Hot Gig Alert (Tonight): Worriers plays their final show in MA (Interview in Post)
Editor’s note: Brooklyn-based band Worriers, the brainchild of Lauren Denetizio, are on their final tour as a band, after putting out two albums last year. The most recent of the two, Trust Your Gut, is a record Denetizio says they feel good about ending on. We had the chance to speak with Denetizio about the farewell tour and the latest album ahead of their show tonight in Medford, here’s that interview now:
New England Sounds: You just announced that after you finish this East Coast run, and some West Coast shows, you’re going to finish touring, or finish doing this project. But on the brighter side, how do you feel about returning to the East Coast and going to Montreal for Pouzza? How are you feeling right now?
Lauren Denetizio: I feel really excited about it. And especially because, we were supposed to play Pouzza last year, and I had to cancel the tour that that was a part of. Being able to come back and play a festival that we have played in the past, and that has been really supportive to us in general, feels really lovely. It feels very supportive to be able to end that run, like the East Coast shows with Pouzza Fest specifically. I think it’s going to be a really fun time.
NES: Then I know it’s such a hectic festival and running out, but it’s just because of my personal connection to Montreal. My mom’s from there, my extended family all live there, and it’s where my hockey team is from. Are there certain foods you enjoy up there or places you go when you’re there? Maybe something you’re looking forward to, or other artists that you want to catch when you’re there?
Lauren: I mean, I feel like I can never spend very much time in Montreal. So I don’t have like the go-to places. I do know that I’m excited for some really good coffee and probably poutine (laughs). But the show that we’re playing at Pouzza, actually, I feel like it’s a really good fit and I’m really excited to play another show with Pet Symmetry, who I’ve known for a really long time. And then obviously, American Steel, who I’ve been a big fan of for the entire time that we’ve been a band. So it’s really nice to get to finally play a show with American Steel, I’m really looking forward to that.
NES: Speaking of being able to play that show with American Steel, are there still bands that would be on your bucket list now? Or artists that you haven’t played with that would be like a dream for you still?
Lauren: Woah, I mean yeah, a hundred percent. My bucket list has always included, let’s see, it’s always included Neko Case, Paramore, and honestly (laughs), like the Indigo Girls.
NES: Indigo Girls? That’s great! What a trio.
Lauren: Obviously, I’m a singer-songwriter, and there are definitely a lot of bands or artists that influenced me that aren’t necessarily in the indie-rock, punk-rock zone. But yeah, there are all definitely on my bucket list.
NES: That’s awesome! And then, I know, it may be all the dates, but most of the dates are with the Boston-based band Mint Green, who will be joining you. I know, unfortunately, Future Teens was supposed to, but I’m sure there’s some radial clauses with their Boston Calling show coming up, that kind of thing. But Mint Green, maybe the choice behind having them out with you, only because this is to preview your Medford show, Boston-adjacent show, how did that come about, choosing Mint Green? To be kind of the main act that’s with you on this run.
Lauren: Yeah! Well, Mint Green is a band that we’ve actually played with quite a while ago in upstate New York. And they’ve always been a band that I’ve followed a bit but I think are doing some really rad things. I think they’re just really killing it. Like really working hard, and I think it has also played Boston Calling in the past.
NES: Yep, they have.
Lauren: I was really excited they could join us on all the shows. And then also, Hyber is actually a band that Future Teens turned me on to. They’re awesome, and they’re a Boston local band too. So I feel like, as far as Boston shows go, it is a really killer lineup. I think everybody’s just super catchy and fun. It’s going to be a great time.
NES: Perfect, then I know this may be a little bittersweet, but your last record, Trust Your Gut, was released in September 2023. But you recently announced that you wouldn’t be performing anymore. I’m sure that was such a hard thing to post about, especially because you’ve been doing Worriers for so long, for over a decade. When was that decision? Was it more of a recent decision for you, or did you know that you would do that after the record came out?
Lauren: It was definitely a more recent decision to make these shows like the last ones as Worriers. But we put out Warm Blanket and Trust Your Gut in the same year. We did a five-week US tour on our own, we did two weeks in the UK with Paws, and shortly thereafter we did another five-week tour with Alkaline Trio. It was amazing, but it was also a lot, and I realized that kind of pace isn’t necessarily something sustainable for me. In the past, I have really enjoyed that kind of pace, but I just don’t anymore. And it was something where I had just been re-evaluating how I wanted my creative life to look. And so it wasn’t even necessarily about ending Worriers as a project, so much as it was, “What do I want my day-to-day to look like?” And what do I want my year to look like? It just made sense to me that maybe instead of thinking about things as Worriers anymore, that I would be able to start working on other sorts of projects. And not have the pressure of over ten years of the band, as the band. So yeah, there wasn’t one thing that happened. It wasn’t a super sudden decision, but it just seemed to make sense. Now that we’re planning these shows on the East Coast and then some West Coast shows in the fall. It just felt like a really nice way to kind of wrap things up and play some low-key shows on our own.
NES: I know, for me at least, I interviewed this band from LA, Deap Vally, who also did a final run. They still care about each other, and they want to play their first album one more time; they’re both parents. Or like the band Sum 41, the singer Dercyk Whibley, said, “I just made the best album of my life, this is it, I’m done.” He’s the one who called it. It’s a different world now, this post-COVID climate, you can’t keep up touring so heavily. I mean, I don’t tour, of course, but I’m sure it’s so hard on you as an artist. It’s a very different time now in 2025.
Lauren: Yeah, I do think it’s very much a different time. And kind of to that point, I am really proud of Trust Your Gut. I feel really good about that record, and I kind of want to keep it that way. I love the thought of having that be our last record. That to me is a positive thing in a way.
NES: And then you were speaking about other things you may want to try. To kind of end it off, is it something where you want to like record other people, write some songs for other people, write for yourself? Maybe some hopes or goals you have, or things you want to try, once these shows wrap up.
Lauren: Sure, I mean I have friends that I definitely want to keep writing with, that I could see being even more collaborative with them. As a band, like having other people really writing in the band, but being able to do that as kind of like a one-off. Like, oh, we wrote this EP for fun, and maybe we’ll play a couple shows or something. But then, also, writing songs with other people. Helping other people with song-writing or singing on someone else’s record or stuff like that. I do really love writing and recording. So I would love to keep that up. And I certainly have ideas about how that could look or who that would be with.
NES: Well, thank you so much, Lauren. I know it can always be a little bit difficult when you talk about things like finishing a project. I always call it an exit interview, like if you were leaving a job. I’ve done several interviews. One was with someone I had interviewed like five times, and it was sad at the end, being like, “Okay, bye!”
Lauren: It’s okay! I really appreciate you previewing the Boston show specifically, because Boston has always been really kind to us. And kind of one of my favorite places to play, so I’m really glad that we get to come back. And play one more time, and see Deep Cuts (the venue where Worriers will be playing this upcoming Sunday, 5/11).
NES: For sure, it’s a brand new venue. Maybe what other venues you played at when you came to Boston? Great Scott, or O’Brien’s, or the Middle East.
Lauren: Great Scott is the one that closed, right?
NES: Yeah, it’s coming back! But it’s going to be a bit different. It will be by where O’Brien’s is, it will be O’Brien’s and Great Scott in the same building. The city just approved it, the guy who’s going to be running it used to book all the music at Great Scott.
Lauren: Oh, sick! Yeah, we played O’Brien’s. I definitely played O’Brien’s back in the day. We played at Great Scott a bunch and the last show we played there on our own was at Faces (in Malden). But yeah, so obviously it’s a new venue, we haven’t played Deep Cuts before, so I’m excited to see that happening.
Featured image by: Lauren Desberg
