I’ll never forget the day that I stumbled upon Young Widows video for “Old Skin.” One of the many insanely awesome tracks off of their 2008 album, Old Wounds. I came across the video in 2011 while trying to gather more information on the band. Young Widows had just released the follow up to Old Wounds, the somber brooding and oh so sweet, In and Out of Youth and Lightness, an album which I probably listened to over a 70 times that year. At the time, I was just barely getting into them and I gorged on as many of their jams as I could possibly handle, after seeing the video for “Old Wounds” I was straight up hooked! Well, my addiction has only grown stronger overtime and every year that Young Widows didn’t drop a new album I died a little inside. Then out of nowhere the band posted some studio pics on their Facebook page back in October of last year. Finally some new Young Widows action was on the way. Needless to say the wait for the album to actually be released was brutal, but eventually their fourth album, Easy Pain dropped in May of this year. I bet you can guess how I felt about it… Yep! It’s crazy good and it was totally worth the wait. With Easy Pain the band was able to make a perfect combination of the brutal sledge hammer smash of Old Wounds with the creepy dark vibes of In and Out of Youth and Lightness. My pure enjoyment of the album then lead me to get in touch with Evan Patterson, vocalist / guiatrist for Young Widows to ask him a bunch of random questions, because that’s what I like to do when I really enjoy an album / band.
B.G.M. – Young Widows have been a favorite band of mine for some time now. The thing that first struck me when I heard your music was just the overall dark, tight, and heavy feel. What are some of the influences that shaped the band’s sound?
Evan Patterson – Appreciate the kind words. Influences come and go. Today, I might want to make a song inspired by Furry Lewis. Tomorrow, a song inspired by Throbbing Gristle. But most of the time, we get together and create with no direction or purpose other than to solely create new music that we feel compelling.
How have the various side projects Old Baby, Early Age, or Jaye Jayle affected Young Widows sound or writing process?
Jaye Jayle and Old Baby have highly affected me. The writing process for Young Widows is basically still the same, but since starting my other bands, I’m more open to using my voice as if it was an additional instrument. Words and lyric are valid and equally as important. The melody is why I listen to and create music. It took years for me to understand what I’m capable of. I attribute the majority of my progression to Kevin Ratterman’s influence during the recording of In and Out of Youth and Lightness and Jonathan Wood, who is my fellow bandmate in Old Baby and Jaye Jayle.
Easy Pain seems to combine the ferociousness of Old Wounds, with the slow minimal somberness of In and Out of Youth and Lightness. How would you say the new album fits in with your overall sound?
Fits like a glove.
Describe the writing and recording process for Easy Pain.
We can’t give away our secrets.
My favorite track off of the new album is “Doomed Moon”, I love the intro and how heavy the song is right out of the gates! What are you doing to create the noise at the beginning of the song? Is it just a guitar effect?
Thanks again. I have these loop pedals, a reverb pedal, and a volume nob on my guitar. Twist and stomp and there you have it.
Do you have any favorite songs from the new album?
The “Last Young Widow” is probably the most pleased I’ve been with the use of a poem that I wrote last year and a riff that I’ve had for 4 or 5 years lingering in the back of my mind. When songs come together with such ease, that’s what I like to call “magic”.
Easy Pain only consists of eight tracks. This is an aspect that I really enjoy about your albums, they are very concise and devoid of any ‘filler tracks’. Is this intentional? Or do you tend to only include the songs you’ve written during a certain writing session?
Ideally, we intend to project a mood that doesn’t get disrupted. Even if we might be happier with a song that doesn’t make the cut for the album sequence than songs that made the cut, the mood is always the most important.
The artwork for all of your albums seem to be variations of each other. Is there anything behind the ongoing theme for your cover art?
No theme, besides visual cohesion.
Any chance I can get a custom variation drawn up so I can get it as a tattoo?
I have no control or say in what anyone chooses to tattoo or get tattoos of.
Young Widows have been releasing music through Temporary Residence for your past three albums. How did this relationship come to be?
Jeremy (deVine) was raised in Louisville and I met him when I was 11 or 12 skateboarding outside of a show. 2007 I wrote him and email, we reconnected. Eventually, we began to work together.
The band premiered / played Easy Pain in its entirety back in January way before the release date. How did this idea come about?
Saint Vitus Bar, invited us to play two shows. We decided to perform Easy Pain. It’s that simple.
You guys have recently been on tour where you have been playing Old Wounds in its entirety. What was the motivation behind this, does it take you back in time?
Performing Old Wounds was enjoyable. I don’t see us doing that again in the near future. Performing our most recently written music is always our preference.
You just finished a tour with Helms Alee and recently released a split 12” with them. Are you good friends with the band? Are these songs outtakes from Easy Pain?
Ben (Verellen) and I met on my first west coast tour in 2000. He was playing bass and singing in Harkonen and I was playing guitar in The National Acrobat. Since then, we have toured with each others bands and been fortune enough to be able to share a large majority or our musical journeys together. Ben also built my guitar amplifiers.
You guys are playing Salt Lake City June 21st. Seriously stoked for this show. Do you have anything special planned for this tour?
Looking forward to stopping by. Every tour and every show is special.
Any bands / albums out right now that you guys are really digging that we need to know about?
Recent records are a tough. I mostly listen to older records. The Mark Lanegan Anthology recently came out. I’ve been a fan for some years now, but it’d be a perfect introduction for a new listener. Zomes most recent record speaks to me in ways that most music can’t and never will, it’s called Time Was. Been listening to Endless Boogie‘s Long Island pretty often and David Lynch’s The Big Dream got my vote for best album of 2013. That covers the past few years of new releases for me.
Young Widows Facebook
Tour Dates: