Weatherbox is a random band from San Diego, CA. That’s the best way to describe the band that joined Cartel on their latest tour. With Cartel’s bus in the shadows we sat out on the curve because the band’s van was too hot to sit in…
Signed to the label infamous for random bands that sometimes you remember exist, Doghouse Records, Weatherbox has a silly persona.
From the interview I didn’t learn much about them, but as the night progressed and I talked to them candidly between sets or between songs, I got a sense of their character.
“Pop. Sugar Pop. No, J Pop… Our biggest influence would be “lizards, amphibians, and other nature sounds. Platypus, Amphibious mammals.” And that was just question one. I asked them what genre they consider themselves. I’d go with an indie pop, myself, but if anyone can find me an amphibious mammal…
Like most interviews, I ask what bands are from their region, and like most interviews they say none. Then they spout off a few band anyway. The Lanterns, they say. “There’s literally enough bands from San Diego that are really good that you could count on two hands, and the kinds in San Diego, they don’t really give a shit anymore. They’re really jaded.”
After substantial snooping to find information about Weatherbox, I found that they were close with Say Anything. To be honest, I didn’t find out much more. Weatherbox is a hard band to lurk. “Alex, the bass player” as they so affectionately call him, from Say Anything met his wife at a Weatherbox show, according to the boys. “If you’re looking for that special someone, come to a Weatherbox show.”
I was a bit skeptical about the interview, until this point… “I hope that like you put in little asterisks in the interview, when we’re all giggling… It has to say giggle you can’t say laughter.” This is when I realized, I’m really going to like these boys.
May marked the release of their first full length album, “American Art.” It was really slow, and “sucked.” Basically a soft release, it’s getting great reviews, but they didn’t print many so they didn’t expect much. They’ve been trying to get it out the best they can. The album was released on Doghouse Records, like one of the prior EPs “The Clearing.” Sadly they’re not friends with many bands on their label. They blame this on being one of the only bands from Cali on the label. Being on the Cartel tour got some record label bonding with The Honorary Title.
During the interview, we examined the line, which rapped around the block. “All for Weatherbox, of course” *giggles* They met Cartel back when no one knew who Cartel was. Brian was actually in a different band. The members of Weatherbox were all in and some still are in other bands around San Diego. They say the next album will really encompass who the band is as a whole.
“Weatherbox was a band that I want to start a long time ago when I was 15. When I was in a band called Mr. Valentine, we had a song called Weatherbox is dead. The box is consciousness, like your head, and the weather is everything that happens to you,” Brian says. But really, Weatherbox is the title of a song by the band Mission of Burma.
There was a discussion about The Beatles & The Beach Boys. Very in-depth conversation about Paramore, as a guilty pleasure, until we realized we’d spent such a substantial amount of time talking about Paramore… Started talking about old school Michael Jackson, which made me flash back to my Cobra Starship interview. They professed their love for Harry Potter… Which lead to more discussion about Paramore, mainly Hayley. “Why are we giving Hayley from Paramore time in our interview? They don’t need any help from anyone.”
“When people tell you things from outer space, you have to listen.” “I like being probed…” Yea, don’t ask… Even if people are, not necessarily ready to hear. We’re definitely having a good time showing it to people. It’s not a secret that Weatherbox sounds nothing like Cartel. Musically, it’s a bit harder to swallow.” “Hey! We toured with Panic!” they said when I made a joke about them eventually touring with them. “How’d that go?” “People looked at us like we’re retards. Oh we get that on this tour sometimes… The first thing they said to us was, hey, I’m probably not going to remember your name but what up?”
As for the Cartel tour: “We’re really reaching an audience we previously couldn’t reach. I think a lot of kids are actually starting to appreciate and enjoy it. We’re having a lot of fun.” [CO]