Not My Weekend Shine With New Album "SHIMMER.SEASON"
Interview and photos by Mary Perez
Graphic by Rebekah Witt
If you’re one to follow smaller artists online, chances are you’ve seen Not My Weekend pop up on your TikTok or their name floating around discussions of underrated bands. With a discography rich with candid lyricism and catchy melodies, there’s no telling how long it’ll be before they’re a big name in the pop punk scene. The Wyoming-based band—comprised of vocalist Patrick Gilchrist, guitarist Nick Hudson, bassist Ed Ma, and drummer Noah Hammontree—recently hit the road on the Tour Story tour, accompanied by Worry Club and Broadside and headlined by This Wild Life. I sat down with ¾ of the band to discuss their latest album, Tour Story, and theme songs for themselves:
So of course, you guys just released your new album earlier this month. How does it feel now that it's out? What have you been feeling?
Patrick Gilchrist: I feel great. I feel super great that we're on tour while it's out. I've been telling everyone that it’s been a life goal of mine to have a full-length record released while we're on a full US tour, so that is a big checkmark for me. Yeah, I just feel great. I didn't expect people to like the songs “LIGHTNING” and “AMERICAN.DREAM” so much.
Noah Hammontree: From what I've seen, it's kind of all over the map, which is kind of a relief. Ten songs is a lot to put out at once, and to have a couple of people saying that they love each song is really cool because it means that the whole thing isn't just top-heavy.
Patrick: Yeah, Noah is right. I've noticed, playing these shows opening at seven o'clock every night, that some people know our older stuff. But the people that know our newer stuff, know all of it. That's sick.
I was gonna say it's very special for you to be able to be on tour and get to play these shows while promoting your new album. So, do you feel like you’ve been able to see the effects of this tour already?
Noah: I mean, it's, first of all, just such a great opportunity with some bands that we've been kind of trying to model ourselves after. Broadside, This Wild Life, scene legends, of course. Now that we're kind of a couple of weeks into it, people are showing up knowing the words, so that's really gratifying, just reaching new people.
Patrick: I’ve always taken a lot of pride in us as a live band, I think I think we're most fun to come see live, and I think we've gotten a lot noticeably better because this is our first opportunity to play 18 shows in a row or whatever. That's so creatively fulfilling, and then it's still a grind. We still have to post TikToks on social media every day, and we're still growing the album, just like we would be if we're sitting at home. But it feels so much better to be here playing shows and to get feedback from people in real time is awesome.
I was talking to some other people, and they were saying that you don’t normally tour and aren’t usually on the road. What's it been like getting to finally get this road experience?
Noah: It’s all we ever wanted.
Patrick: It's all we ever want. You know, we've been trying to do our own tours, like every band does, for years and years. The first night, we kind of settled into it like, “Okay, this is what we've been after.” Myself, Jared, and Ed have had so much touring experience working for other bands. We know what the process is supposed to be like, and then we'll go like, do our DIY tours. This is tough and different. To be in a position where it's the process that I'm expecting and that I'm excited about, matched with our band and singing on stage, is very good. It’s a huge step up for us. This Wild Life has given so many bands at our level that exact opportunity, and the fact that they think we're worthy of that now means a lot.
Noah: I mean, it's so cool to get to see them do it every because, at this level, it's really hard to find somebody that puts more effort into it and does a cleaner production. We're just kind of trying to soak everything that we can.
Patrick: Pretty much everything about the way our band operates, business-wise, I want to model off of This Wild Life, so I'm trying to follow specifically those two bands in terms of business.
Definitely. Going back to the album, since this is your sophomore record, this is when you start to define what your music sounds like and what you want people to know your music to sound like. So what decisions along the way did you make while creating the album, and what differed between this and your first record?
Patrick: On our first EP and the first full-length, I was still exploring a lot of different creative avenues. I think, specifically, both of those projects were very all over the place on purpose. They were kind of like practicing ADHD, in the sense that each song would be a totally different genre from the last, whereas this is much more deliberate, edgy pop punk that's early 2000s-inspired. A lot of that is in the visuals, the music videos, and the clothing we're wearing. That feels really good. I've told everyone my whole life that I want to do a lot of everything. That means making an album that's all over the place, and it means making an album like this that's very cohesive and controlled. I think people are responding well to it, so we'll do more like that in the future, for sure
Noah: I also appreciate Jared Gaines, the producer and kind of mastermind behind this entire project; we’re currently playing guitar with him right now. I appreciate that, while he was really honing in on that cohesive sound that Pat was talking about, he also sort of let us have more Not My Weekend-esque songs from the past. They came out really cool. Some of my favorites on the record, specifically “HURRICANE.WEATHER,” may be the most fun to play live. It's really cool to just have a song that's groovy and funky and happy, and then we can go back into that and other avenues that we hadn't explored before.
Of course, you guys had several different collaborations on the album. What was it like getting to bring in those new voices and new elements to your music that you haven't had before?
Patrick: From the beginning of when we started recording, I said that I wanted our album to be as much of a celebration of the state of the scene and our friends right now as possible because I'm just a really collaborative guy and want to work with as many people as possible. I'm just really proud of the kind of current state of bands that can come up on TikTok or the radio or touring. There are so many different possibilities, and the fact that Josh, Brian, Eric from Heart Attack Man, and Kellin Quinn were all available and wanted to do it with us meant so much. I think all of their parts elevate all of the songs so much. I wanted more people on the record, so there would have been way more if it were up to me.
Noah: It’s really one of those moments when, day to day in a band, we feel like it's always stressful. There's always things going on, but you kind of take a step back, you're like, “Oh my god, Kellin Quinn is on our song.”
Patrick: Yeah, I remember we had “LIGHTNING” written with Eric from Heart Attack Man, but we didn't know who was going to sing that chorus. I called Noah from a family trip, and he was like, “Yeah, Brian from The Home Team's gonna do it.” I was like, “Oh, that'll be great!” There are moments like that where you just feel really excited for a second, and I think that comes up kind of every time with a feature.
Noah: Yeah. None of it was shoehorned in; they were just really, really good.
All the people that you collaborated with have very distinct voices and styles. Do you feel like they added some sort of different element or changed the meaning of their parts?
Noah: I mean, it's just awesome to have powerhouse vocalists on a song—specifically “LIGHTNING,” just that chorus is so huge as a result of Brian being on it. He's one of the best vocalists.
Patrick: I said in a separate interview that I love Josh's part that he wrote for “OVERLOAD” because I could never get away with saying vampire stuff. He can't because he's that cool. Now there's a Not My Weekend song with a vampire verse. I would never get away with that, so it's awesome that he's there and a part of it. Brian is singing words that Eric from Heart Attack Man wrote, which would just never, ever happen. Right, so the fact that he's singing it, and the fact that it came together on our record is so funny and fun and cool.
Let's talk tour: your favorite dates so far, any memorable moments, crowd reactions. How has it been?
Nick Hudson: We had a lot of fun in New York just last night because we got to see a bunch of our friends from our hometown that we went to high school, middle school, and elementary school with. That's a very fulfilling part of being on the road: when you get to run into people that you know, in addition to meeting new people and just playing music for larger crowds than we have in the past.
Patrick: There are a lot of personal moments where people that we would play shows for in basements in Wyoming are watching us at Gramercy Theatre in New York. That's awesome.
Noah: I think, specifically, Pittsburgh was a great show. I think Ann Arbor sold out. Plenty of milestones.
Patrick: I don't think bands talk about it often enough, but so much of it comes down to the stage. I loved the stage in Cleveland, so I had a really good day. So much of my mood is like that. I'll have so much fun being up there, and then the crowd has more fun, and everything's good.
Nick: It's also worth mentioning Denver playing at The Marquis, as we played there before but not a show quite on this level.
Patrick: We headlined The Marquis to like four people, so to be opening The Marquis, one of those four people was at that show.
What's your pick for album of the year other than your own?
Noah: I'm gonna be a brown-noser and say Hotel Bleu. It's so good. We actually were listening in the car, and it came out just on the drive. With every song, we were like, “Oh, no, it's this one.” Then the next one is like, “Oh, no, it's this one.” Just by the end of it, it’s great getting to see those songs live every night.
Patrick: I'll say Never Fade by This Wild Life, and whoever's playing drums in the video for “No More Waiting” is an amazing drummer. Killer. Probably super handsome under that.
Noah: Props to those guys for always kind of pushing the envelope and all the features.
Nick: Those are both fine choices. I would agree with either of those. For me, it's an album that's a little bit lesser known by an artist named Simon Linsteadt album called Mud Season. I like it a lot.
If you could choose the theme song for yourself, what would you choose?
Noah: I may go with “High Horse” by Kacey Musgraves; it plays before our set every night, and I was just remembering how much I love that.
Patrick: I was gonna say yours should be “One Week” by the Barenaked Ladies. Maybe “Year 3000” by the Jonas Brothers. That really encapsulates me as a person and also just my music tastes in general.
Nick: One that comes to mind is “Any Color You Like” by Pink Floyd.
A celebrity that you'd fangirl over?
Patrick: I always tell people that I thought that I had been starstruck before until I met Stan Lee. I've been fortunate in my life to meet a ton of people that I look up to. I've been a little bit nervous to meet a few people, but meeting him before he passed, my heart dropped in my stomach. I was like, “Oh, that's what they mean.” It's a different experience.
Noah: Short answer: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Nick: Yeah, I would say Paul McCartney. Yeah, the one who is absolutely still possible. McCartney could happen.
Any messages that you'd like to send your fans?
Noah: Just thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to be a band at all and to be doing what we're doing now, letting us be creative.
Patrick: Thanks for supporting small bands, and thanks for supporting the culture. There are so many people that have gigantic streaming songs or big YouTube channels that just can't play a live show. So the fact that we're on our level and some people show up knowing the words is so important to me, and that's awesome.
Over the three dates of Tour Story that I attended, I absolutely loved getting to watch Not My Weekend tear it up each night and really bring the energy early on. After their fun performances, the band would also hang around their merch table throughout the night, greeting fans and taking photos. If you haven’t already jumped on the NMW train, now’s the time because 2024 is bound to be even bigger. Their new album, SHIMMER.SEASON, is available on all streaming services now.