Interview: Connor of One More Weekend

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

C- When I was going through high school I realised playing music was a great way to meet new people, especially girls. But to be honest I’d always been a writer of sorts and when I was floundering through life a bit in my 20’s my dad (who is also a musician) gave me that extra push to actually try and make it something special. Going to gigs and music festivals definitely helped solidify that desire though. I think if I hadn’t got that push I might have followed more in my mothers footsteps and veered more into painting and visual arts.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

C- This is a great question because when we’re not gigging or rehearsing I’m generally working on another part of the band. For those just starting out I want you to know that you can’t just be the singer/song writer. If you’re doing it you have to be the promoter, the designer, the touring agent, the social media expert, the bookkeeper, the merchandiser, everything. To be honest it doesn’t stump the creative juices but it definitely leaves less time to be creative. Aside from that I actually work a full time job as an apprentice carpenter, I go to the gym, I see bands, I hang with mates, I go mountain biking, I kick back and play video games, I do all sorts! I think it’s important to separate yourself from reality and try new things and that’s really where we draw a lot of ideas from.

How long has your band been around?

C- We’ve been a band for almost 6 years now I think.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

C- We’re from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, we’re still in the metro area but we’re about an hour away from the city centre. Growing up here we definitely drew influences from all sorts of local acts and even now still do. I took a massive liking to a band called Kisschasy whom I saw countless times live.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

C- I’m heavily influenced by a band called The Academy Is… and they have a song called One More Weekend. I’m actually not that fond of the song but at the time we were all working pretty shitty jobs with even shittier people, so one more weekend was really something we were always looking forward to.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

C- We’ve played over 160 show now, it’s pretty hard to pick our favs. We jammed out a killer set at the old Cherry Bar on a Saturday night a few years back that was mental. We received a massive response from an all ages festival called Summerwave in kerrang which is in the country, we’re actually the only band that has been asked to come back. The Talk release show at The Tote (which is practically our second home) was pretty next level, we had to split the show into two due to Covid capacity regulations but I know we had a group of fans hide in the toilets till the late show so they wouldn’t get kicked out, shout out to those knuckleheads for partying even harder the second time round!

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

C- The Tote is still one of our faves, but we’re definitely looking to storm larger venues in the coming years. Places like The Forum, The Corner Hotel and Billboards (170 Russell Street) are definitely on the cards.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

C- I’d love to have played with Rory Gallagher, if I could bring him back from the dead to raise the roof I totally would. / We’d run a 4 day BYO camping music festival with our favorite local and established bands” the lineup would consist of Tudor Club, Snark, Sledgehammer Honey, The 1975, Bring Me The Horizon, Ocean Grove and of course us.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

C- Stay passionate but don’t be so close to your own art. As a musician it’s easy to forget that everyone listening to your song won’t actually know all the parts that “could’ve” been there. So step back, some of the songs we thought our fans might think were average are some of the tracks they love the most.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

C- Fuck the standard process and keep doing it yourself. We are proudly independent and I stand by the fact that you don’t need a school or mentor to be able to do this if you’re willing to work hard. You will need a full time job to cover the costs though so go get your career sorted.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

C- Raindrops is highly important to me, it comes from a place of self discovery and absolute uncontrollable ecstatic emotion.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

C- A lot of our newer stuff is my favorite, I can’t actually mention the name of the tracks because I’ll spoil the next few releases. There are a few stand out songs that we get asked to play, Listen is a massive one for us and a lot of people really enjoy Talk. I guess those tracks just resonate well with daily life.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

C- Aside from the lyrics, we now write all our songs together. Initially, I would bring a practically whole song to the band but that actually halts any sort of external creative input that might benefit a developing sound. So now everyone generally puts in something which is why our stuff since We Used To… is better. Because the band is playing stuff the band wrote, not what I solely came up with.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

C- I want to make you feel whatever it is you want to feel, I want you to connect and I want you to think. In some songs like Listen, I’m trying to remind you that advertising is a tool to make you a consumer, think before you buy the next useless material item. In Colourful Things I’m asking you to watch out for your mates, they might be dancing away on the outside but on the inside they’re struggling. Generally though, our fans all connect in their own way and that’s the only thing I truly want.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

C- My brother Leith is the bass player. You can’t fathom the amount of arguments we’ve had over tiny little things hahaha. To be honest though we rarely argue as a group, whatever it is we might disagree about musically it’s not bigger than our friendship. We calmly talk it out, taking the time to actually listen to one another, a fair bit of banter and I love you’s helps too hahaha.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

C- We have massive plans as always, new songs, more shows, new merchandise, returning to interstate touring and lots more. I want you all to check out our latest release Raindrops and I’d just like to thank those that have supported us so far. We do this because it’s a bloody good time and we don’t want you to miss a thing!