Dear readers, we are pleased to offer you in this article an interview with a band from Boston with a Psychedelic Heavy Rock sound, whose new album is due out on July 19, 2024. We welcome Worshipper.
Hi, how are you?
JB: “Doing great, thanks! Summertime is really my favorite time of year.“
What does the name of your band Worshipper mean to you?
JB: “At this point, after 10 years, it’s just our identity as a band and a logo. When we came up with it, I liked it because it sounded big, and without an indication of what kind of worshipper, it was open to interpretation. We do get tagged in a lot of weird Christian posts by mistake, but I usually just let it slide because, hey, they might enjoy it.“
The band was formed in 2014, how did the project come about?
JB: “In 2014, I had a similar band that imploded and so did Bob. Al had been asking me to do something heavy again at the same time, so it was just serendipity that we all kind of wanted to do the same thing at the same time. We cornered Jarvis at a show at the old TT the Bears club and informed him he was the drummer and that was basically it.“
You offer a mixture of Heavy Rock and Psychedelia, how did your passion for these sounds come about and what are your sources of inspiration?
JB: “We are just huge fans of big, melodic heavy metal and hard rock from the 70s and 80s. But, I’ve also always been a fan of psychedelic and garage rock from the 60s and early 70s, so I try to push aspects of that as well. We all have different personal touchstones that I feel creep in from time to time, whether it be Echo and the Bunnymen, Kyuss,
Radiohead, Nirvana, or Pink Floyd. Obviously, Priest, Maiden, Sabbath, UFO, as well as a healthy dose of Ozzy’s solo work are completely foundational to our sound.“
The third album ‘One Way Trip’ is due out on July 19, 2024, how would you describe this work?
JB: “We feel like this album is the album we’ve been trying to make. It sounds like what we’ve been through, our experiences together, and our personalities were captured and presented in the way we wanted. A lot of that was Alec Rodriguez being easy to work with and understanding our intentions as a producer. We also took a couple years to focus
almost entirely on writing it and demoed the entire album together, so we were prepared more than we ever have been to make this record. In my case, I recorded most of these songs 3 times by the end of it all.“
Both the music and the vocals are energetic and intense, what themes do the lyrics deal with?
JB: “Isolation, depression, impending doom, basically the human experience, but through a psychedelic lens. That’s pretty much always been my M.O., but in a few spots, like James Motel, Heroic Dose, and Onward, they are more like little stories. Heroic Dose is about my dad’s time in Vietnam, and James Motel is a little fun lovecraftian thing , and Onward was inspired by the Crusades, but ended up being eerily close to a Jan 6 commentary, even though it was written before that.“
Granitic, addictive and Psychedelic, how do you compose your tracks?
JB: “Granitic is a great word! We write in different ways. Sometimes I will do a pretty complete song and present it and we make tweaks together, or we’ll take riffs from Bob or Al and expand them into complete songs. We always try to make sure we avoid “sausage” songs or “Camels” that are just a list of disconnected riffs smooshed together. Melody is king, but also, cool guitar riffs that avoid sounding “stock” (as Lars would say). It will be interesting to see how the next round of songs happen, because we really found some new ways to arrange things as a band and I think we have a much bigger toolbox to work with now.“
Your music really engages the audience, do you have any plans to play live in the near future?
JB: “We want to get out there as much as possible. We’re dying to get back to Europe. In the meantime, we’re working on re-establishing our regional presence, since we sort of took a break from playing local shows during the pandemic. We want to play and get this record out to as many people as we can. (Hit us up!)“
Since 2014 you have released 3 full-lengths, a live album and an EP, how has your sound evolved over the years?
JB: “I went back and listened to the first album recently and I can definitely hear an evolution. I think we’re better at being “us” now, if that makes sense. We were still searching for things early on, maybe trying to sound like something, and now, I think it sounds like we aren’t trying to sound like anything but us.“
Music is constantly evolving, how do you see the modern Rock scene in your country and more generally in the world?
JB: “It seems like people are very into Death Metal at the moment, but it’s always cyclical.“
What advice would you give to young artists approaching music in a genre like yours?
JB: “Make cool music, be nice, and don’t expect others to do anything for you if you can do it yourself.“
Do you have any other artistic activities or passions outside of music?
JB: “Art, beer, and paddleboarding, personally. Travel is essential to understanding your world. Bob is an amazing visual artist and is constantly improving his craft and learning new techniques. Al loves his dogs, building guitars, and paints. Jarvis has an unhealthy obsession with the movie ‘Maximum Overdrive.‘”
I thank the band for the interview, wishing them all the best for the release of their new album and the continuation of their artistic career.
“Thank!”
Purchase their new album here: https://worshipper.bandcamp.com/album/one-way-trip-2
Lineup:
John Brookhouse / Vocals, Guitar, Synth
Dave Jarvis / Drums
Bob Maloney / Bass, Backing Vocals
Alejandro Necochea / Guitar, Synth
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