Single Exclusive: Weekend Faithful – Function Room

Newcastle rock-sextet Weekend Faithful release their second single, Function Room – a no-nonsense, riffalicious rock anthem and an affectionate, mournful ode to the, now dying, Northern social club. 

The band will be following up the release with a show at the Old Coal Yard in Byker on Sunday 20th March with all proceeds going to the venue.

The band’s vocalist/guitarist Jimmy Parkins tells us more about the track, which we proudly present to you as a NARC. exclusive…

“Function Room is an ode to the social club as a significant place in our hearts and memories. The song’s character is young, despondent, disillusioned and absolutely desperate to be served alcohol, even if it means standing in the musty, tired bar of his local social club. We hope that the track also conveys a sense of appreciation alongside that narrative; the social club’s significance is diminished but they’re still an important place to escape to in working-class life, to come together to celebrate a birth or mourn loss, to bridge the gap between older and younger generations or just to play pool and drink cheap beer. 

“Our influences and backgrounds are varied but can be fairly succinctly summed up as ‘guitar music we grew up listening to that feels fun, natural and makes us feel excited when we play it.’ The most common ground usually falls between Springsteen, The Hold Steady, more classic elements like Thin Lizzy and Cheap Trick through to mid-80’s alternative acts like The Replacements and Hüsker Dü. We’re aware that the world doesn’t really need a predominantly male band to mine stadium rock and the Minneapolis punk scene for as yet undiscovered nuggets of worth but at the same time this music fills us with nostalgic joy and warmth, we just want to nurture that amongst ourselves and then pass it on to other people, especially live. 

“We started during the height of the first pandemic and so that largely informed the initial writing process which has essentially been a fairly constant backward and forward sharing of ideas from little riffs through to more fleshed-out songs via WhatsApp. Doing this meant that when we were finally able to get in a room together we had tons of material to work on from the get-go. This collaborative but also insular approach has kind of stuck, as we’re a 6-piece it’s slightly harder to all be in a room at the same time, so trying to write as much as we can outside of band practice and then coming in with lots of ideas has been productive for us. 

“The track was recorded at Blank Studios, our drummer Chris is one of the owners and engineers there so it was a no-brainer, also I imagine he would have been quite upset if we had booked to go somewhere else. It’s an amazing space and for some of us, it was the first time in an actual studio having previously only recorded in more DIY settings, so a truly great experience. Our favourite part is probably the control room which is very warm and quiet, making it an excellent place to nap or just sit in silence while Chris tinkers on with a microphone or amp.”