The Moshville Times - Interview: Aidan Razzall of Weirds

I was blown away by Weirds’ debut album Swarmculture and can’t wait to see them play it live at Camden Rocks Festival this weekend, so it was great to have the opportunity to ask the band a little about it, and their tour. Read on to hear what Aidan Razzall (vocals/keys) had to say…

Now that Swarmculture has finally been released, how has it been received so far?

Its been overwhelmingly positive! It’s great to see how people have reacted to the record – if you’ve seen us live, our record is perhaps surprising so it’s been fun to see how that has panned out.

This being your debut album as a band, how has the whole recording process been for you?

The recording process was a lot of fun, and a lot of hard work. We worked everyday for six weeks at The Nave in Leeds, with Matt Peel on it. The studio is such a beautiful place to record in and that kind of environment helps you to focus and get in the zone.

And the writing process, were you all equally involved in developing the tracks?

Yes, our writing process is very collaborative. Songs start from different seeds; Zachary might have a guitar riff or Nash might have a beat loop that sounds cool and we just start from those little parts and work upwards. Aidan writes the lyrics, but sonically our songs are complete team efforts.

Have you discovered something new about each other during this time?

There was a pool table in the studio so we’ve definitely worked out who is most equipped with a pool cue.

Are there any of the new tracks you’re particularly excited to play live?

We’ve been playing some of the tracks for a while, as we have just toured with The Wytches and played a few festivals already this year, so we feel that we’ve broken them in. We’re about to add a couple of other songs like “Tunnelling” and “Salamander’s Sister” into the set too.

As you’re about to embark on your tour, what can we expect from your live shows?

We try and make our live shows as energetic and chaotic as possible. They are intense gigs, but never in a way that is harmful or hurtful to anyone. There’s a difference between controlled aggression as part of a communal musical experience for everyone, and airing your dirty laundry.

Who will be on your tour playlist?

We need to up our game on our tour van CDs! For the past few months it’s been Danny Brown’s Atrocity Exhibition, Josefin Ohrn’s Mirage, The Best of ABBA and Electric Wizard’s Dopethrone, so this time we’re gonna take a bit more variety!

What’s the worst/ best things about touring?

Best thing about touring is seeing new places and meeting new fans! We love travelling around, there’s a gang mentality to it which becomes kind of ritualistic and fun! The worst thing about touring is sleeping on floors, and generally smelling pretty bad for the majority.

Any favourite venues this time around or new venues you’re excited to play at?

It will be our first time in Scotland at Broadcast in Glasgow – so we are massively excited to play there. Always heard such cool things about Glasgow as a city. We’re also playing at our favourite venue ever, the Brudenell Social Club on our Leeds leg, it’s gonna be a stormer!

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

After this tour it’s straight into festival season, with loads that we’ve been dying to play at like 2000 Trees and Truck Festival. After that we wanna get straight into writing new material, we’ve got the itch already.