The latest EP from Wage War is an incredible step forward for the band that has been stepping forward for much of their career. The heavy stuff is heavy af and the melodic stuff still feels heavy and motivated. Cody and I talked about the EP and the approach they took. A profoundly Florida approach. Cody explains.
‘I’m very proud of us as a band but I was trying to think what separates us than just being five dudes in black shirts playing heavy music…I think this EP has almost become more of like an identity piece for us…We wanted to find something that was true to us without like going to extremes…we didn’t want to be a mask band or a makeup band or costume band, not that there’s anything wrong with that approach, there’s so many bands that have done that and been so successful, but I just know that’s not us.’
He continues more on the idea of bringing Florida into the music saying this.
‘When we started looking around we were like well we’re from Florida, this isn’t a try-hard thing this is just the stuff we grew up around and live in. And we are all from that very central that swamp part of the state…It was really just natural…it’s all stuff we normally like and just started putting things together, environments, even going down to things like the video for ‘The Song Of The Swamp’ that’s all practically shot 30 min from where we live. We went to an actual swamp and built a stage and played in open water…we didn’t want to do the green screen thing, like this is really us…and I think people are really latching on to that.’
We move on to the riffs, because riffs rock. Riffs are quintessential in Wage War music and Cody said this about them.
‘The two things I love and want our band to be known for are big riffs and big choruses.’
His favorite riff?
‘Purify’ is super riffy and there’s a section after the second verse where Seth and I are doing this harmony guitar thing and Steven is on the ride bell…it’s very earl 2000’s metalcore and it’s also so different for us and I think that’s what I like about it. And even playing it live it’s like…I don’t have to think about playing live for a lot of Wage War things because we play them so much with writing and recording them but that one I have to focus on it every night…Also the ending riff of ‘Blindfold’ it’s like this really crazy descending octave skipping, 6/8…very different thing for us and honestly for the genre in general.’
Moving on to the song ‘Blindfold’ which has really taken off. Not only does it feature on of Cody’s favorite riffs but also one of his most personal songs.
‘That was actually the last song to happen for the EP. I wrote that out on the road last August…We hadn’t really put together this plan for the EP we were just working towards whatever release was next. We had a group of songs and we kind of picked five that we felt fit inside this release, and that one just felt good…We seem to have found this balance with that song that finds fans that like melodic War War and heavy Wage War. It’s like the Apollo Creed guy and Sylvester Stallone when they (clasp hands) It felt like it belonged in that group of songs even though the EP overall is heavier, it doesn’t feel like a sore thumb or a “Oh they just had to throw a soft song on there” it’s not a concept EP lyrically, but I think audibly it is, and it feels like it fits right in. And it’s strange to see after putting out a heavy EP to see the melodic song being the one most consumed…it’s our biggest Wage War release ever which is so awesome and so unexpected, when you got the internet telling you, you need heavier songs.’
Wage War is out on tour now and although there’s no Wisconsin date yet there is plenty of year to wait for them to come back through. Full conversation below.
[YouTube: Wage War] [YouTube: Razor Wisconsin]
