James caught up with Jordan Eckes and Mike Ferri from we Are The In Crowd to talk about their latest album 'Weird Kids', being back in the UK and much more.

You are set to release your second studio album ‘Weird Kids’ in a couple of weeks, how did you find writing and recording for the album compared to your debut and what was it like working with John Feldmann?
Jordan Dude It was a lot better, I thought.

Mike: We knew what we were doing this time and where we wanted to go; John brought a new perspective on how our band works, and saw everyone’s strong parts, and isolated them and made them better. Whereas before we sit in a room and argue with each other over stupid shit.

Jordan: It’s true

Mike: Yeah because we only work on one thing at a time, but with this it was like a workshop where everyone was doing their own things and doing an incredible job at them. I think we made way better songs this way.

Jordan: It was one of the most incredible experiences, he’s rather eccentric.

Mike: Yeah he’s out of his mind but I love him though, he’s like a crazy uncle.

Would you think you’d go back and work on future things with him then?
Mike: I would love to go back and work with him, and the rest of the band would love to go back and do some more with him, at least one more time. I mean you have to try new things, I know some bands like Yellowcard have worked with the same guy for all the albums, and it works so well so why should they change it, but who knows, I know there’s definitely some unfinished business with John, there’s more to be done.

What themes and stories do you cover within the tracks of ‘Weird Kids’?
Jordan: This album has allot of themes, as far as Windows In Heaven is about Tay’s dad dying, I mean I recently read an article in AP, about how John took her out on a coffee break?

Mike: How did you not know this happened?

Jordan: I knew it happened, ‘laughs’ but it was good reading it from a different perspective.

Mike: Its heavy, we tackled allot more specific things this time. I mean there’s nothing wrong with just writing a broad song in general, when you want to appeal to a wider audience as we all deal with the same type of things in life, love, loss, friendship and food ‘laughs’. We all like and deal with that stuff, so you can write simple songs like Both Sides Of The Story, which is a rather generalised song, its more about the feeling that anything specific so you can take what you want. Then we have songs like Windows In Heaven, which is really personal, and Tay new we wanted to have a song like that but it needed to be the right time and the right song and we never tried to force it. We know some bands might cash in on a tragic song, but this felt like the right time as John had lost his father recently too, and they talked about it and it came together very naturally. The albums not a concept album, but it was about giving the fans and us an identity, the four of us were disorganized we didn’t know what we were and the fans didn’t know what they were but we knew we liked each other, so it’s about expanding it now, the whole weird kids thing isn’t a gimmick it’s just how we feel as so many trends have happened since we’ve been a band, there’s been times we thought we were behind the curb. Yeah, we’re fucking lame, I mean come on, people wearing neon t-shirt and we can’t keep up with this, and we’re not cool, so we stopped trying to impress and encouraged our fans to be the same. I mean we don’t want to be that guy that goes “be yourself” but dare to be fucking lame!

What would you say your favourite songs from ‘Weird Kids’ are and why?
Jordan: Manners is one of my favourite songs, when I heard the music I thought it was cool but when I heard the vocal arrangement back and forth in the chorus, I remember being like holy shit this is so good. I went home and sent it off to someone on our label without anyone knowing.

Mike: He went rogue.

Jordan: I’d just finished tuning it and was like you have to hear this, John helped so much on that one, and I was so stoked for people to hear it. It’s hard to pick a favourite but I love that song.

Mike: On past records, especially on Best Intentions, I could have told you the best 3 songs on the record now debate.

Jordan: And what 3 songs shouldn’t have been on it at all.

Laughs

Mike: Yeah, if it was up to me I would have cut that record in half and made it an E.P. But this one is hard, not to be redundant, but even if I had to be cut throat and pick 7 songs, I’d find it hard. But Manners is my favourite, Come Back Home is awesome and the single and Best Thing, which is the last song we wrote.

Jordan: It’s been getting a cool reaction at these shows, I mean it’s the first time we’ve played new music in 3 months, well no technically it’s the first time in 3 years. So yeah, checking the reaction from the crowd has been crazy. It’s so much fun to put out new material and see it happening, as you never know how people will take it, as the first time we put out best thing it was awesome to see the crowd’s reaction and how much the kids care.

Mike: We had no idea, I mean we could have gone out and played that song the first time, after our 2 months of being at home for Christmas and people could have hated it, I mean we know what people say online but that’s so broad, I mean that person could be from Japan and were not playing there for this exact moment and time it’s about this room and how they react and its awesome to see it go down so well.

You are currently back in the UK on your headline tour, how does it feel to be back in the UK?
Mike: It’s been going good yeah,

Jordan: It feels better than tours we’ve played in the past, the way we’ve interacted with the kids, the vibes on stage and playing new songs and it just feels better.

Mike: We’re doing things the way we want to do them now, in the way we feel our fans want us to do them and not how we were told to them. One of the biggest differences I see, is going out and signing things and taking photos after a show, I mean you’d be surprised to see how much energy, emotional and physical, it takes to do that. I mean you get less sleep, you get cold you get sick

Jordan: It sucks so bad

Mike: It affects so much, and you want to do what you can for kids and its different when it’s warmer, but we haven’t been doing it this tour and we normally do it because we don’t want to let kids down. We love meeting the kids and doing the meet and greats, and our fans say our meet and greats are some of the best ones out there. But this kind of thing leads to shows being better as no-ones burnt out no-ones sick it’s just better, that’s the mentality we have towards everything.

Jordan: I mean that’s how it was when I was a kid, with bands like Starting Line, they wouldn’t even let me bring in a sound recorder to record them, as there was no shit like that. I mean I didn’t know what Kenny was doing after he left the stage, I didn’t go and try and bang on the side of the van, I mean there’s a level of crossing the line. I mean if we come out and people are there we’re not going to ignore them or anything.

Mike: Yeah, I mean there used to be this thing, were the entire crowd would stay after the show, and it would be like our 3rd meet and greet of the day after doing like in store signings and shit, and I’d go the extra mile but it snow balls and wrecks moral.

Jordan: Especially when kids are sick, that’s the big thing for me. You get these kids who are so sick who are out there coughing then they cough on me and I get sick and I’ve got to perform a show tomorrow. But I mean when its warmer its fine, it just needs to be warmer over hear. ‘Laughs’. We’ve had huge conversations about this and how it was in the past.

Mike: Yeah I mean it certainly wasn’t any less, as were hear and playing music because we saw shows with those bands that we loved, and I literally never met anyone.

Jordan: I think I had one photo from one guy

Mike: I went to shows literally every week, almost 2 shows a week. I remember 2 times I met people, before we starting playing shows with these bands, one was a dude from a band called Ozma and he was a total fucking dick, he was at the bar and I was like he man I’m so excited for your show, and I asked for a picture and was like are you going to play ups and downs, and he was like we don’t play that song anymore, and I was like cool and kinda walked off.

Jordan: But you remember this experience because it wasn’t the 5000th dude that you’ve met from a band.

Mike: I still listen to the band

Jordan: That’s the thing, it’s sad because we grew up during that era, without the craziness of cell phones.

Mike: Yeah where dinosaurs. I mean I do my part, when a kid asks for a photo though, I’m like I’m not gonna do a silly face or a monkey face. You should be coming to shows because you like the culture of the band and wanting to get to know us not bragging to your friends that you met us. We’re not that cool. I mean it’s nothing to brag about, I’d rather hear about you’re day rather than you making me make a monkey face, I mean jeez.

Jordan: We could talk about this for a while

Mike: Yeah where just rambling now, ‘laughs’

Your schedule for the next couple of months looks pretty busy with tours across mainland Europe and America, are you looking forward to certain shows the most or just excited to be back on the road touring?
Mike: Any city that we can get a reaction, there’s allot of US places like that, we’re excited to get back over here again, I’m sure we’ll be back like 3 fucking times before the end of the year, we normally are. I’m just excited to be playing new songs.

You have Neck Deep and save Your Breath supporting you on the tour, how have you found touring alongside these bands?
Jordan: Its cool, the coolest thing is that in the states it would be a different thing. I mean the kids in the crowd would be in crowd fans, and those pop punk fans that are just specifically fans of those genres, were as overhear kids are into music in general. I mean tonight before we loaded in there was some kid waiting for the Killswitch Show and was like sorry I can’t come to your show tonight, I mean 2 shows in one night, and I was like well where sold out anyway but that’s crazy!

Mike: I find that fans of our genre are less jaded over hear.

Jordan: I mean the whole crowd are stoked, I mean the fans get on the stage and are jumping off and enjoying themselves. I mean last night in Manchester some kid got on stage and played bass and Mike jumped into the crowd and surfed whilst this kid killed it, it was awesome.

What would you say the best thing about being in a band is?
Jordan: Seeing the world is one of the coolest things about it, we don’t make that much money but to say we’ve been here here and here, and all these places, and I’ve got a passport which is stapled full of stamps.

Mike: You’d be surprised how expensive it is to run a business like this, I mean at the end of the day we’re a partial owners of a corporation, I mean all these bands are incorporated, its expensive, it’s a real job. At the end of the day, the best thing is, most people hate the things they do from time to time and at the core of me I know I don’t hate this and I’m here because I want to be.

Where do you hope to see We Are The In crowd in a year’s time?
Mike: Selling out the stage that Killswitch are playing.

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a zebra or Giraffe which one would you be and why?
Jordan: I’d be a giraffe as I’m extremely tall and I’m already really lanky, I don’t know they can reach leaves and stuff.

Mike: I’d probably be a zebra because being a giraffe would give me vertigo

Jordan: I feel like zebras would get mauled the fuck up though, you see them on the Discovery Channel all the time.

Mike: Whatever I’d be a zebra. ‘Laughs’

Thanks for your time is there a message for your fans reading this?
Mike: Thanks for reading this.

Interview by James Daly