For The Wait

"For the Wait" is currently on tour. NewOrleansMusicians.net sat down with the band in late November to discuss their latest album, Separation.

Note: For The Wait performs live on January 16, 2009 in Baton Rouge at Clicks Billiard's (9pm) and in New Orleans at The Hangar on January 30, 2009 (8pm).

"We don't do what we do for popularity or recognition. We do this because it is who we are. The music we create is far greater than the individual."(from For the Wait's myspace page). This independent spirit is clearly reflected in their approach to creating music and is embodied in their most recent album 'Separation.'

NOM: So can you describe some of your early influences and how those shaped the development of your present album?

FTW: Our main influences include Tool and early Alice in Chains. But when we started with this record we left all of that at the door. We decided to be experimental without being too far out there. We wanted to strip ourselves of other songs that we had heard or that we had liked and just come into what was a natural sound for us."

NOM: What about the creative process of the band--how did your songs on this album develop?

FTW: "Anyone of us might start the creative process. It could be Fitz who might come in with a rip, or Justin might come in with a beat and I [Richard]might put a vocal on top of that, or it might be vice-versa all depending on the situation. Sometimes we would start off in the middle of the song and write from the middle to the end and then we write the beginning of it. We don't like to start naming parts [for a particular member to develop], everyone puts on what thinks should be in the song right there at that time.

NOM: How does this album differ from 'The Joy of Misfortune', your first album?

FTW: People are gonna hear a lot of change, a lot of growth in 'Separation.' We were really creative on [this album] and we just roll the dice on some the songs. We took some really loose concepts and started working with that-sometimes till 12, 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. There are songs where we didn't stress big changes [from our previous album] and others where we tried to do something we'd never done before. Before this album we weren't sure exactly what we were doing. You know, being a young band we just threw songs together [on our first album]. We didn't really make an album we just recorded songs and put them together. This time we went with a group concept, an album concept. We also stay as metaphoric as possible. A lot of stuff you can't listen to it [the first time] and go 'I know what he's talking about.' You have a listen to it a few times to get your own interpretation of what it means. And approaching our music that way wasn't easy at first but once we got into the groove of it, it turned out that everyone just stopped questioning it. And we ended up with ten songs that we all love.

NOM: What about plans for future records?

FTW: Our master plan is to change every record. We have to grow as artists and can't base what we do on people's reaction [to what we've done before].

NOM: Is there one song your pushing as a single right now?

FTW: Yea, "Transition"

NOM: How has being in New Orleans influenced your music?

FTW: Its created a kind of dirty, dark accent to our music.

NOM: How has being in New Orleans influenced your view of the music scene here?

FTW: Its kind of hard to get noticed with so much going on here. A big problem in this city is that you have a lot of bar owners but you don't necessarily have music people that want to bring in new music. You know, they want recognized figures that will draw crowds. Here, you are either a"metal" band or a "cover" band. There really isn't much in-between. And you know, its very surprising that B97 is also more willing to help out than local rock stations. Its like rock stations won't play our music but B97 will play it.

NOM: Is there any particular area of the U.S. that you want to put your mark on?

FTW: The midwest, Chicago

NOM: Where can people find out more about the band and hear some of the album?

FTW: We get a lot of hits on myspace (http://myspace.com/forthewait). We have music, a tour schedule, and ways for people to connect with the band.

Article written by Jeremy Kerr and beyondpolaroid.com

For Neworleansmusicians.net