Get to Weird Era

Photo Credit: Alejandro Rico-Gomez

On their debut EP Shrine, Pittsburgh shoegaze band Weird Era shreds. From the opening track “These Things,” to the seven-minute “Ghost” the five song release is a post-punk dream, filled with distortion-drenched guitars and driving rhythms. Weird Era is Jared "GB" Carothers (vocals/guitar/synth), David Rico-Gomez (guitar/synth), Austin Zick (bass/vocals) and Trevor Read (drums). The release was recorded and mixed by Forrest Salamida. The entire project was a collective effort. In an Instagram post, the band shares, “This was made possible by a lot of dear friends and loved ones coming together at every step.” The collaborative spirit led to a cohesive and exciting release, one that the band should be particularly proud of.

Read up as the band talks spontaneous songwriting, tackling certain subjects in lyrics, differentiating music and business, and their favorite Pittsburg bands.

How does your songwriting usually start—lyrics, melody, or a vibe?

It really varies. Two of the songs on the EP came together in one sitting with the base chords and lyrics all in the moment. That is always such a rush and feels like you found the song out of thin air. Other songs start on guitar and then slowly build out each part piece by piece where the lyrics could come after everything else is already done or in the middle of the process. There is no set way in which we write, we have written songs by two people bringing two separate riffs to practice and they somehow fit. It's all about what feels natural in the moment. 

Are there any topics that are off-limits when it comes to your lyrics?

No, we try to not limit anything when writing, music can be about approaching the topics you don't know how to approach in normal conversation. It can also let you say what you want directly or if you want keep the idea more abstract.

Can you share any memorable moments from the Shrine recording sessions?

That's a hard one, we recorded the EP in our friends house and made it a makeshift studio. It was very comfortable and we had a lot of friends coming in and out during the process, helping out with set up or lending an ear. I think the best part was that the whole thing felt very homegrown, it was us and our friends all moving in one direction. That's really what the whole thing has been about, we had friends help us screen print shirts and the cassettes, dub our tapes, make flyers for shows. The collective effort is what has meant the most for sure.

Who are some of your favorite indie bands from Pittsburgh?

There's a lot but here are some of the top: Lace boys, Gina Gory, Dizzier, Sleeping Witch and Saturn, Death Instinct, Blinder, Gaadge, Fake Grave, Odno Okno, The Zells, Valleyview, James Castle, and Adam's Purse. All those bands are really talented and doing interesting things.

How do you balance business and art as a band?

We really don't think of it as a business, it's really about playing music and making something we like. Hopefully other people like it as well. 

If you could time-travel to any musical era, where would you go?

If I had to pick a decade, probably 83'-93' give or take a year or two on each side. You get all of the noise rock coming out of the no wave scene like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr in the US. You also get all of the bands that had a foot in the post punk scene or evolved from it like Cocteau Twins, AR Kane, The Cure and Jesus Mary Chain which in additional to the US noise rock acts which influenced Shoegaze classics like MBV and Slowdive which all happen at the end of that decade. Also can't forget about The Pixies, which is one of the most important bands, influencing bands like Modest Mouse and Nirvana. I could go on about this but yeah, seeing the change in the music landscape over that decade would be phenomenal.

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Shrine is out now. You can listen below via Spotify or wherever you stream music. Follow Weird Era on Instagram.

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