BAND INTERVIEW: Woe, Is Me

Woe, Is Me was a band that had a rapid rise to scene fame. Climbing the pedestals and solidifying their name as scene legends. In the post pandemic world, we have seen so many reunions but none more sweet and out of the blue than Woe, Is Me. With this band’s comeback comes new music and even shows. Majority of the original lineup is back in this project that once took off like a rocket and from the looks at it, is ready to get back in the mix. We had a chance to ask the band a few questions while they are in the heat of their comeback! (Questions were answers by Cory and Ben Ferris of the band)

What’s up guys! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for us! Firstly, Welcome Back! The scene just wasn’t the same without you. How does it feel to be back in the game after almost 10 years? 

You’re welcome!  Thank you for having us!  We are so incredibly excited to be back, and honored that we have a chance to right the wrongs of the past.  Most of us are still riding the high from just how amazing we’ve been received back into the industry after 10 years!   -C

Do you feel the scene has changed since the last time you guys played and released music? If so, what was the first thing that made you realize it?

Absolutely. Major labels and festivals can not ignore the once “underground” scene. Whether its hardcore, metalcore, metal, whatever. Seeing knocked loose at Coachella was so cool. BMTH is massive and performed with Ed Sheeran??? Weird hahaha. -B

I’m sure everyone is curious, Who made the initial reach to reunite? How long has this been planned?

Well, a gentleman with the name of Kendrick Nicholson is responsible for this all.  Haha!  He reached out to a couple of us, including myself.  He asked if there was any possibility of us reuniting and playing a festival in Dallas, Monster Mosh.  I told him there was no way in Hell hah!  He reached out to a couple of the other guys including Hance.  Hance called Michael and then they split the task of reaching out to everyone else.  I got a call from Michael and the first thing I thought was, “Who died?” haha.  He asked if I’d be interested and told me that all the other guys were interested as well.   Before you know it, we had a band group chat again, were discussing the set list, and here we are now!    To answer your question… this was never planned.  It just kinda happened, as all other good things in life seem to.  - C 

You released your brand new single “Ghost” and it was one of the first things I listened to when I woke up. How does it feel to release music again? Are you nervous about how people are going to respond to the song?

That’s awesome! I hope it wasn’t an awful way to start your day out!! It’s exciting and kind of nauseating at the same time hahah. Our songs are deeply personal to us, so we obviously want people to like what we write. But really, at the same time.. We’re going to be ourselves and write whatever we want. -B

Was there pressure going into this release? Being so long since the band released music there had to be a looming “what if” thought. 

You know, I think there was a little bit of pressure, but we addressed it as soon as we started writing.  Andrew did a really good job at telling us something along the lines of “we have a second chance of doing things all over again.  We should just be honored to be here.  Let’s write music that we enjoy and just do what we do.  If people don’t like it.. Then so be it.”  We were all on the same page immediately.  There is always going to be “pressure” to live up to old Woe Is Me, but we’re just happy to be writing music again and happy to be back.  

You guys have played a couple shows, released a new single, dusted all the cobwebs off, is there a possibility of touring again? What does the future look like for Woe, Is Me?

I don’t think any of us would automatically rule out touring, but that’s a rough life. It would require a lot. We’ve all spent the last 10+ years building a life/career for ourselves and we’re all pretty comfortable. Touring is kind of like when I went to Vegas with my friends and I said “HEY!! Watch me turn all of this money into NO money!” And I did just that. As for the future, we’re writing a TON this year and fitting in somewhere between 10-15 shows. I guess we’ll tackle 2024 when we get there. -B

What (if anything) do you want to do differently than you did when you guys emerged into the scene in 2010? 

Honestly the bar is so low. If we aren’t a dumpster fire I’m cool.-B

Ok guys, Now for some fun, light hearted questions! Do you have any pre-show rituals? Any post show rituals? 

Pre show.. We zero in on one member of the band and roast the shit out of them. And I mean we really cut them to their core. You can tell who it is by the way they walk onto the stage. They look like that one gif of Michael Cera walking with his head held down. Post show, we all die for about 45 minutes until we get a second wind. -B

Who in the band has the worst or weirdest music taste? 

Hmm, I’d have to say Andrew now.  Long story short… but when we were about to fly out to Monster Mosh in Dallas our flights got canceled at the last minute.  We scrambled and rented 2 mini vans (great look for a bunch of guys in their 30’s.. I know) and started driving immediately.  This is where I got a taste of Andrew’s music.  I honestly don’t even know what to describe it as.  Some of it was good!  Then he had some smooth jazz going.  

What is one thing that you have never gotten to do in your music career that you hope or would like to accomplish this time around?

This might come off cheesy, but have a healthy relationship with the guys in the band. We’ve got that down now and it’s great. -B

Thank you again for taking the time to chat! Is there anything you want to plug to your fans! 

You’re very welcome! Thank you for having us.  Feels so awesome to be doing these again!  Yes!  Thank you for sticking with us guys.  We are so incredibly happy to be back.  Visit our website:  WIMATL.COM.  You can see all of our tour dates, scoop up some merchandise and become a subscriber.    Also, please share “Ghost” with someone!  Thank you so much! 

You can hear the new single “Ghost” on all streaming platforms, and I highly advise checking it out. As the band keeps adding more and more dates, we are getting close to a WIM tour. The amount of bands that are catching their second (and sometimes third) winds make my elder emo heart happy. Let’s cross our fingers and pray for more music on the horizon.