As It Is (band)
As It Is (often stylised as ΛS IT IS or Λ\\) were a British-American rock band based in Brighton, England. The band was formed in 2012, and signed to Fearless Records in 2014.[3] The group at the time of departure consisted of lead vocalist Patty Walters and lead guitarist Ronnie Ish.
As It Is
Brighton, England, UK
2012–2024 (on hiatus)
- Patty Walters
- Ronnie Ish
- James Fox
- Andy Westhead
- Benjamin Langford-Biss
- Patrick Foley
- Alistair Testo
The band released seven extended plays and four studio albums in their career. The debut album, Never Happy, Ever After, was released by Fearless Records in April 2015; the second album, okay., was released in January 2017;[4] the third album, The Great Depression, was released in August 2018; and the band's latest album, I Went to Hell and Back, was released in February 2022.
History[edit]
Formation and Never Happy, Ever After (2012–2016)[edit]
As It Is was formed in spring 2012[5] by Minnesota-born Patrick Walters, who posted an advertisement stating that he was looking for musicians to be in a pop-punk band using the online service Join My Band.[6] Andrew Westhead and Patrick Foley replied to the advertisement and were accepted into the band[7] along with Benjamin Biss, who Walters knew from university. The band's name comes from a lyric in a song by the American straight edge hardcore band Have Heart.
Walters began his own career by posting song covers on his personal YouTube channel. After the band's formation, the band as a whole worked on a cover of Fat Lip by Sum 41. As the band's career started to gain more traction, he posted less often until he finally announced in the video, titled "A New Chapter", that he would go on an undetermined hiatus for the channel and would be focusing his efforts on As It Is. He has since made clear that he has no intention of returning to YouTube.
In early 2014 they added bassist Alistair Testo, The band played local shows for the first couple of years before their first few tours shortly after releasing their fourth EP This Mind of Mine, touring the UK and Europe. The band received a large response from these tours and signed to Fearless Records in October 2014, becoming the first UK band to sign to the label.[8] The band members began working on the group's debut full-length album in 2014 in Florida with producer James Paul Wisner.[9]
The band's debut full-length, Never Happy, Ever After was released on 20 April 2015 in Europe and the following day in the United States under Fearless Records.[10][11] Three singles were released from the album, "Dial Tones",[12] "Concrete"[11] and "Cheap Shots & Setbacks".[13]
The band performed at every date on the 2015 edition of Warped Tour.[14] The band performed at the 2015 Reading and Leeds Festivals in the United Kingdom.[15][16]
okay., line-up changes, and The Great Depression (2017–2020)[edit]
Their second album, okay., was released on 20 January 2017.
In October 2017, Westhead departed from the band due to "feelings and differences [that] had been building up."[17]
The band recorded their third record in Texas in January 2018, and started teasing new music in May with cryptic messages on their social media accounts.
They released their third album, The Great Depression, on 10 August 2018, which included the singles "The Wounded World", "The Stigma (Boys Don't Cry)", and "The Reaper".
They were approached by Hopeless Records to be a part of the label's new annual compilation series of albums entitled "Songs That Saved My Life", a compilation in which bands cover a song that had a significant impact on them as a whole or individually. The song that As It Is chose was Such Great Heights, which was originally made famous by the indie rock band The Postal Service. The album was released on 9 November 2018. Lead singer Patty Walters was also interviewed by Hopeless Records as a part of a campaign to get kids and teens to seek out help if they are going through personal struggles, which was also the overall message of the album.
At their show at the 02 Forum Kentish Town in London on 1 December 2018, the unofficial world record for the most crowd surfers during an hour-long was set. Over 300 people crowd surfed during the band's set, and over 600 crowd surfed across the sets of all four bands on the bill.[18]
On Monday September 9, 2019 As It Is announced on their social media that Benjamin Langford-Biss would be leaving the band, the band announced an 11 date European farewell tour, supported by Southampton punk rockers Miss Vincent,[19] to pay tribute to his departure.[20]
On Tuesday December 29, 2020, As It Is announced on twitter that drummer Patrick Foley would be leaving the band to pursue a new career as a firefighter.[21]
I Went to Hell and Back and hiatus (2021–2024)[edit]
On 27 May 2021, the band released their first single as a trio titled "IDGAF",[22] followed by "I Lie to Me" on 5 August,[23] "ILY, How Are You?" and "IDC, I Can't Take It" on 3 September,[24] "I Miss 2003" on 11 November,[25] and "In Threes" on 9 December.[26] The release of "I Miss 2003" came along with the announcement of the band's fourth album I Went to Hell and Back which released 4 February 2022 by Fearless Records.[25]
On Tuesday, August 23, 2022, bassist Alistair Testo announced he would be leaving the band.[27] Following Testo's departure, As It Is played that year's Reading and Leeds Festivals as a three-piece with Ross Brown returning on drums. These shows turned out to be their last in a long while, as a period of inactivity followed. In January 2024, Patty Walters announced the group's hiatus through a rare Instagram post, stating "Here's to another new chapter. It's never goodbye. It's just 'see you around'",[28] quoting his previous hiatus as a former YouTube content creator.
Style and influences[edit]
As It Is has been described as a pop punk band with a "melodic, earnest, emo-inspired" sound, compared to the early material of Taking Back Sunday and The Starting Line.[29] The Wonder Years has been listed as a big influence.[30] their early materiel on Never Happy, Ever After has been described as more emo[31]-pop punk. Their sophomore album okay. falls under alot of similar genres to their debut, but notibly does have a few songs on it that stand out as very different from previous work. Overtime their styles have been considered more diverse on their later work, exploring more of the themes seen on okay. by taking a notable stylistic departure into darker territory on The Great Depression[31][32]
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