Bringing back big rock
We Are Harlot’s old-school arena sound pays homage to music they grew up on
There was a time when big, flashy rock ’n’ roll bands dominated the airwaves: KISS, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Def Leppard – they were a dime a dozen. Now they’ve become more of a commodity, and although old school rock bands certainly still exist, they don’t have the same mainstream popularity they once did.
But We Are Harlot is looking to change that. The music of the California four-piece is a throwback to the glossy, flashy sounds of arena rock from the late ’70s and early ’80s, which is a style that even the band’s members recognize might not be immediately marketable.
“If any kid came to me and said they wanted to start a rock band in this day and age, I’d say, ‘Don’t do it,’ ” said Jeff George, We Are Harlot’s guitarist. “That’s just not the fashion. But for us, that’s what we grew up on, that stuff, and that’s what’s in us. We wanted to make a record and play in a band that was like what we wanted to hear.”
George met vocalist Danny Worsnop (previously of the metalcore band Asking Alexandria) during a New Year’s Eve party in 2010, which is when they started throwing around the idea of starting a band together.
“And you know how it is – after you have your first two, three hundred drinks, the crazy talking starts,” George said. “You’re like, ‘Yeah, man, we should start a band! I’ll send you some music!’ In L.A., that happens every day, and the next morning, you’re like, ‘That guy was a clown. I’m never doing music with him.’ But I sent this guy some music, then he sent me some.
“And literally, dude, two days later we moved in together and started this band. That’s how organic and how weird it was.”
The guys in the band have been roommates for the past four years, and they’ve been writing songs consistently during that time.
“When you live together and you play in a band together and you party together, those are all grounds for a lot of fighting and arguments,” George said. “But we’ve never had a fight, man. It’s really wild. There’s nothing better than being able to play the music you like with your best friends.”
The band’s first live show was just last year at the Rock on the Range music festival, and their self-titled debut album was released this week. In keeping with their rock ’n’ roll forefathers, the songs feature big, crunchy guitars, wailing vocals and hooky choruses stacked with harmonies. But the band isn’t a gimmick or a novelty act: This is just how these four guys sound when they play together.
“These are just the songs that came out of us,” George said. “Album two is probably going to be different than this one, because it’s just going to be the way it pours out of us. … We’re not reinventing the wheel; we’re just moving it along. Rock always comes back around.”