Somewhere between the raw hooks of The Foo Fighters, the urgency of early Live, and the epic/exotic tastes of Led Zeppelin, exists Weszt: a heart-on-the-sleeve, “thinking person’s ” rock band from the semi-tropical, commercial sprawl of Orlando, Florida, USA. Named for their founder and front man, Weszt (pronounced “west”) performs a signature style of relevant, modern rock with dark, intentionally ambiguous lyrics over catchy melodies and upbeat tempos that are unique from one song to another. The band writes incessantly, works obsessively, and can be found performing at least several times a week – when they are not touring! Above all, they do all they can for their fans.
The band was formed initially around Darkness Shines, Weszt’s debut CD on Cell Records, a now defunct independent, upstart label, in 2002. When the contract expired in 2004, Weszt traded their label status for the woodshed to begin writing themselves anew, with all the lessons of the road and the industry to hone their vision. In 2007 Weszt added a new lead guitar player, Michael Rizzo from Virginwool (Atlantic Records).
Produced by James Paul Wisner (Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, New Found Glory), Darkness Shines is a silky radio-friendly knock-out punch that began hitting the charts immediately upon release (no mean feat considering there was little promotion and was the band’s debut). “Pretty Vampires”, their first single from Darkness Shines, was a hit on several college radio stations, staying at #1 for nearly a year, and the momentum from the record kept the band on tour from 2002 to 2004. The band followed their radio play from Florida to New York to Ohio, covering much of the South and Northeastern United States.
Even before tracking completed on their CD debut, Weszt was writing towards a follow-up. In 2006, the band was again blessed with the opportunity to work with James Paul Wisner, and in April of that year, began recording their greatest work to date: a five-song rock manifesto called morningafterlife. Potent, but less glossy than Darkness Shines, morningafterlife teeters on epic: slipping enraptured verses between thunderous choruses and fire-one musical moments. The CD was released in August 2006 and was followed by an East Coast tour in October of the same year.
Their unceasing upward momentum has led the band to open shows for several internationally known acts such as Drowning Pool and Days of the New (Gasparilla Pirate Festival; 750,000 people; Tampa, FL), Robin Thicke (Sunfest; 275,000 people; West Palm Beach, FL), Hootie & The Blowfish and Better Than Ezra (Ford Amphitheatre; 20,000+ venue; Tampa, FL), The Fixx (Hard Rock’s Legends Theatre; Ft. Lauderdale, FL), and The X’s (Arlene’s Grocery; NYC, New York), featuring former Fuel lead singer, Brett Scallions. Weszt was a semi-finalist at the Florida Grammys and won the first and second rounds of the Bodog Million Dollar Battle of the Bands. Connections Magazine described Weszt as a “hidden gem of the Orlando scene.”
Weszt is slated to cut yet another CD with James Paul Wisner, an acoustic-oriented one-night-only jam session followed by a spring/summer tour. Meanwhile Weszt continues to write exciting new songs and maintains a heavy touring schedule as diligently as ever with unrelenting excitement and enthusiasm.
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