Alt-Rockers Highwind Storm Back With Aggressive “Weighing You Down”
“Weighing You Down” is the lead single and the first track on Moose Jaw’s Highwind’s new six-song EP Final Words, a concept album of sorts that directly takes on the process and aftermath of death from the perspective of those left behind.
Read the song titles in order – “Weighing You Down,” “At What Cost,” “I’m Making Amends,” “I Feel Helpless,” “In Hospice,” “These Are My Final Words.” In sequence, they tell a story and form a poem that contemplates the lives left to live once a life partner has passed.
Lyrically, it’s dark, but sonically it’s aggressive, with crunching guitars, driving beats by Troy Waggoner and bassist Eric Taylor, and vocals from Charlie Rysavy that adeptly express the pain, anguish, and angst of the subject material. “Weighing You Down” sets the tone for the next four songs, while the final track slows things down to reflect on things never said.
The hard-driving tune starts out with soft strumming by singer/guitarist Rysavy, quickly joined by an accelerating Waggoner drum roll. The tension picks up, and 14 seconds in, new lead guitarist Ehren Pfeifer unleashes a circular guitar riff that sets the tone for a frenzied aural emo-punk assault.
It’s a dark, meaningful song, painting a bleak image of a loved one at the bedside of a partner in failing health.
“You hold my hand so tight as if this could be the last time
Overheard you pacing around last night
Could you just go home? And come back….
Cause it feels like I’m weighing you down?
Cause it feels like you’re waiting me out.”
Final Words is the first release from the Prairie-based band since 2016’s masterful full-length album Cellar Door. That record was recorded by the original three-piece band live off the floor at Regina’s Blue Door Studios. “Cellar Door” went on to be chosen as one of Sask Music’s Best Albums of 2016.
A four-year hiatus followed, but the band finally regrouped in 2020 to write songs. Along the way they picked up their fourth member, lead guitarist and sound designer Pfeifer.
All of Pfeifer’s stinging lead guitar parts were recorded in his bedroom in Toronto. The other members of Highwind sent him the tracks last year, and he recorded on top of them. Pfeifer had never played with the band before, and they didn’t know what they were getting until he was finished. Despite that fact, one would never guess that’s the case, as he fits the band like a proverbial glove.
The video for the single, out now on YouTube, was completed similarly. Each of the members of Highwind filmed their parts individually, and it was all cut together afterward. Two more videos from the EP are expected to be completed soon.
Chase intentionally recorded his vocals last on “In Hospice” and “These Are My Final Words” to ensure his voice sounded more and more degraded throughout the album. “These Are My Final Words” was recorded in one take late in the day, which is why he sounds exhausted, just as one would watching their partner taking a final breath.
The six tracks on Final Words leave the listener wanting more. And Highwind has more from the EP’s sessions that they hope to release soon as their next release. With this collection, and with Pfeifer on board, they certainly live up to the 2014 words of Vancouver-based magazine Permanent Rain Press, which stated” that they “might be the best thing by far to come out of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan…the band is capable of being more than just your average punk band.”
Watch the video for “Weighing You Down” below and learn more about Highwind via our mini-interview.
Care to introduce yourself?
Hello! We are Chase Rysavy, Eric Taylor, Troy Waggoner, and Ehren Pfeifer and we are the band Highwind.
Tell us about the process of writing “Weighing You Down.”
The song started off with a guitar riff Chase wrote which was then added to by Troy on drums and Eric on bass to create the bones of the song. Chase wrote the lyrics when his grandmother was passing away. She had had multiple strokes and really hadn’t been herself in a few years; almost unrecognizable as a person. The lyrics come from what Chase assumed his grandmother would have said to his grandfather as he took care of this “new person” inhabiting the body of the person he married as she slowly faded more and more away from him. Long story short, the idea that the person may have slipped back into themselves from time to time to comfort him as he let her go.
After the song was entirely recorded with vocals and all, it was sent to Ehren who recorded his lead guitar parts in Toronto in his bedroom and sent them back to the band which completed “Weighing You Down”.
What’s it like being a musician in Moose Jaw?
Honest answer? Difficult. There aren’t many places to play locally, and if you want to play, you had better be playing covers (not to knock cover bands). Back in 2015, when we were really beginning, we could play 5-6 local shows in a summer and had great turnouts. However, with a hiatus, a pandemic, and a change of location or closing of some venues, it really limited when and where we could play. Lately, though, we’ve been in contact with some wonderful people in charge of certain venues in Moose Jaw, and look forward to working together with them in the near future. We are also lucky to be in the middle of the province, where a drive to Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Calgary, or Edmonton isn’t too far of a trek. Having a member in Toronto also helps, so we have somewhere to stay when we play out there!
Who was the first Canadian artist to blow you away?
There are so many incredible Canadian artists, and it’s hard to pick just one! The first ones that would have blown us away would have to be bands like Sum 41, Alexisonfire, Our Lady Peace, Billy Talent, The Weakerthans, or The Barenaked Ladies. There are too many to name! Locally would have to be Andy Shauf. We remember watching him play house shows in people’s basements with roughly 10 people gathered around. If you’ve never had the chance to check him out, do yourself a favour and look him up now. His new album “Norm” just came out.
You’ve been making music for a short bit now. What’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
Don’t oversaturate your hometown by playing there as much as possible. Make people want to come out to see you play.