We recently had the opportunity to ask Ryan and Sam from The Worry People some questions about the duo's new EP.
Your EP 'Always Sunny In My Mind' is out now - what has been the reception so far?
RYAN: Generally very positive. It’s our EP with the biggest stamp to it, kickin’ the door off the hinges. It’s been a new experience with the video aspect. It’s been DIY between the two of us, but we’ve put more into the videos and the quality has turned out really well and it shows in the view counts.
SAM: We’ve definitely noticed that this is the first project we’ve done that goes beyond close family and friends too. It’s being picked up by new fans in far places, it’s very reassuring. It’s been particularly interesting to hear everyone’s favourite tracks compared to what we thought would be picked up the most.
How difficult was it to decide which songs made the EP?
SAM: What you hear is a story unfolding in real time. We only have a small bank of songs being held back and when Face came along, we had a clear image of what the EP needed to be from a sonic perspective. There was only really one song that we felt wasn’t right for this project, which we might decide to revisit eventually. Because these songs are generally written together in batches, they already sound like they belong together, it just seemed obvious to us.
RYAN: When it feels right, it’s right. Sam would come to me with the songs pretty far along and I would follow along that path. There wasn’t really any discussion around which songs would make the cut, they were already there.
Is there an overall theme of the EP?
RYAN: We’ll leave it to the English teachers to decide. There’s definitely some angst. Some attitude.
SAM: Yeah, being new to the local scene, we’ve been trying to find our audience because we’d wonder how we could get more people moving. The conclusion we sort of came to was that the music wasn’t heavy enough.
RYAN: It’s been a good chance to bring in more of my own influences though like Deftones and Radiohead.
SAM: I suppose something that runs through all of my lyricism so far are themes of identity and relationships. This EP just expands upon that really. There’s definitely an overarching story across the EPs so far, but some songs do branch off to explore other ideas. ‘Face’ was written because of the subjects Sam Fender spoke of in ‘Dead Boys’. Even though the story is fictional, I think it’s something that a lot of young guys can relate to and hopefully it helps them to feel seen.
What can new listeners to The Worry People expect?
RYAN: The unexpected. Genuine emotion, these songs come from Sam’s life so there’s a realness in all that we make.
SAM: I’d like to think it’s an exciting time to be a new listener. We’ve got enough songs out now that showcase our highs, but also that we aren’t afraid to slow things down. I never wanted to fall into the trap of chasing a particular type of song and it’s starting to pay off with a diverse bunch of songs to check out.
RYAN: The live performances have generally felt a lot more energetic that what we’ve recorded, but this is the first time we think the EP sounds like our shows.
What was the song writing process of the songs on 'Always Sunny In My Mind’?
SAM: This time round I think I made more of an effort to get the demos as far as I could from home. Before now, there’s still been ideas moving around in the recording process and I think it shows in the confidence of how this EP has been played.
RYAN: It was nice to have the time to sit with the songs before we recorded them. We were ahead of schedule so we felt more confident going into the studio
SAM: I really like how in the first two EPs we sound like a two-piece, but it has been really fun to explore and bring in more elements like the strings players on August.
What can readers expect from The Worry People in 2024?
RYAN: Mostly more opportunities to come and see us play. Our main focus for the next year is to play as much and as far afield as we can.
SAM: So definitely keep an eye on our socials for updates. We’ll also get that merch store up and running that I should’ve sorted out in February. We’ve been lucky enough to do a lot of shows in 2023, but I’m excited to take things a bit further and meet more people.
RYAN: We’ve already got some more ideas that we’re working on but it’ll be good to take this EP with us.
SAM: We’re really happy with how this EP turned out and it feels good to have it under our belt, but we’re still exploring and finding what our sound is and where we fit in. We have so many influences so we’ll be spending a good amount of time figuring out how to work them all in without things getting too crazy.
RYAN: We hope everyone enjoys listening to our music as much as we enjoy writing and playing it. Keep streaming and telling everyone you know about Always Sunny In My Mind.
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