Waterparks: A brief overview
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In honor of the most recent release of the Waterparks demo compilation, it is only fair to dump as many thoughts as possible about this silly band. I have annoyed the lovely Editor-in-Chief of The Lamron, Nathaniel D’Amato, enough about them, so now I must make it everyone else’s problem. Waterparks is an American band with extensive lore and history deserving of a brief rundown. Now, I will provide an overview of the events leading up to the release of the two beloved “demos,” or songs not yet entirely completed/produced.
Waterparks formed in 2011 in Houston, Texas, with Awsten Knight as the lead vocalist, Geoff Wingington as the guitarist, and Otto Wood as the drummer. Since then, the band has released three extended plays (EPs), five albums, two demo compilations, and more. Their recent project titled “2 (A COLLECTION OF UNRELEASED HOME DEMOS, THIS IS NOT J, OR EVEN AN ALBUM, SHUT UP ENJOY)” consists of two tracks: “CALL ME BEEP ME” and “TALKING TO MYSELF,” both highly anticipated demos that were produced, mixed, and mastered by the lead singer, were recently released by the alternative band on Oct. 18, 2024.
One of the many aspects of Waterparks’s distinct identity is their dedication to naming their albums in alphabetical order—something mentioned in the demo compilation title. The band released their debut EP, “Airplane Conversations,” in 2012, and their most recent album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (2023), last October. While their first two EPs may not reflect the pure alphabetical nature, the following EP and albums do. Thus, the sixth Waterparks album would start with “J,” which is alluded to in the track, but the phrase, “THIS IS NOT J,” is used in the demo’s title.
Yet, before this recent demo compilation, another project was in the works: a continuation of their album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (2023), projected to be called INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 2: LOST IN THE PROPERTY. After releasing three singles that would feature on the album, the band's YouTube account released a cancellation video on Aug. 2, 2024. Using this, Knight provided brief details on why the album would not be coming out in the description. Even though the “PROPERTY” era came to an end, I still recommend the singles—especially “GUILT (INTERLUDE),” which was produced, mixed, and mastered by Knight. A beautiful thing about Waterparks is that it is hard to define them with one genre, and I feel that “GUILT (INTERLUDE)” is a bit different from previous releases. Yet, it still provides an incredible listening experience alongside its short film.
Shortly after this cancellation announcement, Waterparks would return with the release of a single, “GH2024,” on Aug. 16, 2024. This magnificent mashup of melodies featured on their album Greatest Hits (2021) highlights the masterpieces of the album (which I also highly recommend). “GH2024” is not a new concept to the band, as they previously released “Double Dare 2019” and “Entertainment 2019” based on their past albums, Double Dare (2016) and Entertainment (2018), respectively. Sadly, those two mashups had to be taken down because the band did not own the rights to the albums due to issues with their previous label company.
On his X account, “PARXAFTERDARK2,” Knight introduced the challenge to get the single, “GH2024,” to 300,000 streams before Sept. 2024—less than a month after its release—and, in return, he would release the “CALL ME BEEP ME (DEMO)” on streaming services. This was achieved, and Knight posted an update on social media that the demo alongside “TALKING TO MYSELF” would be released.
This is not the first time Knight has created action-mandated goals in releasing demos. In 2020, Knight made a post on X stating that if the post got 20,000 retweets, a new Waterparks demo compilation would be released that same day. Yet again, Waterparks fans showed up and accomplished the retweet goal. Thus, the demo collection “1 (A COLLECTION OF UNRELEASED HOME DEMOS, THIS IS NOT G, OR EVEN AN ALBUM, SHUT UP ENJOY),” featuring nine demos, was released on Jan. 22, 2020—only available on the band’s official SoundCloud.
Overall, Waterparks is a band with an extensive discography that is always up to antics—usually at the hands of lead singer Awsten Knight. They will surely have something for everyone as Waterparks is a silly and fun alternative band with members who are (shockingly) good people—I could not recommend them enough! The band deserves all the attention it continues to receive. Go to any music streaming platform and find your favorite Waterparks song!