{"id":35494,"date":"2018-08-10T07:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T21:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=35494"},"modified":"2018-08-10T08:06:54","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T22:06:54","slug":"patty-walters-of-as-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2018\/08\/patty-walters-of-as-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Patty Walters of As It Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWe wanted it to be in first person so it could still feel as personal as previous other releases, but it demanded a lot more I don\u2019t know, just a different kind of appreciation of the much kind of broader world instead of an immediate world and for that it was really fulfilling and rewarding as an experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Release: When music is as its best, it is capable of holding a mirror up to the human condition in a way few other art forms can ever match. In the hands of the observant, the erudite, the compassionate and the philosophical, music allows us to better understand who we are and feel powerfully less alone. With their third album ‘The Great Depression’, As it Is are comprehensively proving themselves to be such artists. Stepping out of their comfort zone with aplomb while asking, and answering, complex questions in a way precious few bands ever do.<\/p>\n

Across ‘The Great Depression’s dozen tracks, As It Is take the listener on a journey which delves into every aspect of arguably the most prevalent social ill of our time. From public perception, to internal war, the quartet unflinchingly confront the most difficult questions around depression, the value of life over death, and whether the rhetoric around ‘reaching out to talk’ is ostensibly hollow, if no one is prepared to hear those words.<\/p>\n

While in Savannah, Georgia on VANS Warped tour, Patty Walters gave us a call to talk about the band\u2019s new album \u2018The Great Depression\u2019, its creation, touring, and more\u2026<\/p>\n

Of course we’re here because album number three is out next week and as it’s the third album can you give me three words that you think sum it up perfectly?<\/strong>
\nOh my goodness, unexpected, dark *laughs* and polarising, let\u2019s go with that.<\/p>\n

Tell us a bit about \u2018The Great Depression\u2019, did you go into making this album with a concept or ideas in mind?<\/strong>
\nYeah we absolutely did, we had the title of this record in place before we really had a lyric or a riff or a song or anything like that. This record is about the potential romanticisation of mental illness that society is guilty of. It offers more questions than answers I believe in the sense that it\u2019s really like an exploration, we really wanted this record to be as subjective as possible where people can find their own truth within it, but yeah it\u2019s about the idea in kind of attempt to eradicate the stigma behind depression, anxiety and mental illness that we are at times doing that in a way perpetuating things, something harmful. That\u2019s the kind of idea.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only just over eighteen months since \u2018Okay.\u2019 was released, in that time how was the process in putting \u2018The Great Depression\u2019 if in any way different to that or your debut?<\/strong>
\nYeah I mean it was quite different, what\u2019s so strange is \u2018Okay.\u2019 came out in late January of 2017 and we started writing this record in early January 2017 so before \u2018Okay.\u2019 was out we were already kind of living in this world. I don\u2019t even know if we lived and appreciated the \u2018Okay.\u2019 cycle as much as we should\u2019ve done at the time, it was just all about this album and about this world and all about this concept of decision. So much in writing this record was different because it\u2019s not inherently about us I suppose, like a lot of injected truth within the narrative and the characters, but it is about somebody else and somebody else\u2019s journey. We wanted it to be in first person so it could still feel as personal as previous other releases, but it demanded a lot more I don\u2019t know, just a different kind of appreciation of the much kind of broader world instead of an immediate world and for that it was really fulfilling and rewarding as an experience.<\/p>\n

Are you finding as you continue to make music that you\u2019re picking up things from being out on the road that you bring back and use in the studio?<\/strong>
\nAbsolutely, we always write together whether that begins separately or together, we will always just kind of like really combine our ideas and make sure that every song is something that we love and see a piece of ourselves in, and the more you\u2019re just kind of surrounded by the same kind of genre I feel you look towards other sources of inspiration , so I think this is more of a diverse and eclectic record as far as it goes but at the same time we have a true kind of identity with this record that we never had, there\u2019s a real kind of confidence in this record and the performances on this record that there never have been. For that it\u2019s the record I\u2019m most proud of for sure.<\/p>\n

You guys were in Australia last year of course I have to ask when can we expect you back?<\/strong>
\nWe are hoping to be back early or in the middle of next year, we\u2019re piecing together when we come back to where and we will just take this record anywhere and everywhere, Australia especially is always a fun time like you guys are always so wild, so I think with these songs that are so much more ambitious and so much more dark than our previous releases it\u2019s going to be a really fun time.<\/p>\n

So it’s sometimes easy to say what’s changed in your time in a band but what would you say is the one thing that’s stayed the same in your time together in As It Is?<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s interesting, we chose to write this record that was bigger and braver because we wanted to remember why we did this in the first place, I mean nobody joins a band because it\u2019s a sensible decision *laughs* and I don\u2019t know why\u2019d we write a sensible record with that exactly in mind, so instead of diluting our sound and writing safe songs or going with a safe producer we just wanted to embrace the vision and the integrity of the band and the record. So we took every risk and made every stupid decision possible I guess *laughs*.<\/p>\n

As a band for six years now what\u2019s the one thing you\u2019ve discovered about being in a band that you didn\u2019t think was part of it all when you began?<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s interesting, I mean when you\u2019re in a band you\u2019re effectively for the most part running a small business and there are so many things I was just not prepared for when we started the band, and equally there\u2019s so much responsibility to be a good role model that we have all kind of had to learn and space and embrace, so yeah there\u2019s a couple of things that you don\u2019t really plan on but as long as you\u2019ve got a level head on your shoulders for the most part you\u2019re gonna be fine.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s on your list of things to do as a band that you haven\u2019t yet had the chance to do?<\/strong>
\nI would love to just see so much more of the world. We\u2019ve never been to South America, we\u2019ve never been to Africa, I guess more realistically South Africa, people play Johannesburg, we\u2019ve only played a small selection of South East Asia. I would love to just travel anywhere and everywhere as a band and really just kind of meet as many of our fans as we can and just see so much more of the world.<\/p>\n

Lastly let\u2019s look ahead to the future, finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2018 As It Is will\u2026<\/strong>
\nStill be a band because that necessarily wasn\u2019t a certainty for a long time *laughs*. \u00a0It\u2019s just a kind of refreshing optimism these days.<\/p>\n

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Essential Information<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong>\u00a0Brighton via Minneapolis<\/p>\n

Band members:\u00a0<\/strong>Benjamin Langford-Biss- Guitar\/Vocals, Patrick Foley \u2013 Drums, Patty Walters \u2013 Vocals, Ali Testo – Bass<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0http:\/\/www.asitisofficial.com<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Latest release: <\/strong>The Great Depression (Out now \u2013 Fearless Records \/ Caroline Australia)<\/p>\n

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