WSTR is an English
pop punk
Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...
band based in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England. Their lineup consists of Sammy Clifford (vocals), Phil Wynne (guitar), Alex Tobijanski (bass guitar) and Sean Carson (drums). They are currently signed to Life or Death Records, after previously being signed to
No Sleep Records
No Sleep Records is an American independent record label in Huntington Beach, California. They were founded by Chris Hansen in 2006 and have released records by artists including Balance and Composure, La Dispute (band), La Dispute, and The Wonde ...
and
Hopeless Records
Hopeless Records is an American independent record label in Van Nuys, California.
History
Hopeless Records was founded in 1993 by Louis Posen. The label's artists are generally considered to fall under the genres of punk rock, pop punk, post-ha ...
.
History
Formation and ''SKRWD'' EP (2015)
Formed in 2015, the band signed with
No Sleep Records
No Sleep Records is an American independent record label in Huntington Beach, California. They were founded by Chris Hansen in 2006 and have released records by artists including Balance and Composure, La Dispute (band), La Dispute, and The Wonde ...
and released its first single, "Graveyard Shift", in March, of which the music video included cameos from members of
Neck Deep. Following this, WSTR played at the Pinky Swear Records Fest in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
on 2 May, headlined by
Man Overboard, and at Furyfest in Liverpool on 3 May, also playing at the Empire Festival in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
on 17 May. WSTR played at the Jump On Demand Records Festival, also in Liverpool, later that June, the
Hevy Fest in
Port Lympne
Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve near the town of Hythe in Kent, England is set in and incorporates the historic Port Lympne Mansion, and landscaped gardens designed by architect Sir Herbert Baker, for Sir Philip Sassoon.
The estate with an Edward ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and the Make A Scene Festival in
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
,
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, in August.
The band's first EP, ''SKRWD'', was released on 4 September. It was produced and recorded by Seb Barlow, the brother of Neck Deep's frontman Ben Barlow (later becoming a member himself), at Celestial Recordings. They then played at the Hype Fest in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
on 28 November. In December, WSTR was nominated for Best British Newcomer by ''
Rock Sound
''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, e ...
'', with
Boston Manor
Boston Manor is an English Jacobean manor house built in 1622 with internal alterations, intensively restored in later centuries and Boston Manor Park is the adjoining publicly owned green space including a lake. It was the manor house of ...
winning the category.
''Red, Green or Inbetween'' (2016-2017)
In early 2016, the band was included in ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
s Class of 2016 list. They played at the Less Than Three Festival in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
and opened for Neck Deep on the European leg of their World Tour, with
Creeper. Later in July, they played the 2000Trees Festival at Upcote Farm in
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
,
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
. They released a single, "Lonely Smiles", from their upcoming album in September.
In support of the first album, the band went on its first headlining tour, "The Inbetween Tour", from October to November 2016, with support from
Milestones
A milestone is a marker of distance along roads.
Milestone may also refer to:
Measurements
*Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project
*Software release life cycle state, s ...
, also playing at the
Slam Dunk Festival. During this time, the band recorded an acoustic version of the album's second single, "Footprints", which was made available on a "name your price" basis on their
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
page. They additionally opened for
Roam
Real-time optimally adapting mesh (ROAM) is a continuous level of detail algorithm that optimizes terrain meshes. On modern computers, sometimes it is more effective to send a small amount of unneeded polygons to the GPU, rather than burden the ...
on a UK/Ireland tour in support of the album, ''
Backbone'', and released a third single, "Featherweight".
On 20 January 2017, the band released its first full-length album, ''Red, Green or Inbetween''. They then supported
Seaway on a UK tour, with The Gospel Youth, and returned to Slam Dunk later that summer. WSTR also played at the Truck Festival at Hill Farm in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, the
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
, the Deadbolt Festival in Manchester and the 2Q Festival in
Lincoln, as well as opening for
With Confidence on an Australian tour.
Signing to Hopeless Records and ''Identity Crisis'' (2018)
On 4 June 2018, the band announced that it was signing with
Hopeless Records
Hopeless Records is an American independent record label in Van Nuys, California.
History
Hopeless Records was founded in 1993 by Louis Posen. The label's artists are generally considered to fall under the genres of punk rock, pop punk, post-ha ...
, and followed the signing by a playing a set at the
Download Festival
Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...
in the UK. WSTR opened for
As It Is on several legs of the ''
okay.'' tour, first in Europe with
Courage My Love
Courage My Love is a Canadian rock band from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Formed in 2009 the band consists of twin sisters Mercedes Arn-Horn and Phoenix Arn-Horn in addition to bassist Brandon Lockwood.
History
The group was discovered at a battl ...
and then in the UK with
Like Pacific
Like Pacific is a Canadian rock band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2010. Their debut studio album ''Distant Like You Asked'' was released in February 2016, and charted at number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Heatseekers Albums chart.
History
Like Pac ...
and
Grayscale. On 31 August, a second LP was released, ''Identity Crisis'', which was led by the singles "Bad to the Bone", "Crisis" and "Silly Me". To support its release, the band joined Neck Deep on the second North American leg of ''
The Peace and the Panic
''The Peace and the Panic'' is the third studio album by Welsh pop punk band Neck Deep. After the release of '' Life's Not out to Get You'' in mid-2015, guitarist Lloyd Roberts left the group and was replaced by Sam Bowden of Blood Youth/Climates ...
'' Tour with
Trophy Eyes
Trophy Eyes is an Australian punk rock band from Newcastle, formed in 2013. They are currently signed to Hopeless Records. The band currently consists of vocalist John Floreani, bassist and backing vocalist Jeremy Winchester, lead guitarist A ...
and
Stand Atlantic
Stand Atlantic are an Australian pop punk band from Sydney, formed in 2012. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Bonnie Fraser, guitarist David Potter, bassist Miki Rich, and drummer Jonno Panichi.
Stand Atlantic gained prominence in the Au ...
, and went on a headlining UK tour with Between You & Me and Hey Charlie.
"Filthy", ''Give Yourself a Hell'' and ''SKRWD: Reimagined'' EPs (2019-2020)
In early 2019, WSTR went on tour again as the supporting act for
The Faim
The Faim are a four-piece band from Perth, Australia. The band consists of singer Josh Raven, bassist/keyboardist Stephen Beerkens, guitarist Samuel Tye and drummer Linden Marissen. The band released their debut EP ''Summer Is a Curse'' in 2018 a ...
's UK tour. A cover EP titled ''Give Yourself a Hell'' was released, with cover versions of "
Give Yourself a Try
"Give Yourself a Try" is a song by English band the 1975 from their third studio album, '' A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships'' (2018). The song was written by band members George Daniel, Matthew Healy, Adam Hann and Ross MacDonald, while ...
" by
The 1975 and "
Gives You Hell
"Gives You Hell" is a song by American rock band the All-American Rejects, released as the lead single from their third studio album, ''When the World Comes Down'' on September 30, 2008.
The song is The All-American Rejects' most successful son ...
" by
The All-American Rejects, and played a third Slam Dunk Festival that summer. In autumn, WSTR embarked on the full run of The Noise & Ones to Watch Presents Stand Atlantic and The Faim Co-Headline U.S. Tour, with fellow openers Hold Close and Point North playing on select dates. While on tour, they released a new song, "Filthy".
On 25 November, WSTR set out on a headlining UK tour, starting in
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and ending in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
on 8 December. They then joined
Grayscale,
Hot Mulligan and LURK on the ''Nella Vita'' North American Tour: Part II.
On 14 August 2020, WSTR released new versions of two previous songs, "Ain't Great" and "South Drive", from their first EP ''SKRWD'' on an EP titled ''SKRWD: Reimagined''.
Future (2021-present)
In late 2021, WSTR announced they had signed a record deal with Life or Death Records and released the single "Jobbo" shortly after.
The band would return at a sold out all-day festival, Twisted Summer Jam, in July 2022 alongside
Trash Boat
Trash Boat is a British punk rock band formed in St Albans in 2014. The group consists of Tobi Duncan (lead vocals), Dann Bostock (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Ryan Hyslop (lead guitar), James Grayson (bass, backing vocals), and Oakley Moff ...
in
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, United Kingdom.
This show would be the introduction of new guitarist Phil Wynne and new drummer Sean Carson.
On October 28, 2022, a new single “Bot Lobby” was released from an upcoming album due for release in 2023. This was then followed by a headline UK tour starting with a sold out show at the Night & Day in Manchester. Concluding with a hometown show in Liverpool on November 19, 2022.
On January 27, 2023, the band released another new single, titled “3 Days Sober”.
Name
Originally named Waster, the group discovered a band with the same name from Canada. Because both bands were selling under the same name on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
, the Canadian band issued a "
cease and desist
A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
" letter. The group ultimately decided to keep the most similar name as possible, removing the vowels, leaving simply WSTR.
Musical style and influences
WSTR is generally credited as a
pop punk
Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...
band. The group's lead singer, Sammy Clifford, has said that many of his musical influences were from the United States, including
Blink-182 and
New Found Glory
New Found Glory (formerly A New Found Glory) is an American rock band from Coral Springs, Florida, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of Jordan Pundik (lead vocals), Ian Grushka (bass guitar), Chad Gilbert (lead guitar, backing vocal ...
.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Red, Green or Inbetween'' (2017)
*''Identity Crisis'' (2018)
* TBC (2023)
EPs
*''SKRWD'' (2015)
*''Give Yourself a Hell'' (2019)
*''SKRWD: Reimagined'' (2020)
Singles
*"Filthy" (2019)
*"All the Rage" (2021)
*"Jobbo" (2021)
*"Bot Lobby" (2022)
*”3 Days Sober” (2023)
Music videos
* "Graveyard Shift" (2015)
* "Fair Weather" (2015)
* "Lonely Smiles" (2016)
* "Footprints" (2016)
* "Eastbound & Down" (2017)
* "Bad to the Bone" (2018)
* "Crisis" (2018)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Musical groups from Liverpool
2015 establishments in England
Musical groups established in 2015
Hassle Records artists
Musical quintets
No Sleep Records artists
English pop punk groups
Hopeless Records artists