Worriers
You Or Someone You Know
(6131)
Early in March of 2020, New Jersey punk band Worriers released their third album You Or Someone You Know. We recently caught up with frontperson Lauren Denitzio from their new home in Los Angeles to chat about the album and the challenges of having released it just in time to have their plans derailed by a global pandemic. They also recorded a few solo renditions of songs from the album for our first remote SubModern Session.
These are very different versions of the songs than what we hear on the album. I saw you tweet, and I’m not sure if it was in reference to this, but just about how much you’d rather be playing with your band now than solo performances like this.
Lauren Denitizio: Yeah, well don’t get me wrong, I totally enjoy playing these songs solo and getting to do different versions, or just playing music in general. That’s fun! But I am definitely frustrated by the fact that we recorded the record and then didn’t go on tour for a little while and waited for the record to come out so we could play these songs live and now we don’t get to do that. Now the only thing that folks can watch or see in a more live capacity are these solo versions, which are just not what we were trying hard on. So, yeah, it’s frustrating. It’s sad, but I am trying to make the most of it. It’s been interesting to see how the songs sound in a really stripped down capacity. But it is something that I hope people will check out the loud versions.
You were on tour opening for Brian Fallon of Gaslight Anthem before everything went down. Was the last show out this way in Delaware before everything got shut down?
Lauren: Well, it was both the first show and the last show of that tour. We played one show and then I got on a plane and came home.
Let’s give your band their due. Who’s in the band now? I know it’s a little different than it has been on the last record or two.
Lauren: Well, the most longstanding member of the band is Mikey Erg. He’s played drums for us for quite a while. He’s on all the records. He’s been playing music with me for a long time. Nick Psillas plays bass. He also played on Survival Pop. And Frank Piegaro is our lead guitarist now. He’s the newbie, but he played a really big part in helping me write these songs for this record. And he just shreds really hard! He’s really super-talented so it was really exciting to get to work with him on these songs.
Was the writing more collaborative than you’ve done on the last couple albums?
Lauren: Not necessarily. It was collaborative in a much different way because we didn’t have as much time in the same room. So when we would be writing together it would be for much longer stretches during a day or sending things back and forth in a way that I could play around with them on my computer even, which is something that I hadn’t necessarily done on previous records. It was just a different collaborative process, but I feel like everybody still had the same leeway and input that they usually do.
When the album was first announced I read a quote from you about the questions you were thinking about writing the record, "Do we have kids? Do we move to a place that could be underwater in 20 years? How does having no idea how you’ll ever retire affect planning your future?" How much more relevant are these questions even after writing this record?
Lauren: Well, the changes that have happened since the record came out are obviously unprecendented! Could not have seen these things coming and it’s really weird to think about the fact that those questions were on my mind when I was working on the record. And they were universal to me. I know plenty of people who were facing that kind of precarity, and now it’s just become even more of an undeniable reality for people in a way that I don’t think was as widespread. Or at least it was something that a lot more people could choose to not think about. It’s almost kind of awkward when people are talking about these songs or asking about these songs, that I’m just like, "I’m sorry…" It’s like if you listen to our record you have to think about it. But yeah, it’s just real. It’s been reality and I think a lot more people are waking up to that now.
As we look forward to seeing Worriers perform live again in all of their glory, check out Lauren’s SubModern Session performance here and find out what else they’re up to at WorriersMusic.com or on all the socials at @worriersmusic. You Or Someone You Know is available now on 6131 Records.
By Josh T. Landow and Joey Odorisio
