It’s been three years since their self-titled sophomore album and Weeping Icon have returned with a vengeance. The punk group is back with a hypnotic new batch of tunes with their EP Ocelli, a project that puts their explosive energy on full display.
The band, composed of Lani Combier-Kapel on drums/vocals, Sara Fantry on guitar/vocals, Sarah Lutkenhaus on keys, and Sarah Reinold on bass, have honed their sound. Ocelli is a collection of songs that boast talky vocals, raucous and energetic instrumentals, and empowering lyrics that take down two-faced misogynists and capitalism.
Celebrating their Ocelli EP, Weeping Icon sits down with Uproxx to talk Kim Gordon, crashing at a haunted house, and sea turtles in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Fantry: Furious, sarcastic, emotional, and strange.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
Combier-Kapel: It was and probably still is a dark time. So imagine the songs will still be relevant in some ways. But I’d like to think I’ll still be playing music in 2050, even if it means playing drums with one arm, one tooth and a glass eye. I hope most of the sea turtles are still alive.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
Fantry: I always love shows in Toronto. Packed or small, there are some rad people up there.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
Combier-Kapel: I’d have to say Kim Gordon. She’s unapologetically herself onstage and off, and the breadth of visual work she’s created over the years has proven that you don’t have to keep yourself to one medium. Every way you spend your time informs other creative endeavors.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
Fantry: Probably a restaurant in NYC. Too much good food here for anywhere else to have left an impression I guess.
What album do you know every word to?
Combier-Kapel: Depeche Mode’s Catching Up With Depeche Mode.
What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?
Fantry: Swans at Music Hall of Williamsburg.
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
Combier-Kapel: Shorts and a tshirt, or stretchy things that don’t move around as I’m drumming. Sara F and I have a vintage store in Bushwick called “Protection Spell,” and we intend to source more of our outfits plus other people’s outfits from there! Shameless little plug.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
Fantry: I love the NYC instagrams like @whatisnewyork, @yerr.nyc, @subwaycreatures, @newyorknico — there’s such a specific culture here and this is our pack. Just love to see what’s going on at home, even when I’m just in my house. It’s always something spicy.
What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?
Combier-Kapel: Joy Division’s “Transmission,” or maybe Lana Del Rey… the last tour was a very weird time.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
Fantry: English to Spanish dictionary. Needed to look up the word for payroll to text my coworker.
What album makes for the perfect gift?
Combier-Kapel: Isn’t Anything by My Bloody Valentine. Can someone please just get it for me?
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
Fantry: A haunted house in Memphis TN, where I saw a real ghost. Or an apparition of some sort. It was a white glowing mist cloud that passed in front of me 3 times in a dark, windowless room. I was sober and definitely still awake. When I told the housemates in the morning that I saw a ghost the night before they all said “oh yeah, the woman in white, everyone sees her.” Oh but also we stayed at Super Happy Fun Land in Houston, TX one time and they have dozens of Raggedy Ann dolls and other creepy toys stapled to the wall — that actually was probably weirder.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
Combier-Kapel: My first tattoo is a set of paisley flowers and a bluebird, done by a good highschool friend, Dorothy. It’s on my upper right back near my shoulder blade and the tail of the bird extends to the side of my ribcage. An ode to New Paltz, the town that I went to college in. I still have the tapestry that the image was taken from.
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
Fantry: Anyone experimental, strange, different – that can be a pop song, I just don’t want to hear anything I’ve heard played to death already (like a really contrived commercial country song). It makes my brain feel like it’s getting bed sores. I want to hear something fresh to my neural pathways.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Combier-Kapel: Sarah R’s dad sold me a nice minivan for $200. Also thanks to my mom for popping me out — I’m truly grateful for that.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Fantry: You don’t need to be an adult yet. It’s ok to not want to go to school. Give yourself time to heal from your traumas. Have fun, make lots of art, just enjoy this imaginative time of limitless possibilities.
What’s the last show you went to?
Combier-Kapel: I guess it was our EP release show on Friday with YHWH Nailgun, JWC, and Harlequin Panic at Alphaville!
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
Fantry: Tied for Home Alone / Jurassic Park. Can’t turn off movies with soundtracks that good. Each are such a powerful vibe.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
Reinold: I am one of few words, but my devil sticking while skateboarding abilities speak for themselves.
Ocelli is out now via Firetalk. Get it here.
Source: https://uproxx.com/indie/weeping-icon-interview-indie-mixtape-20/