Words: Miljan Milekić
Layover is an upcoming emo punk band from Birmingham, UK. Founded in 2014, they started to gain speed, only to end up on hiatus two years later. However, in 2018 the band got back together and released their sophomore EP ‘Your Laughter Never Leaves’ just today. We caught up with bassist Elliot Wallett to hear all about it.
Your new EP is out today. Can you tell us more about it?
Elliot: This EP is a collection of songs about loss, written over the course of a year. These songs show our growth as a band over such a short time, and we’re so excited that people can finally hear all our hard work come to fruition.
This is your first release after going on hiatus in 2016. How was it to go back to the studio and work together again?
Elliot: It was definitely really refreshing to be able to work on such a new vibe together. The hiatus definitely helped us clear our heads and it meant we came into the process with a clear direction of where we wanted to take the EP.
‘Your Laughter Never Leaves’ offers some really mature music and emotional lyrics. Do you think this kind of music is sometimes overlooked in the time when most of the music is made for fast consumption?
Elliot: In some ways perhaps, though I think we managed to make our music accessible at the same time. I feel as though we managed to find a sound that can be listened to easily in the background, with deeper and more interesting things going on through each song that can be heard upon more thorough listens.
The new EP is out on Fox Records. As a label, they are known for giving a chance to the young and underground artists with unique style and originality. What is your experience with them on this release?
Elliot: Fox have been amazing. They’ve put so much faith into everything we do, and we’re so thankful that they believe in our music enough to help us in so many ways. We also share the label with some amazing bands that we’ve played shows with even before our hiatus, so being able to have so many good friends and great bands releasing killer records on the same label is an amazing experience.
The EP is just released, but a few songs, including the first single ‘Slumber,’ have been out for some time now. Are you happy with the reactions you got from your fans?
Elliot: We’ve been blown away by how kind everyone has been. We were really worried that our new sound would alienate a lot of people that used to be into us, but people have responded so well, both online and at shows. We’re so excited to finally be able to show everyone what we’ve been working on, and now it’s finally out we’re excited to be able to sing these songs together in the future!
Personally, I’ve always loved emo, but in the last few years, it seems that the genre has gotten to be “cool” again. How do you see it? Is it something that can benefit you, or do you think it makes things harder as there are a lot more bands out there?
Elliot: It’s definitely become some form of a trend, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing! It just means more people are gonna find out about some incredible bands, and if that means more bands are going to be formed with this sound, that just means there’s gonna be a lot more killer music to check out. Even if it doesn’t benefit us specifically, if it’s healthy for the genre as a whole then I think it’s great.
After the release of the EP, what is next for you guys?
Elliot: We’re working on organizing some touring right now, which we’re stoked about, and we are pretty much always writing. We’re mostly just here to play songs we love and play shows with some cool bands and make friends. Anything else is just a bonus.
Follow Layover:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/layoverUK
Instagram: www.instagram.com/layoveruk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/layoveruk