Baltimore-based trio Whenskiesaregray are back with the follow up to their well received 2013 EP. What Can Not Be Reversed.  Produced by Pianos Become the Teeth guitarist Mike York, the band’s new self titled LP seamlessly moves from the screamo/melodic hardcore blend fans have come to expect, to working in elements of metal, grunge, and indie rock.
Whenskiesaregray will be available on vinyl/digital release everywhere March 31 via Mayfly Records.
Ghettoblaster has the pleasure of premiering the band’s “Renoir, 1920” today. We recently caught up with vocalist Brandon Winter to discuss it.
Was there a particular catalyst or experience that inspired the narrative for this song?
There is no one experience that really dictated the words in “Renoir, 1920.” Most of it is a collection of memories that I have had over the years. Thoughts that reminded me of certain people whom I was close with, people who seemed to be prematurely stripped of life and from my life. Lyrically this song touches base on everything talked about throughout the album with the addition of the “throw in the towel” element, so to speak. With that being said, the record is a story and this song is the conclusion.
What was the composition or writing process like for this song? Did it change at all in the studio?
This was the last song we had written for the album and we knew it would be the finale. The lyrics were put together after the actual song was written and that gave a lot of room to really wrap everything up. It’s the most desperate song we’ve ever made. By that I mean we wrote it with a ton of soft/loud dynamics in mind to mimic the feeling of frantic confusion to those breathless collective points in between the chaos. In studio, It really stayed true to how it was originally written. It is one of the longer songs on the album but we decided every aspect we had written was crucial to the point being made.
Are there overarching themes or ideas you are hoping to communicate with the album?
The search for closure. Specifically through artistic expression. Narratively it is about a failed artist dealing with the death of a loved one. The desperate search for something that’s gone. The confusion, the disarray that the mind can tangle itself into completely cripples his sense of rationality, and in that, he manifests a wraith of his lost love. In a desperate attempt to subdue these visions the narrator resurrects his once ditched abilities to document his visions only to fail at translating her likeness onto canvas regardless of how vivid the memory.
Is there a grand artistic vision for Whenskiesaregray?
In the hardcore scene there are so many great bands doing so many great things. Being a part of this scene is amazing. We feel like anything in the punk/hardcore genre never gets the artistic credit that it’s due outside of its actual scene. If we can be a band to help break these boundaries with our friends and bring hardcore and screamo into a new light then I guess that would be our grand artistic vision.
What would you like the band’s legacy to be?
We’d like to be remembered as a band who gave 100 percent all the time. We hope people come away with something when they see us live. We hope others can see that we are doing what we love and can find that connection with us. But above all, regardless of if one person remembers us or one thousand people remember us, the legacy is really the experiences, the memories and the people we’ve met and will meet. That’s what makes all of what we are doing possible.

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Whenskiesaregrayvia Mayfly Records)