Bristol power-pop trio Woahnows is back with their first album since 2015. ‘Young and Cool’ was released last February through Specialist Subject Records, and sees a more vocal led approach to exploring being comfortable with who you are and being proud of it.
Here, vocalist Tim Rowing-Parker talks us through the album, it’s general themes and the importance of openly being yourself.
Are you excited to play Washed Out Festival?
Very excited! It’s always fun playing in Brighton. I think things like this are cool where there’s people from all over dipping in and out and just stumbling across things.
Your album ‘Young and Cool’ came out last February, how has the response been?
It’s been really good. Once it’s out I almost forget that it is and then I’ll bump into somebody and they say they really like the new album, so I think people like it! We’ve been working on some of those songs for quite a while so it’s really nice to be able to share it with everybody.
You played a chilled down version of the album as soon as it came out, tell us about that.
We played in the record shop at Specialist Subject, they’re our friends who helped put out the new record and have a cool shop in The Exchange in Bristol. We just ran through it and when we were rehearsing we had the idea of playing it start to finish. We’ve actually been doing that at all the shows now with a full band, which has been really fun.
How is the new album different from your previous ones?
The songs are a lot more vocal led and song based. Before I think we were writing all of these different musical parts trying to smash them into a song, whereas now there’s definitely a lot more focus on the arrangement and which elements of the song are important. Less riffs, more songs.
How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
I’d say it’s power pop. I always thought it was gonna be more of an indie band, and it’s just a lot heavier than it’s supposed to be in a away. I think of it as a pop record, but played by some indie punk kids.
What are the general themes behind ‘Young and Cool’?
It’s about relationships with everyone, with friends and people that you feel romantically involved with, and just about trying to be a good person. Previously a lot of the songs were about working out gender stuff myself, but at a point where I wasn’t comfortable outwardly being open about it, so everything was much more masked and vague. With this record I think you can tell what it is lyrically. It’s much more open and direct. I am glad that I feel comfortable enough to do that now.
How important is it to openly be yourself and be proud of it?
It’s so important, especially for your own happiness. In a lot of situations in the past I tried to mask elements of myself or I’d catch myself acting a certain way and holding back, I just wasn’t being myself. I think I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by lots of caring and loving people that allow me to openly be who I am, that I’m able to project that in all aspects of my life now. I feel much happier within myself for that. I’m lucky to have people around me that allow me to do that, not everybody does.
In your position, how important is it to be open about it and inspire young people who might not feel comfortable with themselves yet?
It’s really important. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, but I think for me to be open outwardly for other people to see is really important for others to hopefully feel more comfortable with themselves as well. It’s important to be open about being gender fluid and wearing makeup at shows, growing up I never had a positive role model like that and I think if I did I’d feel much more comfortable.
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