RVA based punk duo Wrong Worshippers sat down with Ink to talk music, social media, and the Richmond scene. Check out the audio recording of this interview on Ink’s Soundcloud, linked below.
J: Hi, I’m here with Wrong Worshippers. How are you guys doing today?
M: Good!
N: Good!
M: Thanks for having us.
J: Could you guys just introduce yourselves individually, and what you play in the band?
N: I’m Nick. I play bass guitar and I sing.
M: I’m Milo. I do lyrics and I play the drums.
J: Could you tell us a little bit about how you guys formed? I know you’re in high school and you have kind of an atypical setup.
N: We formed at the end of our freshman year, so that was right around when COVID was starting.
M: Yeah, that was why it started…. Well, actually no, we were a little bit before.
N: Yeah well, it was in quarantine. It was started in quarantine. But it wasn’t really because of COVID, we had bands before that were kind of fizzling out. I mean, the reason we had bands, and we would play together was because we live next door to each other. We would just jam whenever we wanted to. And we’d say okay, we have some songs. But we need a guitarist, we need a vocalist. We could never really get a bunch of people to reliably –
M: We would have bands, we had that one [called] Shadow Wedgie. That was us, a guitarist and vocalist. But I feel like they just kept fizzling, we couldn’t for the life of us keep a band together.
N: And we realized that, you know, why don’t we just have a band with us two if we can’t get other people?
M: So yeah, and being in quarantine. We would, since we’re next door neighbors, I dragged my drum kit out to the backyard, and [Nick] would drag his bass out, and we would just have practice over the fence … our moms wouldn’t let us [practice inside].
“Since we’re next door neighbors, I dragged my drum kit out to the backyard, and [Nick] would drag his bass out, and we would just have practice over the fence …”
-Milo
N: It’s been two years and we’ve recorded two records, so I guess I guess it worked!
J: Well, you guys are known for kind of having a very comedic internet presence. How do you feel that factors into the image of your band?
M: I feel like I don’t know, when I look at a lot of bands, the band themself is a really big factor. For me at least, if you’re a fun, energetic, funny band, I’m so much more likely to check you out, and kind of dive deeper into your discography. And I just feel like some of the bands that we really like ended up being really boring people to watch. And we didn’t want to be like that. We felt like in this day and age that internet presence plays a really big factor into how you’re viewed.
N: Yeah, I mean, image is really important because when somebody comes across you they haven’t heard your music. So what you really have to sell when somebody first sees you, it’s like that image, you need that elevator pitch. Advertising is essentially free now, you can just go on Instagram, make videos, or make Tik Tok videos. So, I mean, there’s really no reason not to do it. It’s just finding a balance between like, yeah, we’re doing this to try to spread awareness of our band but also being authentic and doing it because it’s, you know, fun to do.
“Image is really important because when somebody comes across you they haven’t heard your music. So what you really have to sell when somebody first sees you, it’s like that image, you need that elevator pitch.”
– Nick
M: And it’s not just those skits, but it’s also staying super active with stories and constantly posting, just making sure we have that presence, that easily accessible presence and making sure that our music is seen in our posts as well. So people can just latch on. If someone finds scrolling and finds us, they can just get us as easily as possible.
J: Yeah, I guess just easy access. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Could you tell us a little bit about how you guys decided on a name and the meaning of your name?
N: Well, this is a fun story. So we came out one day and we didn’t have a name yet, and Milo said I was thinking “Wrong Worshippers”.
M: Yeah, I was like, that sounds kind of cool. I wanted it to stick. I needed it to stick.
N: Yeah. And I said “Oh, are you talking about how people use their religion to try to hurt other people? Like some Christians are like, ‘Oh, you can’t be gay because of the Bible’?” and [Milo] was like, “Oh no, I just thought it sounded cool, but that works too, we can say that in interviews because it sounds good”
M: But then you were like, “I don’t know about that.” But then I just kept saying it. I was like, “Yeah, are we gonna have ‘Wrong Worshippers’ practice instead” of ‘band practice,’
N: So he insisted on it until it stuck.
J: Could you speak a little to what you think makes Richmond a unique scene and what you like about the scene?
M: I would say it’s just the positivity. The first show that really broke us into the scene was Rally in the Alley, and I feel like the bands we played with at that show we just instantly became sister bands with. I’ve never felt any competition whatsoever with other bands in the scene, or within the city. I think we’re just always just trying to build each other up.
“I’ve never felt any competition whatsoever with other bands in the scene, or within the city. I think we’re just always just trying to build each other up.”
-Milo
N: Yeah, like always when one person succeeds everybody else is succeeding. Like what [Milo] said about Rally in the Alley. The stereotype is like “Oh, these scary, mean punk people.” But they were just some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
M: Like Saturn Death Cult, like Yeah, I remember when we first did that Taylor Swift cover they were just jumping and coming up after for high fives. Those guys are just so down to earth and so kind. I guess the other factor is the house show thing. There’s a constant flow of venues rising and you know, some falling. But the cycling of different house venues is also a really cool fun thing.
N: There are a lot of underground bands popping up but they’re also little house venues.
M: Yeah, like trying to get on it before it gets shut down.
J: Would you like to tell our listeners about any future projects you have coming up, any shows you want to plug, or other artists you want to highlight?
M: Yeah, we’re working on a new single. Rabbit Hole is an amazing venue, you should follow them and check out their shows. It’s a great crew behind it.
N: They’ve got stuff on YouTube. They’re really cool.
M: Yeah, we actually have a performance on YouTube [that was recorded at] Rabbit Hole, so looking at that. OVOLR was our former label, and they are amazing. Check [them] out. They have an amazing catalog. Yeah, superbands.
N: They’ve got a lot of old local RVA stuff, punk, all that kind of stuff. [Our] socials are either @wrongworshippers or @wrongworshippersband.
Listen to the audio version of this interview here:
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