by Anabel DFlux
— Sr. Photojournalist —
Anabel DFlux had a great time catching up with party punk band We Are Wasted, based out of Santa Clarita, California. From songs about having a great time, getting the crowd boozed up, We Are Wasted is a wild ride and one you don’t want to miss! The group chatted about their musical endeavors as a whole, their live performances (including their epic show with Buckcherry), current album, and what’s coming next for them.
We Are Wasted is Dylan Breen, Ryan Fulkerson, Josh Saunders, Tim Falco …
Anabel: Hey hey! Thanks so much for chatting with me today! How are you?
DYLAN: Super! Thanks for asking!
RYAN: Doing good.
TIM: I’m/We’re doing great! So happy to be here today and thank YOU for having us!
Anabel: I just have to chime in here- your band name is such a fun one! What have been the most amusing comments or questions you’ve heard in regard to your name?
DYLAN: The name definitely flows with our lifestyle! Most people love it and want to come party with us, Others think it will hold us back from “making it” but we’re happy with the direction the band is going and hope it’ll bring more fans into cheers their beers with us!!
RYAN: Our name is definitely a fun one. It’s like an open invitation to everyone to embrace the party and enjoy the experience of life together.
TIM: There is almost always an instant smile on peoples faces when they hear the name and I think that’s because it’s so relatable- who DOESN’T like to party!? The laughs and reactions to the name are like an instant connection to the times that those people partied and maybe got a little too crazy HAHA it’s a great positive energy!
Anabel: How did you all come together and what was the unifying force?
DYLAN: Me and Ryan have known each other since elementary school and have jammed together ever since we both picked up the guitar. I’ve been writing a lot of these songs for the past 10 years and I remember seeing steel panther at the key club when I was 19 and I realized I needed to find a band. So of course me and Ryan started jamming more and set out on a mission to find the perfect party band. We’ve had many different members over the last 8 years but we’ve found our core group with Josh on the bass and our newest edition Tim on drums. 2018 has been our biggest year yet and we don’t plan on slowing down!
RYAN: Dylan and I have been friends since we were kids. We realized we both had similar taste in music styles, we both played guitar, and we both wanted to bring music to the world so we started jamming.
TIM: I am Wasted’s newest member. I’ve been with the band for a few months now and I absolutely love the vibe and the energy, and the live shows are too much fun! My influences are nearly identical to the rest of the guys so transitioning into the group felt very natural and everything has been going great- I can’t wait to play drums on an engineer Wasted’s next album!
Anabel: Why punk? What pulls you towards this subculture?
DYLAN: To be honest I didn’t listen to much punk growing up. Ryan and I were big metal heads in high school and as I aged I started getting into all subgroups of metal which then led to punk. I’d say our style is a combination of all the different styles of metal and punk all mixed into one party!
RYAN: Dylan and I grew up as metalheads. We wanted to create an original sound by adding a little bit of metal style playing into punk rock.
TIM: If I said that Travis Barker and Blink 182 weren’t the reason, I’d be lying HAHA at the time ‘Enema Of The State’ came out I had just started to play drums- and even though all the other bands I listened to were from heavier genres and I primarily played those genres, I had a guilty pleasure and fascination with listening to that record over and over again learning all of the chops (which I’m pretty sure I still haven’t learned properly HAHA). From there I spent the next year going through all the ‘fast bands’ as I would call them- putting my Deftones and TOOL records on the shelf for the time being- and listening to everything from AFI and Pennywise, to Frenzal Rhomb, The Casualties, and anything else I could get my hands on. So really, it was a fascination with the drumming style that lured me in, and I still love it to this day.
Anabel: What are your goals as a collective?
DYLAN: Like all bands we just want our music to be heard by as many people as possible. Whether the money is there or not, we just want to share our love for music and partying with people around the world!
RYAN: Our goals would be to have people enjoy our music and have it mean something to them. Music has always helped me in tough times and I want our music to be there as a reminder that nobody is alone and to keep going
Anabel: Is your family musical? How did you get into playing?
DYLAN: All the guys on my dad’s side of the family are extremely music so I was born with it. My dad moved here from Ireland when he was around my age with his band to come to Hollywood and try and get famous. He had played shows with U2 back in Dublin and when they moved here they won the best act on the show Star Search in the 80s. He would be playing shows 4 times a week with multiple different instruments so I definitely was around music growing up. I thought myself piano when I was young and when I was 12 I finally asked him to teach me the guitar. Haven’t stopped playing since then
RYAN: I always loved music and wanted to be able to play music in any way. As I started listening to more and more metal, I wanted to be able to play as good as those guitarists, so I started teaching myself how to play.
TIM: Not one member of my family plays an instrument (laughs) when I was 12 I met a friend who was in the school band but also liked rock music and had a drum set at his house. He was nice enough to lend me a pair of drumsticks and showed me a basic 4/4 rock beat. I started playing on pillows and the bottoms of coffee cans in my room, and that’s when I think my parents started to notice my level of interest in drumming. After a few months of talking non-stop about it, we visited a relative who played drums off and on for most of his life. At the end of the visit, I was surprised with the greatest gift in the world- a drum kit! My parents had planned ahead to have one of the old spare drum kits gifted to me, and I was speechless. I also knew that now that I had a drum kit, I was absolutely going to have to practice and show them that the months of pestering were really over something I was passionate about and was going to stick with. As with anything it was incredibly hard at first, but I was determined and less than a year later I was playing everything my friend could play- and now, almost 20 years later, I’m still playing and learning new things every day.
Anabel: Tell me about your most recent release. What was the recording process like?
DYLAN: Our last album “Throw it Up” felt like it took forever to record. It took almost 2 and a 1/2 years mainly because it was hard for all of us to get the time off work to meet up and go to the studio. We had a small release and did a 4-day brewery tour to promote it. Luckily people seem to love it so the time it took paid off. We’re in the process of recording our third full-length album with Tim at his home studio and plan on finishing it in a few months.
RYAN: Our latest album “Throw It Up” was our first studio recorded album. We went on a 4-day brewery tour to release the album and had a great time doing it. The recording process was a little long but it was great seeing everything come together.
Anabel: How did you like your recent show at Canyon in Santa Clarita with Buckcherry?
DYLAN: The show with Buckcherry was amazing! I snuck backstage before they’re encore and got to meet them for a second. We’d love to play with them again if we ever have the chance. The canyon club is an amazing venue for us to have in Santa Clarita! We’re able to sell a ton of tickets since it’s in our hometown and we’re usually booked with some big name bands! We’ll be back in the very soon,
RYAN: We love playing The Canyon and it was awesome to open up for Buckcherry. It’s great to have an amazing venue local where we all grew up.
TIM: IT WAS AWESOME!! The Canyon is so cool and just what SCV has been missing for so many years. To open for a band that was huge back when we were first getting into music was very rad and inspiring, we hope they’ll have us play with them on the next time around!
Anabel: What is your favorite thing about performing on stage?
DYLAN: I love that I can be my drunken sloppy self and be accepted for it! I usually have my eyes closed while singing so it doesn’t matter if there’s 1 person in the crowd or 1 million, I’ll always put as much energy as I can into the show. I wish it would last forever.
RYAN: My favorite thing about playing on stage is the experience. It’s like one big party where everyone is happy and having a good time together.
TIM: There is just something about a venue full of people watching you that makes you focus and tap into a completely different and more capable mindset- and it allows you to just become a part of the song and pour everything into it. I rock out hard on stage, my neck is always sore for days after a show (laughs) but I don’t feel it or think about it in the moment, it’s just what happens, and I love it.
Anabel: If you could tour with anyone in the world, who would it be?
DYLAN: There are way too many bands we would love to tour with but I would have to say, Steel Panther, because they’re hilarious, extremely talented, and they know how to party. Our style would fit perfectly with theirs and they were a huge influence on us. That’s our goal at the moment!!
RYAN: There are so many bands that I would be honored to go on tour with. If I had to choose one I would go with Slipknot. I have been listening to them forever and their music has gotten me through a lot of hard times.
TIM: After everything I said about Blink 182 I’m pretty sure I would have to go with them (laughs), but there are seriously too many influences out there that I would love to just meet one day, let alone tour with!
Anabel: What has been the wildest musical memory to date?
DYLAN: Our daily lives are pretty wild as it is. I’d say this whole year has been wild for us with all the big name bands we’ve been playing with. First the Dan Band, then Alien ant Farm at the whiskey and most recently Buckcherry. All these shows have been too much fun and we’re really trying to push ourselves to continue getting these shows with the big name bands. Hopefully leading to more wild times.
RYAN: All of our moments are pretty wild haha. We like to make sure every experience is an experience to treasure.
Anabel: What are your future plans?
DYLAN: For now we’re focusing on this second full-length album and trying to find a record label that could help us expand our party legacy. We have a beer collaboration with our favorite local brewery Pocock coming very soon which is awesome and hopefully a guitar string endorsement coming as well. If things continue to go as awesome as they are now, 2019 will be a huge year for us.
RYAN: We are working on our second album right now and we will keep the party going.
Anabel: Any last words before we conclude this interview?
DYLAN: Don’t waste a sip of that fucking beer!
RYAN: Keep up with us on our Instagram to find out where you can come party with us
TIM: Thank you so much for having us! 2018 is going to be a big year for Wasted and we couldn’t be more excited to share it all with our fans! Much love!
Connect with We Are Wasted here:
wearewasted.bandcamp.com
wearewasted.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/we_are_wasted
facebook.com/wearewasted
soundcloud.com/we-are-wasted
