Late Bloomer is a Charlotte based indie-rock band, with Josh Robbins as bass player and co-lead vocalist, Neil Mauney on guitar, and Scott Wishart on drums. In 2014, the band released Things Change, while in 2018, they released Waiting, which all had one common theme: forgiveness and eventually seeking help. From December 2023 to February 2024, the band began releasing music, leading up to the release of Another One Again, which is a follow up to both albums.
Josh Robbins, Late Bloomer’s bass player and co-lead vocalist, met with For The Punks to talk about the steps to creating the new album before and during the pandemic, getting back into the swing of things, and the band’s rejuvenated creativity post pandemic. Robbins even discussed the band’s plans and upcoming tours before lockdown with the new album in the works but when the pandemic hit, it began to set them back, yet it did not stop them from creating the music.
“We were touring a decent amount pre-pandemic and had some plans to tour Europe. With the pandemic, that put a lot of things on hold and it was really hard to get back in the swing of things,” he said. “With our music during that time frame, we kind of worked in smaller chunks.”
The time during the pandemic did give leeway to the band members to create the album. However, back in 2021, when venues started to open back up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, things changed for musicians, especially for Late Bloomer, but with its change also came its challenges. There were times when Robbins felt drained with recording the album and songwriting.
“When 2021 rolled around, people started playing shows again, but it felt like every time we tried to play a show like. one of us would get covid. Outside of that it’s just like overall, because of the pandemic, it really just drained me a lot in terms of songwriting and getting everything together,” he said.
After various sessions, he pushed himself to finish music for the album, making him feel more refreshed and ready for the world to hear Late Bloomer’s new music.
“Really it’s the act of actually recording these songs over a year ago, then recording them in different sessions and doing a lot at home. But my point being is actually forcing myself to kind of record the songs that we had done, I feel like it reinvigorated me finally after these three or so years kind of after the fact.”
During our talk with Robbins, we have both come to the conclusion that the band’s newest album is considerably like an end to a trilogy. Their 2014 album Things Change was about asking someone for forgiveness, their 2018 album Waiting was about seeking help and forgiveness for yourself, while Another One Again is about a response to both albums. Robbins went in depth about the themes of the newest album, which is moving on, getting closure, and seeing a situation from two perspectives instead of one’s own, rather than blaming others.
“I was hoping for some of these songs that I would almost start balancing a little bit more. Like, it’s not to say that I don’t feel myself at fault in certain things, but kind of like maybe zoom out a little bit more and think about both perspectives,” he said. “It started looking at relationships as a whole in our life.”
“I think personally, with the rest of the band, we’re kind of on the other side of those problems that started in ‘Things Change” and then you’re like, ‘Hopefully, I am on the other end of it.’ Being able to move on with my life and be like a better friend, husband, family member and what-not. That’s the hope, it feels like the end of a trilogy.”
Though Robbins talked about the themes of moving on, he elaborated on one of the songs, “Birthday” where he was more reflective on the other relationships around him. The song was more about realizing that one does not owe someone anything just out of obligation.
“You don’t have to like all these things that people tell you you have to do. You don’t have to do it. You shouldn’t feel guilty or guilted into loving someone,” he said.
Robbins also told For The Punks the year ahead for Late Bloomer, which is all exciting and uphill for the band. Ahead of the release of Another One Again, the band has set up release shows for the end of March, and are hoping to play more in the surrounding cities, to take in the lively communities that they bring.
“We’re doing some release shows at the end of March, and we haven’t played that far outside Charlotte and North Carolina and South Carolina in a while. We’ve been really lucky with the shows that we’ve been able to play over the past 10 years or so,” he said.
“We’re looking into playing more in the Southeast, not even just Charlotte, but those surrounding places that are an hour or two away, and playing there a lot more and not taking it for granted such as Durham, Raleigh, Columbia, Charleston, Asheville, onto Atlanta or a little bit further away in Greenville, South Carolina.”
For indie-rock lovers or those looking to get into indie-rock or simply finding something new to listen to, be sure to stream Another One Again by Late Bloomer!
