “Through the Wall,” which would become the first song we worked on together and eventually our first single off of the debut self-titled album. We were all really drawn to the style of the song with its blending of heavier, grungy guitar and lighter, jazz-influenced sax.
In 2019 we had a few songs under our belts, but got to a point that we realized we needed a real bass player (Nick had been covering the low end up to that point on keys/synth), so we brought in Steve (bass, synths), who immediately clicked with us thanks to his love of classic prog and modern jazz prog like The Physics House Band. From there we just kinda let our collective interests guide us and the music we wrote and saw what rose to the top.
Could you provide more detailed information about Restart Game and its sales performance?
wbtw: Restart Game is a really important album to us in that it felt like the first time we could write an album with a firm grasp of what ‘we broke the weather’ actually is and represents sonically. We were comfortable enough as a group to know what our strengths were and where our interests intersected, and we let that guide the writing process.
We truly don’t care much about sales other than appreciating that anyone connects with our music enough to give us some money to listen to it. You’d have to ask our label, Argonauta Records, about specific numbers, but for us all we care about is that it’s reaching people and resonating with them in some way.
we broke the weather has signed with Argonauta Records. Could you tell us more about that?
wbtw: There isn’t much to say about it, truly. We reached out to a number of record labels once Restart Game was completed, and Argonauta heard something they liked and decided to take a chance on us. We’re really appreciative of them (and Grand Sounds Promotion) for the effort they’ve put in to produce our CDs and promote us to international markets. I think we’ve actually received far more coverage in Europe so far than we have in the States for that reason.
What is the difference between your latest record and the band's very first rehearsal?
wbtw: That very first rehearsal is really funny to look back at. It was very awkward because we didn’t know each other at all beyond Andy and Nick having some time playing together. I think we spent it mostly just playing each other some of the music we were into at that moment, a couple of songs we could potentially cover, and awkwardly jamming on that early version of “Through the Wall.” We could tell there was something there, but it just took time to figure out what it was and what it could be.
What inspires we broke the weather's music and lyric writing? What do we broke the weather's lyrics talk about?
wbtw: Musically, it’s just all about stuff we think is dope and would be fun to play. Because we all like a bunch of different things, that inevitably gets translated into the music being kind of a mish-mosh of different styles and influences. But we wouldn’t have it any other way because it keeps it fun and interesting for us to play the same set of songs over and over again.
Lyrically, it’s a bit different based on who you ask in the group because there are three primary songwriters (Nick, Scott, and Andy). I think for all of us though it’s mostly just pulling from our life experiences, in particular because we’re all in a similar stage of life in having spouses and families. So it’s that and just seeing what’s going on in the world around us – all of the fucked up shit that causes anxiety in addition to the moments of goodness and beauty – that influences what we write.
Do you play live often? Do you enjoy performing abroad?
wbtw: We don’t play live as often as we’d like for a few reasons, namely the combination of nearly all of us having kids and all of us having careers and other stuff that inevitably demands our time and presence. In addition, while most of us are based either in Somerville, MA or relatively close to it, Andy has lived in Portland, ME for the past few years, which makes it so we really have to pick and choose when and where we play. Basically, we have to make the decision of whether to spend the time we can all be together playing live or writing new music, and while all of us enjoy playing live, ultimately we’d rather be spending more time on the music.
Given the fact that so much of our fanbase is based in Europe, we would love to have the opportunity to play there someday, but the stars would have to really align to make that possible. That said, if any band wants to bring us on to support them for a European tour, we’re all ears haha.
How often does the band practice and work on new material?
wbtw: It depends, but generally-speaking we try to get together at least once or twice a month to either practice, work on new music, or play out. The good thing is that we’re so tight and work so well together as a group that it takes very little time to get everyone back up to speed if we haven’t played in a while.
How did the band come up with the name we broke the weather? What does it mean to you?
wbtw: We came up with the name in large part because there was a period of time when it seemed like whenever we got together to play the weather was horrible to the point that it felt almost intentional. And of course there’s the double meaning to it that ties to the effects of climate change and whatnot, which is something we all feel very passionately about. But we also didn’t want to be lame and overly serious about it. I don’t think anyone wants to listen to a band called ‘The Planet Is Dying and It’s All Our Faults.’
What are the band's plans for the near future?
wbtw: We’re pretty much taking the summer off to enjoy time and trips with our families, but we’ll be back soon to play a few shows and start working on new material. We already have at least another whole album’s worth of music banked and ready to work on together.
Do you have a message for Iron Backstage readers?
wbtw: Support independent music journalism! It’s a rapidly dying field, but it’s still the best way to find new music that isn’t through AI algorithms that huge corporations are trying to shove down our throats.