Weekend Warriors. Ashbury’s Auditory Plan Of Attack [Interview]
Let's Share This Monsoon Season News!
Follow + Connect with Weekend Warriors
The Weekend Warriors are an electronic music duo from the East Coast that have making quite the ruckus. Comprised of members Andre and Joe, the Weekend Warriors bring to the table an exhilarating catalog that features melodic masterpieces and brutal baselines alike. With tracks like “Rage” and their collab with Jaenga, “Monsters,” Weekend Warriors will make sure that no one leaves the dance-floor before thoroughly breaking their back. Join the ride as Joe and Andre enter the storm and take us through a little snapshot of their journey.
Weekend Warriors Interview:
Q1: How did the two of you meet and how did the Weekend Warriors project begin?
A: We met at a private DJ company that mostly did weddings. After working for a while
we both realized we had the same dream to be dubstep DJ’s as opposed to radio music that we
didn’t really enjoy to begin with.
J: We met actually working for a private party company. We both started talking about
dance music and we became friends ever since. It started when we both were looking to make
music together and after a few collars we decided that we could make a really good duo.
Q2: How do you utilize each other’s strengths to build off one another creatively?
A: There is so much music that is just out there on the internet so when we aren’t chillin
for a while we eventually find a bunch of different music that will inspire us both in different
ways. When it comes to our music we are pretty diverse, and we have songs out in pretty much
every sub-genre of edm/bass music, so i feel like us just listening to a bunch of different things
and kinda blending the genres and our interests into our own music is how we build off each
other creatively
J: We have different aspects we love about our music, we believe this is reflected in our
tunes. Andres attention has a great attention to detail, whereas Joe is more experimental in his
approach. We think this is what allows us to bring out the best in one another.
Q3: What motivates the two of you the most? Where do you see this project in the next 5 years?
A: Playing shows and just hanging around all the awesome people that come with the
community motivates me. I feel like that is when i’m at my happiest when we are on stage just
throwing down my favorite tunes with all my friends. We hope to be on tour within the next 5
years sharing our music across the country and who knows maybe one day the globe.
J: just making the best music we can. Seeing people react and connect to us is the best
part about music, there isn’t another feeling like it. We would like to see the project taking us to
different places across the country to share our music.
Q4: How did y’all come up with the name, Weekend Warriors? What does it mean to you each
individually to be a weekend warrior?
A: We felt it was a good name as a duo. We also felt it was relatable in our own lives,
and many other people as well. A ‘Weekend Warrior‘ is defined as someone who partakes in
activities in their spare time, so whether that is going to the gym, playing sports, partying,
making music, going to festivals, etc. We felt it was very relatable.
J: We came up with the name because we both were working jobs that were on the
weekend. Seeing that everyone is really working for the weekend so to speak really resonated
with us. Everyone who goes to music festivals is a weekend warrior. We believe that being a
weekend warrior is someone that really just gets “through” the work week. Someone who can’t
wait for that 5 o’clock Friday feeling.
Q5: What are the advantages to being a duo and working with a partner in the music industry?
Are there any disadvantages or hurdles?
A: Sometimes life is busy and music has to take a step back, this is when having a
partner/being in a duo is nice. Not only do we grab ideas from each other but when one of us is
drained or just busy with other life things, usually one of us is still on the grind. Sometimes there
are disadvantages as well, most of them are not for much concern anymore but at the beginning it
took a little used to mixing in a B2B format, especially when we can’t meet up all the time to
practice, but we generally know what we are doing going into shows and it’s usually a very
heavy experience no matter what! Also just a little funny thing, when we first started playing
shows, we like to go crazy on stage and flail our arms around, so it’s safe to say we have
accidentally smacked each other up a bit in a live scenario. We have learned to avoid this over
time
J: Some advantages are the ability to get things done when the other can’t. It’s a
good match as we still do have day jobs. Some disadvantages are that we have opposite
schedules sometimes, so we have to do a lot of work at different times. It’s a gift and a
curse.
Q6: What do each of you individually bring to the table in the Weekend Warrior project?
A: we try to be as 50/50 as possible. We have been a duo now for just about 3 years now
so we know each other’s strengths/weaknesses a little more so we work around those to the best
of our ability.
J: Andre brings a great knowledge of live recording with bands. This brings a more
human element to our approach on sound. Joe brings great mixing skills and a love for
experimenting with new sounds.
Q7: What have been some of your favorite memories along your journey?
A: Honestly there have been so many to stand out, every show, every festival is a new
adventure, and we just love seeing where the road leads us. Some people we have met in the
music world have become best friends and family so there are definitely tons of things I hope to
never forget, and hopefully many more memories to come!
J: Without a doubt working with our friend Jaenga on the track Monsters. Seeing it get on
Deadbeats and UKF was one of the most surreal experiences ever. We both look up to Zeds
Dead and have been listening to UKF since we started. To be included on that meant the world
to us.
Q8: How has your musical career been impacted by the pandemic? Have you utilized services
such as live streaming to stay engaged with your fam base?
A: The pandemic put a halt to all of our 2020 shows and festivals which of course was a
major bummer. However it did give me time to reflect on life in general, it’s been kind of a
healing year for me, and even though shows aren’t a thing for us right now, we have been
working hard in the studio producing a ton of music that we cannot wait to share with everyone.
We have done a couple live streams on twitch. We even hosted a little series for a while called
Faded Fridays where we invited a bunch of DJ’s to do essentially virtual shows. We are on hiatus
for now on Faded Fridays but we do have some more live streams coming up!
J: This pandemic has really hit everyone really hard. We, like everyone else have been
trying to find new outlets to stay current and not miss a beat (so to speak). We have used live
streaming as well as really using the time to get better in our music making process. We have
made a TON of music.
Q9: How important is branding to your project?
A: I think branding is just as important as the music. I think the music should always
come first, but music is a business and if you want to get to the main stages you need to have that
proper marketing, We are still working on our branding everyday but I feel we are finally really
starting to nail it with proper visuals that go with the music, and proper artwork to match the
vibes we produce!
J: We think branding is important to us however the music always comes first. We make
sure that the music is the best it can be before anything. We do enjoy coming up with new and
fun designs for our look. We would say it’s almost as fun as making the music.
Q10: What is your plan of attack after COVID?
A: We plan to come back harder and better than ever after COVID, we have been
working on so much music so our first couple of shows back are going to be wild! I can’t wait
for the reactions on all the new tunes!
J: After COVID we plan on getting back to playing live shows. We, like everyone else
have been excited to show people how we have evolved during this time.
Q11: What is each of your favorite original tracks?
A: This is a tough question for me and this always changes, but right now I’d have to
say our collab with Jaenga “Monsters” That is by far our biggest release to date and got released
on some Deadbeats/UKF 2 of our dream labels.
J: Either our new one “I’ll be” or one of our first “Pump It Up Louda”
Q12: What are your favorite types of events to play?
A: For me, the bigger the better. We have played a ton of small shows and we have been
lucky enough to be put onto some pretty big shows and festivals as well. That energy from the
massive stages and the massive crowds literally fuels me and brings me to life. There is no other
feeling like it in the world.
J: We love them all small, large and everything in between. We have had some of our
best memories at festivals though. Down to Earth and High Caliber were some of our favorites to
date.
Q13: Who or what are your biggest inspirations?
A: My biggest inspirations right now are probably my more immediate circle of friends in
the music industry, everyone has been making major moves lately and it is crazy inspiring! Other
than that for a more influential what got me into the scene answer I would have to go with:
Excision/Rusko/Skrillex/Circus Records/UKF
Q14: If you could write a song right now about absolutely anything in the world, what would it
be and why?
A: I’m honestly not too sure, we go into most projects clear headed with nothing iE
mind and kinda just let it flow. However we do have a heavy metal”ish” song coming out and we also have a melodic tune coming out, and we have an awesome vocalist working with us on that,
so we can’t wait to see what they came up with and how their lyrics vibe.
Q15: Since we are full swing in the holiday season, which holidays are your favorites and why?
A: For me I’d have to say Christmas was always the biggest deal in our family growing
up. Who doesn’t love presents right?
___
More Weekend Warriors Music:
More Music:
Follow Us:
Interview by: Steven Winer
Edited by: Garth Jones
