EMQ’s With Whythre
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with USA Melodic Death Metal band, Whythre. Huge thanks to their Guitarist, Shon, and Guitar and Vocalist, Adam, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Shon (guitars): The project started in 2010. I was traveling a lot for work at the time and writing songs and recording them in my hotel room with a small interface and Logic. At the time, I was really into the symphonic metal and folk metal influences coming out of Europe. Composing and arranging music became my sole focus from that point forward. WHYTHRE remained a solo project till 2012. I met an opera-trained singer named Jeran Michaels. The two of us released the full-length album “Hel’s Hollows” in 2015. After several years of unsuccessfully trying to piece together a full line-up, we started playing acoustic shows locally to try and get our name out.
I was wandering around Capitol Hill during the 2015 Pride Weekend, and heard a dude, Adam Chambers, playing some Children Of Bodom melodies on his guitar while busking. My lady friend lit a joint for us to all share and we exchanged info. From that point, we started a musical partnership that really defines WHYTHRE to this day.
Adam (vox/guitars): I met Shon while busking late at night during Cap Hill Pride 2015. He gave me a link to Hel’s Hallows. I got home from busking and made some food at 4am, listened to the album & messaged him to say I was interested in joining Whythre. We jammed a few days later and have been working together ever since.
How did you come up with your band name?
Shon: I was drawing in a notebook, looking for letter combinations that looked visually appealing. And I like the idea of everything withering.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from Seattle, WA in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The metal scene here reflects the native forests, nature, and constant rain. There’s a lot of the year where it’s raining with little to no sun… It makes for some great metal musicians.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Adam: We’re about to put out an LP called “Impregnate My Hate”. As far as what this album is about… “Impregnate My Hate”, as a phrase really sums it up… Modern times… Most folks are jumping down each other’s throats, willing vessels to the online projection of what modern entertainment and communication should be. Society is fragmenting into niche groups & how each individual deals with this is literally making or breaking their existence.
Shon and I talk at great lengths about exploring the shattered and celebrating the depravity used to nurture ourselves in the moment. It all comes with consequences… Personally, it’s fun to creatively dive into how this all plays out for each individual on an extended timeline.
Shon: Musically we wanted to explore writing ranging from aggressive mindlessness to slow and somber moments…with some catchy hooks!
Who have been your greatest influences?
Adam: Sinergy, Alice Cooper, Bloody Cumshot, Angel, Anaal Nathrak / Make Them Die Slowly.
Shon: Children of Bodom, Devin Townsend, Megadeth, Hans Zimmer, Hypocrisy.
What first got you into music?
Shon: My uncle gave me my first guitar and I grew up in a family of musicians. Metallica and Megadeth were my entry points into metal in my early years.
Adam: As a kid, I started on piano, then moved onto guitar. I grew up in Chicago and had both metal and electronic music playing in the house from a young age. There’s a lot of Midwest history in both those genres and that was my starting point for creativity. When I took guitar lessons I got extremely lucky in that a Berklee School of Music professor was spending the summer in Chicago and just so happened to be teaching lessons at the little corner music store near my house. That helped immensely.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Shon: I’d collaborate with Adam
Adam: I’d collaborate with Shon
There are no other musicians we’d rather be working with. This IS the dream.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Shon: I love eating popsicles, so there should be a popsicle festival where we play. This festival would have all my favorite popsicle vendors and our green room would have a sick freezer stocked with the best popsicles in the world. At this festival, WHYTHRE would unveil a special pill that makes you immune to brain freeze so you can eat more popsicles faster than ever.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Money! The fact that anyone is willing to support us is completely mind-blowing. THANK YOU!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
When you’re at your breaking point, before losing your shit try eating a popsicle first. It’ll help you cool off.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Alexi Laiho, duh…a shared love for Children of Bodom is how Adam and Shon met. Here’s that story…
Adam: I moved to Seattle in 2014 and knew I wanted to dive into the music scene. Seattle is the kind of city where you just have to meet people in the moment or through a social circle.
I busked on a corner in Capitol Hill outside of Neumos for a few months. I figured I’d do that until I met the right people/music situation.I met a lot of musicians but nothing really clicked. While busking during Pride 2015, my drummer friend was taking a break and I started playing metal riffs… While playing ‘Bodom Beach Terror’ there was a guy and girl that posted up within earshot. It was Shon and a friend. He introduced himself, and we all shared a smoke and traded contact info. Shon had just released a full-length (Hel’s Hallows) with his project called Whythre. I remember getting home that night and making myself some mac n cheese at 4am and listening to the album. I sent Shon a message that I would join the project right then.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The absolute best thing about being a musician is always being expected to play music at family gatherings. “Here comes our little rockstar! Why don’t you play us that new song you’re writing!”
The worst thing is that it’s hard to enjoy music for music’s sake. We always want to break it down or understand what makes a song magical instead of simply rockin’ out or being in the moment.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
We want popsicle endorsements, please! Fuck gear, fuck labels. Also, they should put jokes back on the popsicle sticks.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
“Follow the Reaper” by Children of Bodom. This one really changed everything.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Whichever one comes with free popsicles. Come to think of it, popsicles with a download code on the stick should be a thing. You heard it here first!
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Opening for Hypocrisy and Fleshgod Apocalypse was sick. The crowd was insane and all our friends showed up to party. That was also our first gig running synths… Everything ran smoothly and it was a big turning point for our approach to playing live.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Well we all have day jobs, so we’d probably still be doing those and just have a little more free time to run a neighborhood lemonade and popsicle stand.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
The four dudes in our band and one hell of a cook.
What’s next for the band?
We’re full steam ahead on releasing ‘Impregnate My Hate’. Everything this past year has been leading up to this moment… From filming a live music video (Scorchbreath) to working with artists on two animated lyric videos.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
The new album “Impregnate My Hate” and all the new merch is available on our Bandcamp: https://whythre.bandcamp.com/
Follow us on social media to keep up with live/ touring situations:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Whythre
Instagram – https://instagram.com/whythreofficial
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/@WHYTHREofficial/videos
Linktree – https://linktr.ee/whythreofficia
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
Call it whatever butters your muffin!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Stay in school kids, there’s little money and even fewer popsicles in death metal.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.