Signees to King of Leon’s Snakes and Serpents imprint, this Nashville quintet is more than just a band—it’s a brotherhood
NAME: Cyle Barnes (vocals)
OTHER MEMBERS: Sam Williams (guitar), Damien Bone (bass), Cain Barnes (drums), Alex Collier (keys)
HOMETOWN: Jackson, Mississippi
HOMEBASE: Nashville, Tennessee
The Weeks signed to Kings of Leon's label Serpent and Snakes Records in 2012, earning (fitting) comparisons to Kings of Leon itself. The band is currently touring to promote its Buttons EP (released August 5) and as it preps its third album.
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1. What was it like to grow up in Jackson?
At the time there were a lot of local bands. They've all gone their separate ways and didn't really do much outside of Jackson, but they were amazing bands. So we didn't see any national touring acts. They were all just from Jackson, and they were wonderful. We used to see a local band every weekend, and not a lot of people get to do that.
2. What inspired Dear Bo Jackson's "Brother In the Night"?
My twin brother [Cain] and I wanted to write about being brothers—something along the lines of us robbing trains. I just wanted to toy around with the idea of traveling and being a gang of brothers, doing great things. We've been in the same group for eight years, so any time I can write about the camaraderie or sticking together, I try to do that.
3. That song ["Oh if my southern hearts still pumping blood / Still pumping blood / Well I'll bury my money in the mighty Mississippi mud"] also makes clear that The Weeks is from the South. While touring, have you found yourself dispelling preconceived notions about the South?
Up north and in Europe, a lot of people I meet there have a strange idea bout the South because they've never experienced it for themselves. They automatically assume that we're conservative and the South is that kind of place where there are mean, terrible people everywhere. We've had people automatically assume that everyone is racist down there. I'm sure you can find somewhere in the North a terrible piece of history or something you don't like about the culture, but you can also go there and find beautiful, amazing people that will reaffirm why you enjoy the place you're from.
4. Do you and your brother ever disagree when it comes to songwriting?
I love to write music with everyone in the band, my brother especially. I'm thinking most of the time that we can do that weird twin thing, but I've written music with the same band for almost eight years. I think we've gotten pretty good at sorting out things like that without hurting each other's feelings, as far as the writing goes. We do get on each other's nerves, but I love them when we start playing. We joke a lot, so that helps.
5. You first wrote "Buttons" eight years ago. Now it's featured on your EP. Why do you think that song continues to resonate with the band?
It's one of those songs that helped us really figure out what we do live and how we formed as a band. We're reaching a different audience, and there's just more fans that may have never heard of that song. To still be able to share that with new fans, that we hopefully get to keep doing something that they enjoy and keep it fresh for us as well—I mean, we still like to play those old songs. (The EP we just put out, it's two old songs and two brand new songs.) It's a fun pop song, and it's fun to dance on stage, and it's fun to sing along to, and if we're going to do it every night, I want us to be able to enjoy it, and we want to be able to have the people enjoy it, so I want people to dance and have fun.
