BY MAX ASAYESH-BROWN  |   St. Petersburg High

When I contacted Sam Gough, the vocalist for post-hardcore local group the Last of Our Worries about doing an interview, he and his Northeast High band mates had already begun the process of recording an EP. During my time with Sam, he repeatedly mentioned what a vast workload comes with starting your own band, and how hectic everything was when they first assembled last spring.  •  Turns out my interview couldn’t have come at a more stressful time for the band — just the previous night, bassist Soloman Northrop’s time with the Last of Our Worries came to end before a show at Transitions Art Gallery in Tampa. They had not yet finished recording the EP.  Still, Sam met with me at a downtown St. Petersburg coffee shop (Cory, guitar, would join us later), and the events surrounding the situation added an interesting layer to our conversation.

So how did the band name come about?
Sam: I love that question. When (my friend) Jackson and I started the band — Chandler wasn’t our original drummer — we were going into it without really knowing what we were going to do. People would ask us, what’s your band named, and we’d say we’re really swamped with shows and everything, the name is the last of our worries. Somebody misconstrued it and they’d ask, “so how’s 'the Last of Our Worries’ going?” It just kind of stuck.

What exactly happened with your bassist, Soloman?
Last night we played a show with Thick as Blood, All Sets Aside, the Home Front, Apnea and some others, at Transitions Art Gallery in Tampa, and Soloman didn’t show up; he didn’t have a way to get there, and we tried reconciliation with his mom, she wasn’t in favor of it. We can’t, we can’t have a member without any dedication, because I mean, it’s either 110 percent or zero. And that’s the way we saw it. We love Soloman with all of our hearts, but that was the best thing to do in this scenario.
(Contacted later, Soloman said he agreed that “it was a good decision for the group,” as a result of his difficulties with distance and transportation.)

So what’s the next step? Are you already looking for a new bassist?
We’re actually recording an EP right now called Open Your Eyes, Close Your Mouth and we just finished tracking drums for three of the songs last Wednesday (Aug. 22). We’re going back into the studio Tuesday to do guitars, and I’ll be doing the bass on the EP. After we release it in October we’ll be looking. We’re still looking right now, but that’s basically our next step, to finish up the EP.

You don’t have anyone in mind right now?
No, we’re pretty lost in that regard.
 
So where else have you played?
Our first show was at State Theatre with Arrival Within, Big Red Robot, A Long Way From Living, and some others, and that was a great show. That was the best show we’ve ever played. It was a great venue, great audience, a lot of active people — just a lot of people, actually. That show last night … kind of hard to work with.

What can you tell us about your EP?
Our friend named Ryan is doing it for us, he’s a great guy, a really good guy to work with. He just got out of the  MIRA program at St. Pete College for the recording arts, and he’s trying to get bigger in the recording industry and kind of practices on us and sees how it sounds, and I’m loving it.

Obviously then you’ve already got some songs written down, can you talk about those? What are your favorites?
 Sam: My favorite of our songs is called More Than Words Can Say, we’re releasing it Sept. 24. It’s about a girl, a good friend of mine, named Jessica Keating, who died in a car crash last September. She was supposed to go into St. Pete IB and unfortunately she passed away, and we wrote a song about that. It’s coming out on her one-year anniversary. I think that song really touches us in a good way. In a sad way, but that stuff happens.
 
Cory Williams  joins us. He buys two Granny Smith apples, and we finish up with more backstory about the band.
 
So how did you come to be the guitarist for the Last of Our Worries?
Cory: I had no clue who Sam was, and I go on Facebook, see a notification that says “Cory Williams was tagged in a post by Chad,” and my friend Chad tags me in a “wanted” post they had. He told me about that, and I said I’d check it out. It was pretty reasonable, and I mean I had nothing better to do with my time.
 
Sam: I started messaging Cory and we started talking. Soon enough, he came to my house after school, and we started jamming, and he picked it up  immediately. He was the perfect fit for the group.
Cory: Oh, stop.

Do either of you have any advice for budding musicians?
Cory (through a mouthful of apple): It’s important not to give up, even though there will always be someone better than you.

Max Asayesh-Brown is tb-two*s lead music critic.