{"id":59755,"date":"2018-05-03T14:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=59755"},"modified":"2018-05-09T20:38:04","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T19:38:04","slug":"slam-dunk-bites-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/slam-dunk-bites-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Slam Dunk Bites: WOES"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: Tom Adam Green<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For some, the Slam Dunk Festival<\/strong> is seen as a pop-punk festival and you can’t blame them. Ever since Fall Out Boy headlined the initial SDF<\/strong> back in 2006, its played host to some of the genres biggest names. In previous years, the rise of names such as The Story So Far, The Wonder Years, and Neck Deep has coincided with their ascension up the Slam Dunk bill.<\/p>\n

While SDF<\/strong> has become much more than just a\u00a0pop-punk festival, its presence remains. Amongst those representing it in 2018 is Scottish quartet WOES<\/strong>. Although this will be their SDF debut, they’re far from unknowns. Over the past 18 months, the Edinburgh outfit have more than paid their dues. Alongside their late 2016 eponymous EP, they’ve toured relentlessly with notable slots supporting Neck Deep, Seaway, and more recently, a European run with Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes.<\/p>\n

Now as they prepare to embark on a summer of several festival spots, they’re releasing their second EP – ‘Self Help’.<\/em> Combining the genre tropes of classic and modern pop-punk, songs such as ‘High On You’<\/em>, ‘Real World’<\/em>, and ‘Losing It’<\/em> are addictive and hit all the marks when it comes to being a pop-punk band.<\/p>\n

As they take a short break before a busy summer, we caught up WOES<\/strong> vocalist DJ to find out more about their history, their festival debut expectations, and lessons learned from touring.<\/p>\n

AH: WOES is a name that has been kicking around for the past few years. For those hearing about you for the first time, can you bring them up to speed on the history of the band? We understand you’ve been playing together in other bands before WOES?<\/strong>
\nDJ: We dropped our first song, ‘Worst Friend’, in September 2016 I think. So we\u2019ve been around for about a year and a half. We just played our 40th show last night in Munich, and in that time we\u2019ve toured with Neck Deep, As It Is, Real Friends, Seaway and Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes. We\u2019ve also played with Four Year Strong and Trash Boat. This year we\u2019re playing Slam Dunk and Download, plus a boatload of UK headline shows that we\u2019re hoping to make really special. <\/em><\/p>\n

We released a self-titled EP on Rude Records and we\u2019re releasing our ‘Self Help’ EP on UNFD soon!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019re writing our debut album now, and it\u2019s going great so far. The songs are a big step up from what we\u2019ve done so far and I\u2019m excited to get it out there, hopefully, it\u2019s this year. We\u2019re hoping to add a couple of different elements to our sound on the album, which we\u2019re excited about.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wow, it\u2019s pretty crazy going through all that. It\u2019s been a blast!<\/em><\/p>\n

AH: It looks like you’re set to step things up in the coming months; signing to UNFD, touring and major festival spots. When it comes to playing festivals, does the growing amount of attention lead to added pressure?<\/strong>
\nDJ: For me, no. Everyone handles it differently and some of the guys would maybe give you a different answer. But for me, it\u2019s just a huge opportunity to go out, exceeding everyone\u2019s expectations and hopefully take our band to a different level each time. I haven\u2019t been practising and playing in bands my whole life to be scared of the big opportunities when they come my way.<\/em><\/p>\n

AH: As an emerging band, how important is it to leave a lasting impression when you play festivals like Slam Dunk and Download?<\/strong>
\nDJ: Yeah, massively important. Anytime we do something like that, we\u2019re hoping to go out and have one of \u2018those sets\u2019 that people talk about in a few years time. We\u2019re a band that gives a lot of energy on stage and puts on a show, but we also pride ourselves on playing as well as any other band that steps on the stage after us. So if you\u2019re coming to see us this summer, give us all you\u2019ve got and we\u2019ll give you everything we have and more.<\/em><\/p>\n