interview: The Winona's

We're lucky enough to have caught up from James from The Winonas, to discuss the newest album, how the DIY music scene looks in 2026 and 80's movie icons!

 

 

You were part of the amazing line up at Anti Pest Fest earlier this year and also big advocates for mental health too, Music and the live environment are great ways to not only raise awareness  but also serve as a force for good aren't they?

Yeah we had fun playing that show and it was good to be part of a cause that means a lot to us. So many incidents of people suffering abuse in the scene at the hands of others and so many unwanted incidents that its good to do something to support those who have been effected. We Have recently written a new song called “she suffers” that came about after a conversation with a friend of ours who had been a victim of this type of abuse. We are very aware that we have a platform as a popular band in the scene and its important that we lead by example and make sure that we call out this kind of behaviour when we hear about it and we make sure that the shows we put on and play are inclusive safe environments for all that attend. 

 You had an album called Dead Romantic out earlier this year, it's a great listen! How do you go about your recording and writing process?

Thank you, we are pleased that you like it and have given it some listens. We write and record everything ourselves. Most of our music starts as demos that James our singer has made at home and then one at a time we work those songs up in our practice space. Once we have finished a small batch of 3 or 4 songs we go into the studio and record the drum tracks for those and then at James’ home we record all of the guitars and vocals. Once we have those drummer Paul does all the mixing and mastering for the tracks. He does an incredible job and this way we are able to control all of our output ourselves. We try and do a small amount at a time so its not to overwhelming and then once we have 10 songs we release them all as an album. All of our album artwork is done by bass player Kate. She was keen to do the art for the album and we agreed as a band that she could produce whatever she was happy with and what she did turned out amazing. 

You've always put bands, venues and audiences first, and pack out punk venues whenever you play, the DIY Scene is the life blood of UK Music, where would you say the scene is right now?

Honestly I think it’s in this weird space between thriving and struggling. There are so many good bands popping up everywhere making solid music but at the same time venues are dropping like flies. So you have a lot of bands vying for very few available gigs. We are lucky that we have been around for a few years and don’t struggle at times to play but it has also meant we have had to travel more and find different venues to play. Other bands won’t be so lucky and as a result play a lot of the same venues. Don’t get me wrong we have had our own struggles getting shows in certain towns. Take Norwich for example, we have only played there twice in the last 3 years. Venues have become very guarded for obvious reasons and this makes it difficult for them to gamble on what they see as an “unknown” or “out of town” band. Ironically James lives in Norfolk but we rarely play there and yet we draw big crowds in places such as London, Blackpool, Hastings and reading. 

I read in another interview you did with Idioteq that you make no money from your music? the venue’s take all of the money on the night, at a time when Venue's country wide are closing down, this is such a  rad way to do things! without places to play we have no music, right?

This follows on from the previous question in how the scene is. We are very aware on the struggles venues face and we have always tried to give back to not just the venues but also the promoters that run certain nights. If we can play for free then why not. We all have full time jobs and we understand that so many people take from those that are struggling. If we can help just a little to keep these places going then we feel it is our duty to do what we can. Without these venues there is no more live music. Underground bands are the only thing keeping real music alive in this country today. Established acts have become almost unattainable due to ever increasing ticket prices. Most shows these days will set you back easily £60-100 and that’s just the ticket cost. The scene is offering people a chance to come out and watch music for free. It still irks me when I hear “I don’t go out as I can’t afford it” when there are so many free shows being played all the time. 

Other than yourselves, who else should we be listening to at the moment? We personally recommend Irish Garage punks Adore.

We will definitely check them out. We try really hard to only play shows with bands we love listening to. Most of our shows involve those bands just because it makes for a more enjoyable night to hang out and listen to music we like. We play a lot of shows with our buddies from AWAP who have a new single out and Nihilistic Biscuits who should be releasing their new album soon. Lara Price is amazing live and the new Rough Pup EP “something to say” has been on rotation on my phone since its release. We need to give a huge shoutout to Mice’s, Mutiny, Swines, lost atlas and bin weasel as well. All are excellent and deserve your attention. 

Finally, Winona Ryder, what a Heartbreaker huh?

She certainly is. James wrote that song as he had a massive crush on here when he was a teenager and is always looking for different inspirations to write about. We think it’s something everyone can relate to. That first real crush tends to stick around for way longer than it should and it’s something we seem to hold a fondness for. It’s been great that her career has had a revival thanks to stranger things. For us though she will always be the rebel girl from 90’s classics like heathers and reality bites. 

Social media stuff. Visit our website https://thewinonasband.com

Our socials are just @thewinonasband on Facebook and Instagram and tik tok.