Fairweather finds clear skies to success

Washington's Fairweather, formed a little over a year ago and recently landing a record deal, toured the country and played at Initial Records' annual Krazyfest. Fairweather burst onto the scene, releasing a full-length album If they move…Kill them on Equal Vision Records and gained a strong following.\n"They have exploded on the scene in a matter of minutes, and if they continue in this fashion, will be one of the bands that take over the world," said Scot Gallop from Churchkey Music, the local group promoting the concert.\nIt all started when Jay Littleton asked Ben Green about being in a band. They played in Littleton's basement for fun, never expecting it to grow into something this big.\n"We were just hoping to have fun and hang out," said Green, the guitar player. After a few different drummers, Pat Broderick joined Fairweather. With this new line-up, Fairweather became more serious and recorded a demo. Equal Vision heard it, and soon they were releasing a full-length.\nGreen felt a certain sense of shock, especially because they were such a new band. Being familiar with some of the bands on Equal Vision and later being in a band that was on the label came as a surprise. \n"EVR's put out bands that I've listened to, so it was weird," said Green. \nBecause of the little experience the band members had, they also struggled to find a way to operate in their situation. They had just begun to function as a band and had to figure out a way to work with people at EVR.\n"We didn't know how to deal with people, a label, a booking company," Green said. "We left a lot of stuff up to other people, when we should have been doing it on ourselves. In the past year, we've taken more initiative to get that done."\nFairweather recently played at Krazyfest in Louisville. Though they were the first band to take the stage around 11 a.m., a large crowd had gathered to see the show. While Krazyfest provided the band an opportunity to play in front of a large crowd, Green felt somewhat alienated playing on a large stage. \n"You're put so far away from them, and you're on this big stage. I like better being able to communicate with the audience on a more personal and intimate level than that," Green said.\nGreen got into punk music partially because of the idea that people in bands are just people and that there should be communication between everyone. \n"What attracted me to movement is that bands are personable and on your level," Green said. Green takes this idea with him, being part of Fairweather. "It's always important to make yourself open -- make yourself approachable."\nFor this reason, Green said house shows are his favorite to play. Not only are the band and audience physically on the same level, but there's often excitement bouncing around the room. \n"It's the whole attitude about being on the same level as the audience and being able to look people in the eye," Green said. "When there's a lot of people there, and they're just psyched to be there, it's incredible."\nMusic has been a part of Green's life from a young age. He's played guitar for nine years and has been interested in music for most of his life.\n"It's the most important thing to me I've ever had. It's kinda taken over," Green said.\nThough elementary and middle school years found Green listening to Slayer and Skid Row, his interest moved away from the metal and towards the independent. Today, the bands Green listens to have an effect on his view of the world.\n"Bands that influenced me have rearranged the way I think about the world," Green said. "I can identify with how intensely they feel about things and how powerful they feel about things."\nAccording to Equal Vision's web site, Fairweather's music is just as powerful. Their first album is "filled with two essential musical elements: energy and passion."\nGreen hopes Fairweather can pass this energy and passion on to other people. \n"We want to make people feel driven about something," Green said.