While touring our shores for the very first time, Faye managed to catch up with We Are The Union frontman Reed, ahead of their show in Newcastle, they discussed how the UK’s been treating them (including their bewilderment of human pyramids), the band’s forthcoming new album, and their constant battle with the stigma attached to ska, as well as lots more!
Faye: Can you tell me a bit of history about We Are The Union?
Reed: We started a few years ago, as part of a response to the sort of monotony in the ska-punk scene, especially in Michigan, it kind of seemed like every band was sort of a rip-off Reel Big Fish, and not that there’s anything wrong with Reel Big Fish, but we kind of shared the philosophy that if you’re going to start a band, you should start a band to do something, or at least attempt to do something that no-one has artistically done before. So, that was kind of the original idea and what actually started happening was that we started to sound exactly like The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, so we had to reformulate our sound and we took on influence from bands like Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, and skate-punk bands like Strung Out, so we became more of a melodic band. Then we wrote and recorded Who We Are and that’s where we are today.
Faye: I’ve heard a few people call your sound a mix between Set Your Goals and Less Than Jake, would you say that’s fair?
Reed: I would say that’s fair, although, we really dig Set Your Goals a lot, we’ve played some shows with them and they’re great dudes, and we all really like that band, but I think when we first started the band, the idea was to be more Rehasher with horns, which is Roger from Less Than Jake’s side project, which is fast, melodic, and hardcore music, but it just so happened that we started at the same time when Set Your Goals were gaining popularity. I wouldn’t call them a direct influence on the idea of the band, but to say they didn’t have any influence on the song-writing would be a lie – they definitely do, they’re one of my personal favourite bands and they’ve had a huge influence on, not only my lyric writing, but on my life in general. Very stoked on that band, for sure.
Faye: You were supposed to come over last March, weren’t you? What happened there?
Reed: Yes, what happened there was we had a record written and we had this tour booked, and we planned on recording the record and shopping it around to record labels, but Vinnie from Paper + Plastik, contacted us and basically said, “Dudes, I really want to put your record out, I’m really stoked on your band, I can get you into the studio in March.” and it was sort of like, we can either go on tour now or record this record and try to come back after it’s done, so we ended up staying and recording the record, we did half of it then and finished it in June. It was a bummer to cancel the tour, but we’re here now, so it all worked out, I think, and now we’ve come over, I think it’ll be easier to do it again, because we’ve had the experience.
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