Band Interview: World Clvss

Last summer, Connecticut’s pop punk outfit WORLD CLVSS was born into the music scene. Consisting of three members, Jamie, Dylan and Kenny, the band is all about lightening up the mood and being “politically incorrect” (something we could use after these past few months). The band has already hit the ground running releasing their first album Freakshow back in August. As the band has stated, this album is not for everyone, especially those who are easily offended. However, if you’re one of the many who are tired of all the political talk and those who take life way too seriously, WORLD CLVSS is something you’ll definitely want to check out. We got the chance to talk with the band about how they formed, their first album and much more. Check it out below!

From what I’ve gathered, you guys are a fairly new band. When did the three of you officially decide to form together and what steps did you take to prepare yourselves and the band as a whole?

The band officially started sometime in the summer of 2014. The three of us have been in and out of terrible bands together since middle school, but we only found our sound recently when we were miserable and shitty college students! After spending a few months writing, we decided we had enough material for an album and started the recording process in February of 2015. We spent the remainder of that year finishing up the album, and then literally did nothing but practice. Seriously, we had no social lives at all that year, Dylan actually refers to 2015 as band boot camp. We all agreed that when it eventually came time to start playing shows, we wanted to be the best live band that we could possibly be!

Back in July of 2016, you guys changed your name from WORLD CLASS to WORLD CLVSS due to not being able to legally trademark it. Most bands probably would’ve just picked a new one. Is there any particular reason you decided to just switch up the letters instead of picking a new name?

We struggled for a while figuring out a name, and WORLD CLASS was the only one that didn’t feel forced or corny, which was really important to us. So when we were faced with having to either choose a new name or alter the one we already had, we all felt that keeping the world class name some way or another would be the best possible decision. Adding the v in the name was the easiest and cleanest way we felt to do that. Besides, The World Class just wouldn’t have had the same ring to it!

Aside from changing the band name, what are some obstacles you’ve had to face so far?

The one main obstacle this band had to face was the recording process. Originally, Jamie never felt comfortable being the singer despite being the main songwriter of the band. But after trying a few different people out, we decided Jamies’ voice fit best and forced him against his will to be the vocalist! The problem, was that we had already completed most of the instrumentals for the album, and Jamie was having a hard time singing in some of the songs’ keys. We decided to re-track the singles so that he was as comfortable as possible with those, but if you ever see us live, you might notice that most of the other songs are performed in different keys than the album versions. WORLD CLVSS fun fact! Besides that, just trying to balance normal life and trying to get this band off of its’ feet is always a little challenging!

When releasing your second single, “Freakshow” you stated that “WORLD CLVSS is not a band for the faint-hearted” and “WORLD CLVSS is just…WORLD CLVSS.” Please explain what this means to you.

People are so easily offended nowadays and we wanted to be able to say what we wanted and express ourselves how we wanted without having to apologize. Aside from the music and performing, we really don’t take ourselves too seriously. We try to have fun with what we do, and that was our sarcastic way of saying if you get offended by anything in this song, lighten up or leave!

With Freakshow being your first album released, what type of impact did you hope it would have on your audience?

We really wanted to give off a fun nostalgic vibe with this album, but also make sure that our own personalities and ideas came through. We wanted to seperate ourselves from the poetic and oversaturated sound that this genre has sort of turned into. Not to say there’s no good pop punk bands in today’s scene, but there’s definitely not as many distinguishable acts as there used to be. So to answer your question, we really wanted this album to stand out from what’s around currently, and also help people to just laugh instead of getting mad.

What inspired you to write this album?

Life. The album is really just about having a hard time figuring out your place in the world and wishing you could go back to a more innocent and carefree time. We wanted the album to reflect that in a fun and sarcastic way so that while it’s relatable, it’s also light hearted. That’s not to say that Freakshow’s a concept album by any means, but there’s definitely a recurring theme throughout the songs!

What kind of reactions have you received from your viewers so far?

We’ve gotten a lot of love from the Internet world! Even locally, everyone has been super supportive of our music and our live shows. There’s just been an amazing reaction overall and we couldn’t be happier!

What was it like performing your first show as WORLD CLVSS back in October? Is there anything you’re hoping to bring to your future shows?

Our first show was amazing! We felt more than prepared after spending the prior year non-stop practicing and were extremely fortunate to have such a great turnout. We try to stand out live by using smoke machines and scrims, and really just try to set the right mood for the audience. For future shows we just want to add on to what we already do and go bigger and better!

As of right now what is your main focus as a band and the next step you plan to take?

Our main focus right now is touring and spreading our name. The next step for us is just playing a lot more shows, and getting out to new states to meet some new faces! So any bands out there looking to book shows or even a tour, hit us up! 😉

Music-wise, what can we expect from WORLD CLVSS in the near future? Do you guys plan to keep the care-free and rebellious edge?

For sure. That’s what we feel separates us from most bands right now. Especially in a time where everyone’s so pc, there needs to be people that come along and say, “Hey just relax, let’s make fun of eachother” :). Music-wise we’re still always writing and coming up with ideas, but as of right now Freakshow’s still in its first year and there’s no plans to record anything new. For now, we’re focused on giving this album all of the love and attention a first child deserves!

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