Cody Quistad - Wage War 'Stitching a Sophomore Masterpiece'

‘Heavy’, ‘diverse’, ‘experimental’ - these are just some of the words used to describe Florida bred band Wage War. The underdog musicians are set to release their sophomore record Deadweight. The album will follow up their stellar album Blueprints which took the metalcore world by pleasant surprise. (Our review of Deadweight is here)

It’s turning out to be a massive year for the band who are touring Australia for the very first time with Make Them Suffer in September - check it out here.

Rhythm guitarist Cody Quistad is bloody geed-up for the imminent release. “We’re feeling great man, super excited - it’s been a long time coming.” The Fearless Records rostered band have been working on Deadweight for quite a while. “We started recording about a year ago, so it’s been a lot of time that’s passed so it doesn't even feel real yet, a surreal feeling.”

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With the huge lead-up to the album’s release, the metalcore outfit have kept fans biting their nails in anticipation. “We announced the first song around March and we’ve been releasing [short] video documentaries photos and singles.” The band had to get creative to give fans everything that wanted, besides-well, the album itself.

A sophomore album is really important. It’s crucial because it’s the band’s first real opportunity to channel their creativity now that they are somewhat established. “A lot of the songs on our first album were written almost six years prior to the album even coming out” back when they were a local band playing shows - “so we really just took the best songs that we had and cast them together.

“Deadweight is a far more premeditated record and there’s a lot of thought, emotion and work put into the record to make it everything that it is. We pushed some boundaries for our band on the melodic side and the heavy side too.”

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Wage War certainly haven’t played it safe and clearly believe that with risk you can achieve great reward. “We took some chances on the record but it was always in the spirit of doing what we just feels comfortable - but of course there’s a little bit of anxiousness before [releasing] any record ‘cause you want people to like it after putting so much time into it.” The band have released three singles which have sported wild diversity and fresh decibels for fans.

As Sean Harmanis of Make Them Suffer noted with us recently, Wage War have been making waves in the U.S. for quite some time, Australia is only now starting to catch up. “We have [relentlessly] toured the States, almost to the point of burnout, but the more chances you have to play for different crowds and for various bands” - the sooner you get that exposure.

“Whether it’s a band like Chelsea Grin who are super heavy or I Prevail, a really up-and-coming band, you’re getting to play for different people all the time. We’ve never been to Australia so we’re obviously very excited about coming over there.”

“[Stitch is 100% immediately inspired by records like Meteora and Hybrid Theory, those are two gateway records for me. I worked backwards though (he chuckles), I got into Meteora first and then Hybrid Theory second but I remember being blown away by both of them and continued to listen to those records straight for like two years.”

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Quistad goes on to say that the sudden passing of Chester Bennington really took him aback. “I’ve never been one to be attached to many celebrity deaths - obviously death is a terrible thing, but there was something about this one that literally stopped me in my tracks - it was very heartbreaking.”

“I’d definitely put them up there as a band that we would have loved to tour with, even as farfetched as that sounds.” The guitarist expressed his sympathy to the band who are grieving through an awful loss. “For Linkin Park who have lost a brother and a bandmate is a really devastating situation.” Quistad also found it remarkable how fans have come together and paid tributes to the late Bennington.

On a lighter note, Wage War have geared up for what Quistad refers to as ‘Part 1’ of their Deadweight tour. “We’ve just started our first ever headliner right now with Gideon and Varials, we’re having a great time” - alluding to a ‘Part 2’ currently in the works - “but that’s something I can’t really talk about yet.” The band also have some shows with A Day to Remember and Moose Blood, not to mention the upcoming Australian tour.

“We’re going to play as tight as we possibly can, bringing a lot of energy and looking to have a really good time, this is a big tour for all of us.”

You can Pre-Order Wage War’s second full-length album Deadweight at the Apple store here and on Google Play here.

Make Them Suffer –  ‘Worlds Apart’ National Tour
Supported by Wage War and Alpha Wolf

Fri 15th Sep – Enigma Bar – Adelaide, SA
Tickets available here

Sat 16th Sep – Max Watt’s – Melbourne, VIC
Tickets available here  

Wed 20th Sep – The Basement – Canberra, ACT
Tickets available here 

Thu 21st Sep – Cambridge Hotel – Newcastle, NSW
Tickets available here

Fri 22nd Sep – The Brightside – Brisbane, QLD
Tickets available here

Sat 23rd Sep – Oxford Art Factory – Sydney, NSW
Tickets available here

Sun 24th Sep – Rosemount Hotel – Perth, WA
Tickets available here