Interview: Into It. Over It

Whilst overseas promoting his recently released full length album, 'PROPER' with Broadway calls and The Swellers. Evan Weiss, better known by his stage name Into It. Over It, feigns sickness from food poisoning to speak to Alter The Press about his recent US tour with Frank turner, his musical influences and also the promise of a second album.

Alter The Press: 'PROPER' came out after the 'Twelve Towns' album, what was your mindset for writing a debut album rather than another themed EP?
Evan Weiss: 'PROPER' was a completely different writing session, it was kind of similar to the split with Koji where we were writing songs to put onto a record but it was way more material in such a short amount of time. We had a span of 3 months that were separated by two tours to write 12 songs, I had never done that much in one time - usually we only write one or two songs, record it and be done with it and repeat. Nick who plays in Stay Ahead of the Weather and I pretty much wrote the whole new record together and we were working on it a lot in between tours but we ended up in the studio doing 14 days of straight recording these 12 songs that we had. So it was a completely different, stressful project in its own right. Instead of having to write material continuously over the entire year or put out a series of 7' singles over the course of the year. It was a challenge in itself in a different way.

ATP: Why did you choose not to put any prior material onto 'PROPER'?
Evan: It was time to put out a new record. 'Twelve Towns' was all prior material, those were all songs released on split singles over the year. The Koji split songs, at the point where I went into record 'PROPER', were all a year older.

ATP: You just wrapped up a huge US tour with Frank Turner, how did that come about?
Evan: It was awesome, he invited me to come along, I had never met him before. It was me, him and his band and Andrew Jackson Jihad and we all rode in one vehicle. Got along super well, the shows were incredible and a lot better than any of us could have expected. It was really really fortunate and it was a great way to ring in a new record.

ATP: I've heard he's a bit of a party animal.
Evan: I don't know, Frank can get down. He was toned down in the states. We were playing a lot of shows for 6 weeks and we only had a few days off, we all got sick at one point and he was the first one to get really sick and any time someone was ready to party, someone else would fall ill or would need a good nights sleep so it was always this revolving door of people wanting to party and people who couldn't. For the most part, we all kept our cool because we didn't want to get sick and the shows were so big that we didn't wanna mess with that.

ATP: After being in several bands lineups, what was your decision to go it alone?
Evan: I've been doing Into It. Over It. for four years, Stay Ahead of the Weather is an extension of IIOI. When the Progress broke up, I spent years being in that band wanting to do things but people had stuff like school and girlfriends. The reason to go solo was I want to do stuff and I wanna do it now and I wanna get it done and I want to have something to show for it so I don't have to rely on anyone else.

ATP: Most of the songs you've recorded feature a full band but you tour by yourself, are there plans to organize a full band at all?
Evan: There have been, it's a matter of finding musicians who have the same drive and work ethic. Who are excited to play songs even though they didn't write them and people who want to put forth that work over the next few years and are willing to drop other things to commit time to a band. Everyone I wanted to play with back home all have full time jobs so Nick, who played on the record, is a doctor so I can't get him to stop being a doctor. It's a slow process because I want to make sure that it's done right. It's something I'm actively trying to do.

ATP: Your music, I would say, is the midpoint between pop-punk and indie. Who are your influences?
Evan: The Progress and Into It. Over It. don't sound very different, I've been writing the same songs since I was 15 years old and mid 90s emo and indie-rock have really been my main influences as far as that's concerned. As I've gotten older, especially now, a lot of my influences are mostly my friends. It seems like all the bands in my scene back home are all people that I know and are all doing so much awesome stuff at once, that's the biggest influences the continuing drive to want to be able to create and do new things because all your friends around you are doing it.

ATP: Each collection of your songs come with a theme, do you believe there's an overall theme prevalent throughout 'PROPER'?
Evan: All the songs are about stories from my last year of living in Chicago between writing the Koji split and now and it's actually the most personal record that I've ever written. Even though it might not seem that way, this is the record that really hits closest to home.

ATP: You collaborate a lot with people. Alive or dead, who would you like to collaborate with the most?
Evan: I love Sunny Day Real Estate and I would love to work with Jeremy Enigk. When we were doing 'PROPER' Nathan Ellis from The Casket Lottery came in and sang on the record and I was so honored to have him on the record. I really love Jeremy Enigk's stuff. There's so many people but I'd say someone who I really admire from when I was really young.

ATP: You and Koji just celebrated a year since the release of the 'IIOI/KOJI' split, how far would you say you have come since?
Evan: I think I've come quite a ways. Since that record came out I've been on tour non-stop. I've not really had a break since February 2009, aside from recording that split but since then I've noticed an exponential growth between each tour. I've become a lot more confident as a musician and a lot more confident on stage because I've been constantly doing it. I feel like I've gotten a lot better at it. It was a total surprise how it was totally successful in our eyes.

ATP: Can we expect to see a follow up to 'PROPER' in the coming year?
Evan: We're talking about starting the writing process in the fall. This fall coming up. I'm basically out on tour until about July, it's pretty gnarly, I've got some time off in between but only for a couple weeks and I head back to the UK in May.

ATP: Would those be headline shows?
Evan: I would like to headline some shows around the UK, I'd be excited to play a decent lengths set and not be stressed for time and enjoy myself a little bit more. I tell stories so much that it feels like I only get 7 or 8 songs in and so it would be nice to play about 12 songs and talk in between.

George Gadd

'PROPER' is out now on No Sleep Records.