Band: Waste of Space
From: Columbia, South Carolina
Their formation story:
(Owen, drummer): “Andrew and I formed the band after becoming friends through going to shows in Columbia. We started practicing at my parents’ house with just the two of us before bringing in Andrew’s brother Elliott on bass.
"Our first vocalist, Jordan from Severed By Dawn, was a close friend and unexpectedly passed away. We were all hit very hard by his death and talked about whether we should stop the band or continue. Ultimately, we felt it was right to keep going in his honor.
"We really liked what our friend Hannah had been doing with her band Catch a Stray, which ended after only a couple of shows. I messaged her out of the blue about joining Waste of Space, and within minutes she said she’d love to do it. We got together, finished writing some songs, and the rest is history.”
Their sound in their own words:
“We have a lot of influences, including Contention, Hatebreed, Foundation, Laid 2 Rest, and even pop-punk bands like New Found Glory. But our biggest influences are all of our friends playing in other bands. We’d be nothing without the love and support they’ve shown us.
"When we started, we didn't really know exactly what we wanted to sound like. We just wrote things we thought were heavy enough and kept the parts we liked.”
Latest release info:
“Andrew and I wrote a couple of songs before we found the rest of the band, and Elliott helped us finish the others. From the beginning, I was adamant about just having fun playing music with friends and doing what I loved, so Andrew and I would sit in my bedroom writing riffs until we found the ones that stuck.
"Getting The Bloody Hand of the Healer EP together was definitely a struggle because we were nervous about how people would respond and whether it was good enough for us. We finished the five-song EP in about six months and recorded it with our friend Jay Matheson at The Jam Room here in Columbia.
"We wanted the artwork to have a unique style, so we reached out to our friend Zebulon. I told him I wanted something that looked ‘very Converge,’ and he knew exactly what I meant. Hannah came up with the title, The Bloody Hand of the Healer. We released the EP back in March and have received a lot of great and heartwarming responses, which we're incredibly grateful for.”
Future plans:
“Right now, we’re working on a Southeast tour and preparing to record and release a full-length album, all while having fun playing shows with our friends.”
What other bands from their region should we check out?
“We’ve become very close with local bands like Reality, CryBlood, Rat Poison, Pull the Trigger, God Glitch, Tower of Pines, and many other amazing bands.”
Waste of Space on social media: Instagram
Tagged: waste of space
