WTBU’s Reed Romanko sat down with Glen Ridge, New Jersey band Strange Weekend to discuss their history, music, and goals for the band. Strange Weekend is Simon Ogilvie (vocals\/guitar), Aiden O’Connor (drums), and Oliver Turiano (bass).<\/p>\n
REED ROMANKO: So, what \u200bis \u200bStrange Weekend?
\nSIMON OGILVIE: Well\u2014
\nAIDEN O\u2019CONNOR: He\u2019s givin\u2019 the candid answer to you.
\nSO: [Laughs] Well, I mean, it started as me and Oliver always kind of writing songs together since we were in eighth grade or whatever, but Aiden and Oliver both know each other from\u2014 OLIVER TURIANO: Band, like marching band and all that, so then we were kind of like, wait a minute, we can combine and do something, so then it kinda just evolved through that way, and\u2014
\nSO: And like, end of 2016\u2014
\nOT: Yeah, we formed at the end of 2016\u2014
\nAO: Do we want to talk about Tituba\u2019s Innocence?<\/p>\n
RR: Do it! Yeah, talk about it!
\nSO: Alright, so we were in a band before called Tituba\u2019s Innocence, with Kedar Ramanathan. I played guitar, Olly played bass… it was kind of more of a joke band.
\nOT: It \u200bwasa\u200b joke band! And then half way through we were like, \u201cMaybe this shouldn\u2019t be a joke band.\u201d
\nSO: Kedar went to college, and we were like, \u201cAlright, we should start making some real music now.<\/p>\n
RR: Okay, that\u2019s fun.
\nSO: We kind of just rode off of songs Me and Oliver have already wrote, and we just…<\/p>\n
RR: Built it up from there?
\nSO: Yeah, exactly, we built it up from there.<\/p>\n
RR: Alright, awesome! With that said, who is Strange Weekend? Tell me a little about yourselves. Who are the people behind Strange Weekend?
\nSO: I\u2019m Simon Ogilvie, I play guitar and I sing, write songs…<\/p>\n
RR: So you\u2019re the primary songwriter you\u2019d say?
\nSO: Well, it\u2019s a mix… We all collaborate a little bit, but it\u2019s mostly me and Oliver, Aiden gives a lot of good advice.
\nOT: He does.
\nAO: [\u200bLaughs\u200b] I\u2019m always there for advice.<\/p>\n
RR: Alright.
\nOT: I\u2019m Oliver Turiano, and I started off as a drummer, I still am [laughs], but once I was just like, \u201cOh sh*t, Aiden plays drums… I guess I gotta play something else now!\u201d And also I didn\u2019t
\nwant to be a drummer and like a singer\/songwriter, so I started learning guitar, and now I play guitar and bass in the band.<\/p>\n
RR: And finally…
\nAO: I\u2019m Aidan O\u2019Connor, and I play drums for these guys, for us, yeah… I do back up vocals, we all kinda sing.
\nOT and SO: Yeah, we do. [\u200bLaughs\u200b]
\nAO: Yeah, I\u2019m a drummer. I go to film school in Chicago, I study music too.
\nSO: Aidan\u2019s been writing up a new song for us. AO: We\u2019ve been working on a music video.<\/p>\n
RR: Oh, exciting! Are we gonna get a little sneak peek tonight?
\nOT: Oh, that would have been nice. [\u200bLaughs\u200b]
\nSO: But we\u2019re all multi-instrumentalists.
\nOT: Yeah, like Aidan could write a bass part, or Simon could write a guitar part, or I could think up a cool drum part, so we can all trade around a little bit.<\/p>\n
RR: Oh, that\u2019s dope!
\nOT: We all play everything, and we\u2019re all terrible singers.
\nSO: I mean, I\u2019m calling myself a guitar player before anything else, and then bass is a secondary thing for me. I do really enjoy playing the bass as well.
\nAO: I\u2019d say I\u2019m a storyteller. [\u200bLaughs]\u200b
\nSO: Your main thing is drumming.
\nAO: Yeah, I play drums, I\u2019m a naturally drummer.<\/p>\n
RR: So in that vein of dabbling in each other\u2019s instruments, have you considering going beyond that, maybe picking up a horn, or\u2014
\nSO: Oh Jesus…
\nOT: In a couple songs, or two, or actually one, I use a synth, but in a lot of the songs, we actually use like strings and other arranged instruments, so we have some random piano stuff, a lot of synth stuff…
\nSO: In a new song, Aidan\u2019s gonna be playing bass, and Olly\u2019s gonna be up on drums.
\nAO: We\u2019re going to have a little switch around, should be pretty cool.
\nSO: We\u2019re always into playing other instruments, you know \u2014 I could have thought of something on the guitar that Olly couldn\u2019t have, and Olly could have thought of something that I couldn\u2019t think of. Bringing out different ideas, collaborating, you know.<\/p>\n
RR: Of course! Very important. So, what would you say is your biggest musical inspiration?
\nAO: What we\u2019re listening to right now.
\nOT: I mean, at least for me \u2014 and I\u2019d probably say for your guys, but I can\u2019t speak for you \u2014 whatever I\u2019m listening to at the moment is gonna be what I write from.
\nSO: Yeah, whatever we\u2019re listening to usually informs what I\u2019m going to be writing about.<\/p>\n
RR: Alright, so could you give me some examples?
\nSO: Bands we\u2019re all really into, Arctic Monkeys\u2014<\/p>\n
RR: A classic.
\nOT: It\u2019s kinda what we grew up on…
\nSO: A huge guitar influence for me is Johnny Marr from The Smiths.
\nAO: My Bloody Valentine.
\nSO: That\u2019s how we got into all the pedals. I really like Ryan Jarman, guitar player for The Cribs.<\/p>\n
OT: Recently, I know I\u2019ve listened to a lot of \u201880s stuff, like Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera, you know, \u201880s \u201csophisti-pop\u201d if you will.
\nAO: Oh, of course there\u2019s our boy, Shinner, supporting us.
\nOT: They\u2019re a go-to.<\/p>\n
RR: In terms of lyrics, I know you all contribute your own little bit, what inspires the words you guys say in the songs?
\nSO: Well, we wrote a lot of songs when we were seventeen, eighteen living in a suburban town…A lot of experiences from that.
\nAO: Past relationships and stuff, the classic\u2014
\nOT: You know, the classic teen lyrics, but we always try to make them somewhat more tongue and cheek, satiristic, you gotta love that.
\nSO: But nothing too heady.
\nOT: No, nothing too heady! [\u200bLaughs]\u200b
\nAO: I wouldn\u2019t call myself a lyricist, but I do enjoy writing lyrics.
\nOT: We like to make lyrics that people can shout along to, like those \u200bfat choruses.<\/p>\n
RR: \u200bFat \u200bchoruses!<\/p>\n
OT: With a \u201cph.\u201d<\/p>\n
RR: So what\u2019s the end goal with you guys, for Strange Weekend?
\nOT: I mean, goal for right now, I think we really enjoy putting on local shows that a lot of our friends can come to, and especially mixing the crowds of certain groups and certain friends.<\/p>\n
SO: We want to put on a good time for everyone, we don\u2019t want to single anyone out.
\nOT: I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve ever been like, \u201cWe gotta get this because we gotta get huge.\u201d
\nSO: We\u2019re still thinking on very small level right now. Obviously, obviously, we\u2019d love to\u2014 OT: To be indie famous!
\nSO: Obviously, I\u2019d love to dropout of college and go on tour.
\nOT: Oh perfect!
\nSO: Right now we\u2019re just a bunch of dudes playing some rock and roll.
\nAO: Right now we\u2019re playing, recording songs for our friends, we\u2019re just having a good time. OT: Building up a local following, for us and our friends!<\/p>\n
RR: Nice, I respect it. And on that note, thanks! I wish you the best of luck in your performance tonight.
\nAO, OT, and SO: Thank you!
\nAO: And thank you BU!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WTBU’s Reed Romanko sat down with Glen Ridge, New Jersey band Strange Weekend to discuss their history, music, and goals for the band. Strange Weekend is Simon Ogilvie (vocals\/guitar), Aiden O’Connor (drums), and Oliver Turiano (bass). REED ROMANKO: So, what \u200bis \u200bStrange Weekend? SIMON OGILVIE: Well\u2014 AIDEN O\u2019CONNOR: He\u2019s givin\u2019 the candid answer to you. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3455"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3468,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455\/revisions\/3468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}