{"id":3714,"date":"2019-02-13T20:22:13","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T01:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=3714"},"modified":"2019-02-13T20:22:13","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T01:22:13","slug":"interview-as-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2019\/02\/13\/interview-as-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW: As It Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maggie Leone\u00a0<\/em>(Photos here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Stranger Sings DJ Maggie Leone sat down with Patty Walters, As It Is frontman, before the band\u2019s February 10th<\/sup> show (their biggest headlining show in North America yet) at The Middle East Downstairs.\u00a0The Great Depression Tour: Act II<\/em> with Sharptooth, Hold Close,\u00a0and\u00a0Point North, is in partnership with\u00a0A Voice for the Innocent,\u00a0<\/strong>a non-profit organization that\u00a0provides community, resources, and support for people who have been affected by sexual violence.<\/p>\n

As It Is recently released a new music video<\/a> for their latest single from The Great Depression<\/em>, \u201cThe Fire, The Dark.\u201d\u00a0 It serves as a welcome for new permanent lead guitarist Ronnie Ish.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maggie Leone: Where did the inspiration for The Great Depression<\/em> come from as a whole?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patty Walters: <\/strong>A number of places\u2026I think the more surreal part of it is that it sort of arrived in my head as a fully formed idea.\u00a0 We\u2019d had the title for the record before we\u2019d written a lyric or a song or a section or much of anything.\u00a0 But I think it was just the right time and place for this record for us and it was a concept record second but it was always going to be about the exploration and the conversation that the scene and the society is guilty of romanticizing mental health, depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide.\u00a0 And the concept and the narrative came second.\u00a0 At its core it was always going to be about, you know.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why it\u2019s kind of cynically and satirically called \u201cThe Great <\/em>Depression.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s where it all started, January 5th<\/sup>, 2017.\u00a0 It was just (snaps fingers<\/em>) there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: What about the idea for the music video trilogy?\u00a0 I call it a trilogy because they\u2019re called Acts I, II, and III, but they\u2019re not a cohesive story\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>Yeah!\u00a0 So the record is telling a cohesive story and the music videos are to be stand-alone music videos representing the individual songs, metaphorically symbolic of the subject matter.\u00a0 But we really wanted to revisit how we valued and created music videos.\u00a0 We really wanted them to be special again, to really mean something.\u00a0 We love and miss the super high-budget, ambitious emo music videos of the mid-2000s and we got really creative with the significantly smaller budget we had and wanted to create something that felt that special and spectacular again.\u00a0 So between ourselves, our manager, and the directors of the music videos, Dan and Josh, we tried to create something that was pretty special.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: Which one was your favorite one to shoot?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>Either \u201cThe Stigma (Boys Don\u2019t Cry)\u201d or \u201cThe Reaper.\u201d\u00a0 And \u201cThe Reaper\u201d was with our friend Zak [Pinchin].\u00a0 He sings in a band called Modern Error.\u00a0 And that was really fun; that felt very nostalgic of new metal music videos that we grew up watching.\u00a0 It was much<\/em> darker than anything we\u2019d ever done.\u00a0 So it was fun to wear the skin of a band that was heavier and darker.\u00a0 But \u201cThe Stigma (Boys Don\u2019t Cry)\u201d was really fun.\u00a0 It was also the first music video we filmed.\u00a0 We released \u201cThe Wounded World\u201d first but we filmed \u201cThe Stigma (Boys Don\u2019t Cry)\u201d the day before we filmed that one.\u00a0 And it was really fun.\u00a0 The actor playing the drill sergeant was very fun and very warm.\u00a0 He was very cool to just be on set with and he would tell jokes.\u00a0 It was a really fun time, it was really exciting.\u00a0 Especially because it was the beginning of everything.\u00a0 You know, nobody had experienced or knew anything about The Great Depression<\/em> at that point, so it was exciting to be taking steps into that world finally.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: So what inspired the hair change?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>PW: <\/strong>So the record is very consciously, intentionally paying homage to post-hardcore and emo bands.\u00a0 And I can understand why a lot of people singled out Gerard Way or Pete Wentz when I dyed my hair this color.\u00a0 But if you are my age, you remember that every band had this haircut and it\u2019s really just paying homage to that genre and that movement that really shaped us.\u00a0 For me, this haircut was Finch, Silverstein, From First to Last, Funeral for a Friend, it was every band.\u00a0 And it was very consciously taking a step into that sound, that world, that aesthetic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: Where did the name \u201cAs It Is\u201d come from and how did the band\u2019s image develop?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>It\u2019s a lyric from a song called \u201cLife is Hard Enough\u201d by Have Heart.\u00a0 We came up with punk and punk-core bands, so we took out band name from a hardcore band\u2019s lyric to try to fit in a little bit better.\u00a0 ALSO one of my favorite bands of all time so that\u2019s one thing.\u00a0 We wanted a name that didn\u2019t really pigeon hole or limit us to one specific sound, so you know a little more ambiguous, so we could get away with experimenting along the line and straying from pop-punk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: I know your sound has changed a lot, but how would you say that it\u2019s changed from Never Happy, Ever After<\/em> to The Great Depression<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>In a big way, I think.\u00a0 What fundamentally hasn\u2019t changed is that we always write what is natural for us, what we want to be writing.\u00a0 With Never Happy, Ever After<\/em>, our biggest influences were Drive-Thru Records era bands like The Early November, Allitser, and New Found Glory, so many amazing bands\u2026oh, Hidden in Plain View was one of my favorites of all time.\u00a0 And with \u201cokay.<\/em>\u201d we started to just kind of experiment with instead of \u201cwho inspires us, who are we?\u201d and that was an album of, more than anything, experimentation and embracing heavier and poppier elements\u2026with \u201cPretty Little Distance\u201d and \u201cStill Remembering,\u201d and equally, \u201cNo Way Out,\u201d \u201cSoap,\u201d and \u201cAusten.\u201d\u00a0 So, we were just trying to find who we were and kind of having found that, and understanding that the darker, more aggressive sound made us feel better and more confident, we embraced that with The Great Depression.<\/em>\u00a0 So that was really the evolution of the experimentation of the band over three records.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: How do you come up with the setlist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>With so much difficulty and so much time!\u00a0 You\u2019re never going to make every person happy.\u00a0 There are going to be songs that aren\u2019t in the setlist that people are going to wish were there.\u00a0 But this particular setlist, we were playing in Europe and the UK on our biggest ever headline tour, so it was created with those rooms in mind.\u00a0 So performing it in the smaller clubs that we\u2019ve been in in the US has actually felt really fun because it still feels very theatrical and grandiose like that.\u00a0 But it does take a very long time and a lot of thought.\u00a0 And when we get home in about two weeks, I\u2019m almost <\/em>there with our next one, but really just trying to create something that is very special, that doesn\u2019t lull at any point in the set.\u00a0 You just want there to be energy and momentum from Track 1 to Track 17.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: What are you listening to currently?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>I\u2019ve been listening to\u2026 Okay, this is so nerdy.\u00a0 (Laughs<\/em>) I\u2019ve really been loving \u2013 Imogen Heap did some music for \u201cThe Cursed Child\u201d on Broadway.\u00a0 I listen to it a lot because it\u2019s instrumental, so I read to it.\u00a0 Other than that\u2026I still listen to a lot of Phoebe Bridgers, I still listen to\u2026just a lot of really quiet stuff, I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I think just because we are in an alternative band, alternative music is something I listen to less and less.\u00a0 Not because it doesn\u2019t still hold a very special place in my heart, but because I kind of get all my aggression out during our set instead of vicariously through other bands\u2019 music.\u00a0 But that being said, the three bands on this tour are three bands we really love and believe in.\u00a0 So Point North, Hold Close, and Sharptooth are bands that we listen to pretty frequently.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: What\u2019s your dream line-up?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>Oh wow.\u00a0 So, we\u2019ve supported a lot of bands that have meant so much to us.\u00a0 But two that are still on our bucket list are Blink-182! and Green Day.\u00a0 But Jimmy Eat World is probably one of the biggest influences on this band\u2026Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday are two bands that we\u2019ve performed with alongside on festivals, but never as part of a tour.\u00a0 And Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday are two that just be monumental and hugely sentimental to this band.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: Are there any bands that once thought of as influence that you can now call friends?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>Oh!\u00a0 Mayday Parade and Silverstein\u2026those are the main two that we were listening to when we were quite a lot younger.\u00a0 But they are two of the most genuine and hospitable and courteous bands that we\u2019ve ever toured with.\u00a0 They just made us feel so very welcome and they are just genuine friends at this point and that\u2019s bizarre, but it is what it is and they are just genuine people that we love to see and catch up with whenever we\u2019re in the same place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: What\u2019s your go-to karaoke song?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>I have never done karaoke in my life!<\/p>\n

Bassist, Alistair Tetso briefly chimed in:<\/strong> \u201cTequila\u201d!<\/p>\n

PW:<\/strong> So I just watched this video of someone doing \u201cTequila\u201d on karaoke and I love that.\u00a0 I love that.\u00a0 It is just a man standing in one place in silence for 40-60 seconds, says \u201ctequila,\u201d and then stands there some more.\u00a0 I\u2019m gonna say \u201cTequila.\u201d\u00a0 I love that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: I respect it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>Thank you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: What is the best theme party you\u2019ve ever been to?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>Ooh, that is a really good question.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t been to a theme party in quite a while.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to remember.\u00a0 There were some really, really good ones when I was younger.\u00a0 While I think, what was yours?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: Oh, well, I asked that because I went to one last night and it was 2000s and we were the Cheetah Girls.\u00a0 There was a lot of jorts and denim on denim.\u00a0 It was wild.<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>Tight.\u00a0 I\u2019m blanking, but there was something really good recently, I know there was.\u00a0 I went to a Love Actually<\/em> one and Love Actually<\/em> is a film that so many Americans haven\u2019t seen and should.\u00a0 It\u2019s a British Christmas film.\u00a0 I\u2019m gonna say that because every American listening to\/reading this interview should watch Love Actually <\/em>this Christmas.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good film.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: I thought of something else\u2026you were on Warped Tour this summer.\u00a0 Wasn\u2019t there a cool party\u2026?\u00a0 I saw a lot online about something.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

PW: <\/strong>If there was, I wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0 I don\u2019t go to cool parties.\u00a0 I was part the crew that played Werewolf every night.\u00a0 I was part of the nerd crew, yeah.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ML: That is all I have for you.\u00a0 Thank you for your time! <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Maggie Leone\u00a0(Photos here) Stranger Sings DJ Maggie Leone sat down with Patty Walters, As It Is frontman, before the band\u2019s February 10th show (their biggest headlining show in North America yet) at The Middle East Downstairs.\u00a0The Great Depression Tour: Act II with Sharptooth, Hold Close,\u00a0and\u00a0Point North, is in partnership with\u00a0A Voice for the Innocent,\u00a0a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[288],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3714"}],"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=3714"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3715,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3714\/revisions\/3715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}