With 'SPLENDID BEAST' is about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public, Weathership take temporary shelter from the storm...

Weathership are a five-pice band based in Stockton-upon-Tees and are about to (simply) unleash one the albums of the year. We caught up withy them recently, not wagon for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain…

How are you guys?

Jim : Not too bad, lots of promo to get through and records to sell.

Snowy : Doing OK thank you. Excited for the new album to be out

How did you guys meet and what was the inspiration/significance of the name?

Jim: We’ve all know each other through different musical projects for years. Me and Snowy were both in The Broken Broadcast together and Davey joined when we lost our drummer. During lockdown we recorded a solo album, called Hotel Wilderness, with Ian and we started jamming after it finished.

Snowy : We had a lot of guitar layers on Hotel Wilderness and we asked Nick to join to add those to the live gigs. It worked so well that we went on to form Weathership.

What influence has your region had on your sound? 

Snowy : We take a massive amout of inspiration from the sea and being on the east coast were not far from it. The headland in Hartlepool and the beach at Crimdon Dean are some of our favourite places and have inspired quite a few of our songs.

Who would you say were your early musical influences and who are your contemporaries now?

Jim: I started off listening to The Beatles religiously because my mum and dad did, then Neil Young and REM after that. I have favourite artists but I also have things I currently listen to as well.

Snowy : I’m the same, when I was young we had a tape of Sgt Peppers and A Hard Days Night that never left the car stereo, much to my parents annoyance. As I got older I was heavily influenced by the early grunge bands like Mudhoney and the Smashing Pumpkins then later I started to broaden my taste.

There’s echoes of Two Door Cinema Club in ‘New Occupation’, would you say they are an influence?

Jim: New Occupation was written about 5 years ago, it was our first song we did as a band outside of my solo stuff. It’s based more around a Tony Allen type shuffle that Davey came up with than Two Door Cinema Club but now you’ve said that I’m off to listen to them again.

Do you ever frolic on the North Yorkshire moors chasing the ghosts of lost souls?

Jim: I haven’t, but I do venture to Whitby often. I’m very much in to the sea and so is my boy so we’re often there.

Snowy : I’v done the drive across the North York Moors a few times. Late at night, after work on your own it’s a creepy experience. It actually inspired an old song of mine  called Rabbit Run but it never made it onto a Broken Broadcast record unfortunately.

Jim: Might have to revisit that

The connection to the sea in your songs is powerful, what’s the fascination?

Jim: I write down a lot of lyrics that try and convey fear and love in close proximity, I’ve always been scared of water so that’s always come out here and there, but I moved to Hartlepool 6 years ago and frequent Seaton Carew and now I’m obsessed with the ocean.

Not all the songs are totally aquatic based, but all the stories are told from the perspective of people who are obsessed with the sea.

Did the ‘Rhyme of the ancient mariner’ influence the ‘Splendid Beast’ album stream of thought?

Jim: No, but I stumble upon a lot of poems, particularly if I have writers block which happens from time to time. Sometimes its only a line you hear or read that gets the creative process flowing again.

Snowy : Inspiration can come from anywhere so I won’t say it hasn’t influenced us but not directly no.

Who came up with the cover artwork for Splendid Beast? What’s the story with the half man/half eagle?

Jim: I had hypnotherapy several years ago and one of the things that came out of it was this version of me that was a dark entity that looks over things and always tries to help. The Splendid Beast is that, he’s the entity that looks after the weather ship. He’s in a lot of our artwork, which is mainly inspired by George Dunning, Terry Gilliam and Stanley Donwood.

There’s an almost melancholy that floats across the album, is this a lament, a warning or something unseen?

Jim: I think the last track ‘For The Dark Is Beautiful’ is a poignant reminder that there is indeed beauty in everything, sometimes it’s hard, but we often learn lessons. The day sad music stops being created there’s probably something wrong.

Snowy : Something unseen, I hope the album conveys that there’s always something underneath the waves that’s waiting to rise up. You have to wait to see if it’s benign or malevolent and until it arrives you won’t know what to expect.

How do you feel your sound has progressed  over the years?

Jim : All 5 of us have different bands that inspire us but there’s an area where all that crosses over. Imagine a Venn diagram of bands with Weathership in the middle and all those areas around the outside influencing that small bit in the middle.

Snowy : Looking at it long term we’ve definitely evolved from the Broken Broadcast days but I think even then the elements of our sound were there. With Weathership we’ve simply let them have more free reign to sit within the songs whereas we would have toned them down in the past. There’s definitely more evolution to come!!

What’s been the most challenging aspect of your career so far?

Jim: As per any new band it’s always finding the time and the resources to create what we want to create. We have day jobs still and myself and Snowy are opening a guitar shop. So having the time to focus on writing and recording has been difficult.

Snowy : Every band goes through hurdles and I think for us it’s been the number of times we’ve had to reset. No likes losing a member of a band especially when everything is starting to go well so when Emma and Griz left projects it was hard. But it’s meant we’ve gained in the long run as now we get to create new songs with Davey, Ian and Nick

What’s the most ridiculous predicament that you’ve found yourselves in?

Jim: Touch wood we’ve not fallen foul of anything too daft yet. We had an amazing gig at Twisterella Festival last year that we had to get a drummer in for as Davey was away, and I trapped a nerve in my neck before a festival in the summer so couldn’t play guitar. So just singing was a daunting task.

If your music was the soundtrack for a film, what would that film be called?

Jim: Well, probably ‘Splendid Beast’, Interstellar meets Jaws.

Snowy : Or Easy Rider meets Castaway

Jim: Ha, I’ll take that

Who’s on your playlist at the moment?

Jim: The new Smile album and Wunderhorse. Idles too.

Snowy : Fat Dog, Benefits and Wunderhorse as well.

What’s the next step in your evolution?

Jim: Play bigger and better gigs and make the next record.

Snowy :  Louder guitars! I dont think you can predict it but im excited to find out where we can take it