I'M WITH THE BAND: UNINVITED on community, society, and Age of Mass Anxiety
Written by: Isabel Kay-Anyaji
Introducing UNINVITED, an indie pop-punk band from Glasgow made up of Jay Eliver (guitar and vocals), Alex Young (lead guitar), and Fiorenza Cocozza (drums). Paving the way for other women and gender non conforming pop-punk artists, they make music that is reminiscent of early 2000’s rock undertones (and sometimes explicit) social commentary. Their latest single “Age of Mass Anxiety” touches on some of the challenges we are facing as a society currently while still conveying a healthy amount of optimism. You can stream “Age of Mass Anxiety” wherever you listen to their music. Their upcoming single “Down” is available to presave now, out October 9th!!
WITH THE BAND:
Isabel: To begin, who is UNINVITED? Music is a fantastic medium for finding community, how did you all get together?
UNINVITED: In 2020 Jay and Alex were added to an Instagram group chat during
lockdown to make friends in Glasgow. Which was kinda weird looking back at it but cute. Alex then knew Fiorenza because they grew up in the same wee town outside Glasgow. We then started to meet up as restrictions lifted, went for drinks and drunkenly suggested starting a band. Little did we know we’d still be doing it 6 years later.
Isabel: What is something about UNINVITED that you want people to know about you that they might not immediately pick up on?
UNINVITED: Probably the bond that we have with each other, we make music together but we also do everything else in life together which makes being in a band so easy! We are able to be very vulnerable with each other which makes us able to write very authentically.
Isabel: What does making music together as the band UNINVITED mean to you, and what part of you does that fulfill?
UNINVITED: Making music together is a special thing as it’s how we became best friends and we can’t imagine a life without each other, we really are all joint together at the hip! We always have the most fun recording music and being on tour together.
Isabel: What is important to you about holding space for non men creatives and artists in the pop punk scene?
UNINVITED: It’s important for us to be a representation for other non males to show that you can start a band and you can pursue music. You don’t need to be a man to start playing pop punk.
Isabel: Is there an essential part of your creative process, individually and together, that you absolutely can not skip/miss/exclude?
UNINVITED: An essential part of our writing process is ensuring we are somewhere that we are all comfortable and relaxed. We’ve created our own little studio that’s almost become our home, it’s our safe space. Another important part of writing is also listening to other music and drawing inspiration from that.
UNINVITED on AGE OF MASS ANXIETY:
Isabel: Age of Mass Anxiety tackles multiple social issues we are currently battling and trying to navigate. What was the motivating factor in making this song?
UNINVITED: I think the general state of the world is what inspired the song, especially the current state of the UK. At the time there were open white supremacy marches in the streets of the UK and for the first time in a long time it felt unsafe to walk the streets of the place I call home. It felt like a direct reflection of what is happening in Palestine right now and being a pop punk band we feel that we have a duty to bring awareness to the atrocities that are happening in Palestine and also in other places affected by war. We stand for pop punk being a political protest and we wanted to use our platform to
demonstrate that.
Isabel: How do you navigate social stressors (ai use, activist perfectionism, algorithms, etc) through music? Do these stressors hinder your momentum as artists? On the contrary, do they fuel motivation?
UNINVITED: AI seems to be taking over all industries at the moment and the music industry is also taking its hit. There is a lot of hard work that goes into creating art through music and being in a band in general, so the use of AI in this industry feels like a slap in the face. It already is hard enough now with the rise of TikTok and virality to find your feet in the scene and AI feels like another obstacle. I don’t think we have to be perfect to be activists but we have to live in the truth we stand for. It is difficult finding the right words but there are other ways to protest and be heard. You face a lot of obstacles being in a band especially with the amount of work that goes into it, however, it does make us want to work harder to show that you can still be successful without having to succumb.
Isabel: All in all, Age of Mass Anxiety is an anthem of hope and resistance. What do you want people to take away from this song?
UNINVITED: I think just exactly that. As a band we do try to instill positivity even through songs that are about difficult topics because we know now as we get older that thingscan get better if you allow yourself to get through the tough times. We want our listeners to know they can stand up for what they believe in and that positivity is actually cool.
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