Check out an exclusive premiere of Whatever, Forever’s thumping new single ‘Ghost Of Me’ from their upcoming EP ‘Slowly Dying With You’.
Punk rock Sydney-siders Whatever, Forever deliver the most refined take on their alternative punk sound with latest single ‘Ghost Of Me’, as we get to premiere the track from the band’s new EP, ‘Slowly Dying With You‘, before its release Friday October 29.
Whatever, Forever are guitarists and vocalists Nick Adams and Chas Levi, two of five members of the metal band Justice For The Damned, and travel tight with full time photographer and bassist, Jack Rudder.
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They were originally high school grads heavily inspired by hardcore legends Modern Baseball and Have Heart, but quickly evolved into something much more sinister, with fuzz-filled walls of guitar and groove behind vocals that smack of desperation. They evoke a more tender, mature brand of emo and alternative rock than Justice, and their latest single, ‘Ghost Of Me’, is a great example of their stadium-atmospheric intensity. You can hear the nods to Deftones, Basement and Loathe, among others.
They get their intensity from serious inner turmoil. “Ghost Of Me was written at a time of existential dread surrounding the darkness of facing illness and therefore death,” the band describe, revealing the new EP was necessary in the trio making it through the last year.
“We’d all had a great start to 2020,” Rudder says.
“Nick & Chas’s other band Justice For The Damned had just returned from a Euro tour with Knocked Loose and played Invasion Festival at home in Sydney to a very receptive audience. I was shooting as many shows as I could those first three months and was producing my best work, consistency is always the key to success with that and things didn’t seem to be slowing down.
“Whatever, Forever released our 7-inch Where I Am & Where I Want To Be In January and we completed our first headline tour in March for that release. The response to those shows felt well deserved, we’d been putting in the ground work for years and everything went the way we’d dreamed.
“Once the world and our momentum stopped it really took a hit to us as a group and subsequently had a significant lineup change which left just Nick, Chas and I. The three of us have been through a fair bit of heartache and struggles as a group so It wasn’t uncommon for us to have to rely on each other for support, but not being able to see them for a few months was the hardest thing I’ve endured.”
After a battering and relentless year within, exacerbated externally by the pandemic, ‘Ghost Of Me‘ is a cathartic explosion of fuzzy, distorted guitars, heavy hitting drums, and layers of atmospheric lead lines and melodies. There’s an overall ambience of dread and a descent into thoughts of one’s own existence.
“Through the suffering of learning to live with such things, the only constant is change,” the band continues. “In this case there are highlighted experiences of guilt, hopelessness, the contrast-compare game we can play with the past and future, and the weight of all such things.”
“In times as dark as that the best thing we’ve learnt to do is write music that’s honest, vulnerable and accepting of life as it is, in all its melancholic beauty.”
Tracked, mixed and mastered by Clayton Segelov at The Brain Recording Studios, forthcoming EP, ‘Slowly Dying With You’, was a necessary chapter for the band in order to make it through 2020.
They’ve also – unsurprisingly – established themselves as an essential live act, having previously set off on a voyage of the road playing shows across Australia headlining or in support of bands to the likes of Turnstile, Movements, Hellions and more.
“We’re always writing and had a bunch of songs considered for our next release,” Rudder says, “but the best way for us to let each other know we’re there for you is writing new material that would give us the strength we needed to make it through.
“This band will always be an outlet for expressing the feelings necessary in overcoming the bad times and celebrating the ones we love most. If there’s one takeaway the three of us have learnt from the last 12 months it’s that the power from love and friendship can guide you through the darkest times.
“As for the future of Whatever, Forever, we want to play as many shows as possible and tie that in with new records – without thinking too much about it.”
“Ghost Of Me” is out today, spearheading the way towards new EP, ‘Slowly Dying With You‘, available Friday October 29. Follow them on Facebook, or check them out on Bandcamp.
