Interview with Chad Szeliga of Weapons Of Anew, Black Label Society, Breaking Benjamin
Sofa King Cool caught up with Chad Szeliga of Weapons Of Anew and we talked about their cover of The Chainsmokers “Sick Boy”, the upcoming album, how different it is putting out music during a pandemic, the future of touring, streaming music the importance of fans to actual pay for stuff if they want to see a band continue, he opens up about why he left Breaking Benjamin, and we talk about what is next for him and the band
New Jersey-based hard rock quartet WEAPONS OF ANEW are excited to share the news of their sophomore album scheduled for release in the spring of 2021.
The band – which consists of seasoned musicians guitarist Freddy Ordine (ex-Axiom, ex-HavocHate) and vocalist Ray West (ex-Spread Eagle) along with bassist Stefan “Reno” Cutrupi and the newest addition, drummer Chad Szeliga (ex-Breaking Benjamin, ex-Black Label Society) – have revealed its debut single, a cover version of The Chainsmokers’ “Sick Boy.”
The “Sick Boy” single has quickly garnered over 250,000 streams in just under a month.
The track received placement on multiple editorial playlists including Spotify’s New Noise, Rock Hard, Best Of Rock, along with Apple’s Breaking Hard Rock – and the track is inside the top 40 and climbing on active rock radio. A video has been recently released for the track
And “Sick Boy” can be streamed here: https://sym.ffm.to/sickboy
Ordine: “I’m blown away and beyond grateful that we are even mentioned in the same conversations as Billboard and the playlists that are currently happening. I had been kicking around the idea of doing a cover for a while. But I wanted it to be something out of our normal genre. When I heard the song, the lyrics really connected with me, so I started working on an arrangement and brought the idea up to Ray. I felt we could really make a cool version of it. He loved it and here we are.”
“Sick Boy” was produced by longtime band collaborator Grammy Award-nominated Mike Ferretti (Sevendust, Warren Haynes, Saliva), mixed by multi-platinum Grammy-winner David Bendeth (Papa Roach, Paramore, Bring Me The Horizon) and mastered by A-list mastering engineer Ted Jensen (Evanescence, Korn, Lamb Of God).
“There is a line in the song where it says, ‘How many likes is my life worth,’” shares Ordine. “The reality of that line hit home like few songs have in my life because of the pressure people have on them to be relevant at all costs. It was awesome and cathartic to be able to recreate such an awesome song and I hope it connects with people and makes them think, like it did with me.”
WEAPONS OF ANEW first stormed the rock world in 2017 with their debut offering, The Collison of Love and Hate, which collected numerous accolades on the strength of songs like “Killshot” and “Sundown.” Through the power of their debut and explosive performances on national tours with the like of Alter Bridge, Scott Stapp, and even the heavy metal supergroup Metal Allegiance, WEAPONS OF ANEW have earned a fiercely loyal fanbase around the globe.
“It’s definitely different but it’s still Weapons,” Ordine recently said, about a comparison between The Collison of Love and Hate and their forthcoming release .
“We grew a lot. When we did the first record, we had never done a show. We were in the middle of writing and recording the first record when we went on tour with Alter Bridge, so it was like we had already started to grow during that first record. With this new record, we had just come off tour with Scott Stapp and were leaning more towards the active rock scene. It’s a pure version of us and also a more cohesive, mature version of us. It’s still got the heavy stuff from the first record but there’s definitely a lot more groove and melody which is what I was pushing for in the first record, but we just weren’t there yet.”
As evidenced in their new single and video, WEAPONS OF ANEW have coalesced into a true metallic force.
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