W.E.R.M. (from left to right): Joey Parkes, Clayton Sturgeon and Nate Mullins.
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]riday kicks off the Rock On The Range music festival at Columbus Crew Stadium, and the party will begin early on as festival-newcomers W.E.R.M aim to take center stage. W.E.R.M, an acronym for ‘when everything really matters,’ have a unique sound that combines the rave-party styles of electronic music with the power of hard rock that makes them stand out among other bands at Rock On The Range this year.
“It’s going to be our first time playing this festival and we are really excited about it,” the band’s drummer, ‘Nasty’ Nate Mullins, said. The band, based out of Daytona Beach, also features Clayton Sturgeon on vocals and guitar with Joey Parkes handling the keyboard and electronics.
W.E.R.M., who are signed to Universal Republic Records, will be releasing their debut EP ‘Medication Generation’ the Monday immediately following Rock On The Range, May 19.
“With this EP that’s coming out, ‘Medication Generation,’ we kind of have this theme. We have this belief, as band members, about today’s culture and how it’s changed so much. We’ve all become so heavily medicated,” Mullins said. “There’s a pill if you can’t get a hard-on. There’s a pill if you need to relax. There’s a pill if you’re too relaxed. There’s a pill for absolutely everything.”
Mullins added that everybody is so medicated and that people are passing this trait on to the next generation. He uses the example that society is feeding Adderall to nine-year-old kids before they have their own ideas and own identity before and that they’re already changing their brains and the way they think.
“It’s just so unusual as a society that we’re completely okay with that, but it’s completely not okay for consenting adults trying to alter their consciousness,” Mullins said.
The first single off the upcoming EP is “This Is The End,” and also features other songs, such as “Higher”, “Strange”, and “Not Getting Clean” (the music video is down below).
“(Strange) is very electronic … It’s all about living outside the box,” Mullins said. “Everyone needs to have an ‘affair’ with typical reality every once in a while and really let themselves enjoy something a little strange to the normal. I feel it’s really good to do that and really healthy to do that.”
‘Medication Generation’ EP release
W.E.R.M. will be one of the first acts to play at Rock On The Range Friday, sharing the bill with acts such as Living Colour, Killswitch Engage, Staind, Seether, Black Label Society, We Came As Romans and Friday night’s headlining act, Guns N’ Roses.
“It’s really incredible. It really, really is. It’s a really great feeling to be a part of something where there are all these bands that have been doing it for 20 years and the bands that have been doing it for just a year. We all come together for this great festival and this great time to just support each other,” Mullins said of the festival. ” A lot of people look at rock bands and rock stars as all angst and angry. It is a really supportive community. It’s hard; it’s so hard. But when you’re around so many other artists it brings out the best in you.”
Mullins said that the band unfortunately will not be able to stay for the entire festival to support all the bands, but will be out in full support of the other acts on Friday.
“One band I am NOT going to miss is Living Colour,” Mullins said. “They don’t really tour or play very often. They’re a great, politically-charged, heavy rock band. ‘Cult of Personality’ was one of my favorite jams growing up.”
W.E.R.M. will be releasing a “very interesting” video for ‘This Is The End’ following Rock On The Range and the release of ‘Medication Generation.’ While nothing is confirmed, the band is working on some touring possibilities for the summer concert season.
To learn more about W.E.RM. and to get purchase ‘Medication Generation’ when it is released, be sure to visit their official website. W.E.R.M. will be playing the Jagermeister Stage at 12:40 P.M. Friday to help kickoff the Rock On The Range festivities. Listen to The Pit’s interview with Nate Mullins on this weeks’ edition of The Pit: Podcast, available now on iTunes or on The Pit.
