Weigh Anchor interview

Florida's a huge state and I love the fact that every nook and cranny of the state has a band or two to its name. Weigh Anchor is that band to Plant City, a little stretch of farmland and highway between Tampa and Orlando. I like that these guys aren't genre worshippers, so to speak (not that that's a bad thing either). It seems like a shit ton of bands are trying to imitate a very particular sound, where as Weigh Anchor is pretty stright forward hardcore that I can't quite pin down. Kind of droning at points, chaotic at others, agressive all the way through. Take a listen for yourself or better yet, catch them next time they play around Tampa or elsewhere in Florida. This interview is with their vocalist Garrett.

Who's in the band, when did you start and how would you describe the band to those who haven't heard it?
Tyler plays the drums, Josh plays guitar, Derek plays bass and I sing. We started playing together in 2009. Derek, Tyler and myself have been in the band the entire time. Derek and I met through a friend because we both were interested in hardcore which, being from a small town, was a rarity. Tyler was already a good friend of mine, and he had a drum set. We have had one other vocalist and one other guitarist since getting started. Josh has hung out with us at practice since practically the beginning, so when the time came for a more permanent line up, he stayed as guitarist. As far as describing our sound... I think there are plenty of things I could say about our sound, but simply put, we are a hardcore band. Our music is mostly straightforward riffs, darker undertones and plenty of noise in between.

What has the band released? Are you working on anything new?
So far, we have released one EP and one full length. The EP is from when we first started, and was very crudely recorded for a number of unfortunate reasons. However, we finished what we started, which is what we focused on. That was mostly just an exercise in patience and growth as a band. The full length is a ten song album. That album collected a few older songs and some newer songs and shows how we've grown as a band. It was also fun to record; even during the recording process we were trying new things and maturing our sound. We still have a few copies of the EP on CD, but the full length CD was a limited run and is all sold out! Both of these, as well as a Florida compilation album we have a track on, can be downloaded free online.
New music is all we are focused on right now. We have a cassette that will be coming out in the winter with all new songs on it. The songs on this are way faster and way more crushing than any of our previous music. Also, we are looking into releasing a 7 inch over the summer. Along with the music, we have some visual art we may be releasing or utilizing during shows... but that is more a concept right now, so I'll leave it at that. Because of school and work, no tour for now, but it is definitely a goal and a possibility. Lots of locals have been doing weekend state tours lately, so if anything, we may do something like that.

Plant City is kind of a middle of nowhere place. What's it like keeping a band going in a place like that as opposed to a city?
Difficult. We're the only active hardcore band from here. Thankfully we're close to Tampa, which has a flourishing music scene. Art and music just struggle in a place that is mostly focused on agriculture and sports. Pretty much the only cool thing about a small town is that me and Josh can (and have) walk to Tyler's house for practice because we all live so close, haha.

What sort of things do you sing in about in Weigh Anchor? Is there anything you want to get across with the band?
We mostly talk about the concepts of time and death. Both of those things blow my mind. We also talk about middle class modern society, about how easy it is to get sucked into really lame patterns, even ourselves. The newer material is way more conceptual and ties together way more fluidly compared to our older music. Other than that, we're just making noise for the sake of noise. Though we don't talk about it in the lyrics, if you are still bashing girls in hardcore, making jokes about race or sexual orientation... man, that sort of thing doesn't belong anywhere, but especially not in this culture.

There's lots of Florida bands popping up in the past six months or so. Who should we know about?
I'm not keeping up too well with brand new bands, but a few bands that have been around for a while are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Brain Bust, for one, is the best band out of Florida right now, if you ask me. Our friends in With Increase just signed with Blood & Ink. Axis, Homestretch and Truth Inside have all been putting out some real solid releases. Losin' It is cranking out new music like crazy, and have a pretty nutty live show. Florida has a tendency for locals to come and go pretty quickly, so it's awesome to have so many talented ones active at one time.

Best/ most memorable show you've ever been to?
For me, Ceremony. Was insane. For Derek and Tyler, probably Have Heart. They drove up to see their last Florida show. These are the bands we were super into when we started the band, so they mean quite a lot to us.

Oh, I've also seen Kool and The Gang. Celebrate good times COMEAWN

What's your favorite record of this year?
I have a few, actually. Dark Castle's "Surrender to All Life Beyond Form", Full of Hell's "Roots of Earth Are Consuming My Home", and The Front Bottom's S/T debut. Of course there's been lots of great music released this year, especially demos and EP's, but these three full lengths have really impressed me.

Anything else you wanna add?
Do it yourself. If you wanna see a difference, make it happen. Don't just check out your friends bands, watch and look for other locals. Circle pit and play more video games.

Weigh Anchor on Facebook.
Bandcamp with both their EP and full length.