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Check my interview w/ Minsk based alt rockers Weesp. If you're not sure where Minsk is, it's located in Belarus which is right near Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania if you need to locate it on the map. The guys have little spurts of metal and electronica injected throughout their music to give them a full bodied effect that is attracting listeners from across the globe, even here in the U.S. as well. The guys were nice enough to take some time out as we find out more about the guys, their musical influences, their creative process, and where they see themselves moving forward. Here is the transcript from our chat:
Give us your names and roles in the band?
Mi (Bass): There are five of us.
Lex does vocals and writes all lyrics, Mike plays guitar and i play bass guitar and a small Moog synth. We are the the founders of a band. Gul (drums) and Stak (keys\synth) joined later to form our band - Weesp.
Take us behind the formation of the group and how you all met?
Mi (Bass): It started in school a time long ago. We already were friends, and when some of us started to play instrument, other joined and we created a band. Soon enough we realized that it is more than just a hobby. We started to develop our own sound, playing gigs, recording. The band is more like a family for us now.
Describe your musical influences that really made you want to get into music?
Mi (Bass): We all have slightly different musical tastes. Gul (drums) prefers more old school music, me and my twin brother Stak (synth) more into modern metal and Lex (vocal) and Mile (guitar) are into indie stuff. So, its everything starting from Muse and Radiohead and ending with Machine Head, Behemoth and Nine Inch Nails.
What were some influential British groups that really helped shape or hone your sound?
Mi (Bass): There are lot of them. From classics - Joy Division, Iron Maiden. From 90th - Muse and Radiohead. From nowadays British bands i will highlight Architects, While She Sleeps and Enter Shikari.
What is the creative process like for you guys, does it remain constant or does it change and evolve each time?
Mi (Bass): We have a very creative atmosphere in our studio that is conducive to writing new songs, so we prefer to write in the studio. Usually somebody brings new melody. Then we jam over it a little and go home to think for a while on new concepts and ideas. When we came back to studio - we already have a lot of new parts and ideas to combine and polish. This process repeats for dozens of times. Then Lex brings lyrics and works on vocal parts. This is the most common process for us, but it may differ. For example the whole composition of one of the songs was fully created by me and Gul during live jam.
Let's go behind the recording of your new album Black Sails and what the whole process was like for the each of you?
Our new upcoming album ‘Black Sails’ which we are recording now is a result of two years of work. We creating new songs almost immediately after we finished recording the previous LP ‘The Void’ or even during recording process. We wrote a lot of songs, but only 9 of them will appear on the album. The main idea was to keep the mood of the album in one key and style. ‘Black Sails’ will be very anxious, dark and thoughtful, very emotional. We started recording in the end of the spring 2017 on Polish studio ‘Hertz’ with drums and guitars. The guys there really know what they are doing. Bass guitar, synthesizers and vocals were recorded in Minsk at ‘Everest Studio’. We try to make as little editing to the recorded tracks as possible to keep songs sound really live and honest. During recording we've experimented with sounds and all these technical stuff. We recorded everything in analog with analog gear and all the stuff, used real amps, drums, analog synthesizers - no soulless digital crap, so will be definitely worth listening.
What are some of your favorite places to play in the UK area?
We’ve played bunch of tours across EU, many gigs and festivals in eastern Europe, but we have never visited UK. We’d love to get to UK for some gigs. We hope we manage that soon enough.
Any new bands or new songs you've been listening to lately that you've been really digging?
From new music that immediately pops up in my mind i really dig the latest Mastodon album “Emperor of Sand” and also the latest Emmure album. Really interesting and powerful.
What's next on the agenda for you guys, and could we expect any U.S. shows in the not too distant future?
We are going to tour across Poland and Germany in the beginning of November - from 2nd till 12th with our friends Red Lake Circus from Germany and Tension Zero from Poland. Should be a really awesome tour! It is called “Human.exe Multinational tour”. You can check it out on Facebook or at our web-site: http://weespofficial.com/
As I also said we are working hard to finish the new album now. We plan in to be released early 2018. Also we are going to release 3 to 4 singles with music videos before it. One of new singles “illumination” is already at our hands and now waits for its release. After the Poland-Germany tour we plan to tour across Belarus and Ukraine.
Lastly, what would you like fans to know about you?
We love you, guys. Hope you'll check and enjoy our music!
See you on our shows. Don't hesitate to come to us to say, that you've read this interview, and came because of it XD.
It was Mi from Weesp. Stay true to yourself and to what you believe in!
Follow Weesp at social media and stay in touch.
Check our albums here: