BAND INTERVIEW: "Finding Neverland"

Finding Neverland is a Christian Metalcore band from the mile high city, Denver CO. The band is a relatively new act that came on the scene towards the beginning of 2022. Being almost a year since their first release, They recently released a new single titled “Comforter” which was released March 29th. Within that year the band has used their music as an outlet for their faith and to spread their message. We got the chance to catch up with the band and ask them a few questions! 

Hey guys! Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us! First off, for those of you who haven’t heard of you, What is your origin story? How did you land on the name Finding Neverland?

The band is originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado and was started by current guitar player Luke Weaver and his brother Heath Weaver on vocals in 2012. Luke was previously attending Georgia Southern and was in a band called “Gentlemen Speak Up” and decided to move back home to Colorado. The band recorded a 5 song EP and had some success playing around Colorado from 2012-2015. Heath decided to step away from music and the band took a hiatus in 2015. I (James Carnes, vocals), went to high school with both Luke and Heath. While I was attending college at CU-Boulder, Luke heard I had always wanted to give music a try - I played football for 15 years of my life. So we got together in 2019 and revived this project. With Covid happening and many other life challenges like my own personal mental health and addiction issues and taking time away to live in a sober living house in Boulder, CO, the project took a while to get going. Thankfully in my pursuit of Jesus and my sobriety - I’ve been sober since July 2020 - music got stirred up in me and has become my passion and my career choice. 

The band has always had the purpose of sharing the Gospel in the unique and beautiful style that is metalcore music. The name Finding Neverland is just another word for finding heaven. Like the fictional neverland in the story Peter Pan, heaven is a physical place but also a way of believing and thinking. In our faith in Jesus and almighty Yahweh, we can live with a childlike wonder and joy knowing that He is in control of all things. Jesus says in Matthew, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’ On Earth, when you have a strong father that you trust, it gives a child a great sense of joy, lack of fear and the ability to grow into who they were supposed to become. In heaven it’s very much the same, and as people we can live knowing that we have a Father in heaven who is in control and is also bigger and terrifying than any bad circumstance that this Earth can offer to us. So put your faith in Jesus and have a childlike joy that He is with you, and the culture of heaven can be shown through you.

You guys started releasing music last year, How has the response been as you start to roll out your music to the world?

Yeah, it’s been really surprising how excited people are to hear that older sound of metalcore again. We are huge fans of Messengers era August Burns Red and The Devil Wears Prada and so we just play the music we like to hear. We’ve had emails from people all around the world who said they’ve enjoyed the music we’ve put out so far. Unfortunately, a lot of metalcore these days has become very generic sounding and I think we take pride in trying to sound unique and have the listener go through an adventure in the song. Same with the lyrics, I want to write lyrics that don’t sound basic and broad. For myself as a fan of music, I love songs that have lyrics that are extremely creative and make you think and so I desire to keep doing that for Finding Neverland songs in the future. 

As a Christian Metalcore band in 2023, do you feel like that specific genre is still thriving? 

I don’t think making the genre thrive is a priority or concern for us. We want to just do what we believe God is calling us to do, and I believe God wants us to use our talents and our skills and the things we are interested in to share His message to the world - and we just happen to love metalcore and post-hardcore style music. I think the genre thrived so much in the past, because this style of music is very passionate and aggressive and I think the message of the Gospel is very much similar to that. I think anytime you allow Jesus into something it starts to thrive and so I believe that I have a desire and an interest to play music and I want to point people to Jesus. Whether that creates a large platform or not, I just want to follow Christ and tell people about him, and it just so happens to be that I play in a metalcore band. One of my favorite quotes is “As a christian it is not your job to reach the world, it is your job to listen to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will reach the world.” So, it’s never my goal to have a million instagram followers for Christ, I just want to do what God almighty wants me to do on this Earth and He is guiding me on that. Whether it garners huge success or not, I want to keep my focus on just doing God’s will for my life and to share the story of the Gospel which has so incredibly changed everything about me.

You guys have a brand new single out called “Comforter”. What is the meaning behind that song?

So the Bible calls the Holy Spirit, the ‘Comforter’. When Jesus rose from the dead and shared that He would be in heaven with his Father, his followers were very scared on how they were going to go on or be able to live life without him around. Jesus said in John 16:7 that He will send the Comforter (The Holy Spirit) as help for them on Earth. And so, in the lyrics I am writing that I have tried to do everything on my own in my own strength and I fail miserably every time. There is a lyric that says “My ways have failed, show me your heart”. My ways are always incredibly selfish and fearful and deceitful and it led me into a very lonely and dark place. My goal and dream of becoming a professional football player was failing, and I was treating the women in my life terribly and had a very serious addiction to alcohol. I tried suicide in my college apartment and everything was just falling apart around me. The song is basically a discussion with God that I am in desperate need of His help, because my ways always fail miserably, even the dreams and desires that I have. Through the Bible and in prayer and with the Holy Spirit, He shows me His heart and that His plans for me are always better than anything I can ever dream of doing or accomplishing on my own. By putting my faith in Jesus, and knowing that He is my source of help, it gives me comfort and peace.

What is next for the band? Is there an album coming out this year? Shows planned? 

Right now, we are just a two-piece band and we are looking to add a drummer and a bass player so we can put out more songs at a quicker pace for an album and be able to play shows. Right now, we are currently searching for members so we can play live but nothing is planned yet. That could change very quickly though. We have 2-3 songs that need to be recorded also so we will be working on that in the meantime and we plan to have that finished by the end of the year. For me personally, I am also working on a solo project spoken word album called “The Spirits” that I am also hoping to have finished this year. Right now, I have a song called “Identity” which is a spoken word Christian song out now and I’m hoping to do more music style preaching in the future.

Now for some fun questions! When you’re not playing music, what do you do in your free time?

I have recently fallen into the crazy world of acting. I am signed with Cathexis Talent Agency out of Denver and I was a baseball player in the movie “Finding the Zone” set to be released this year. I also will be in a movie called “Bloodvine” to be filmed soon out in Grand Junction. I was never interested in theater as a kid as I played football throughout high school, but God started to put this strange interest in my heart to get into acting. I knew it was from Him, because I was overly terrified and had no idea how I would do it on my own and I knew I would need Him every step of the way. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge so far and I need to take more workshops and classes to get better. 

I’m also a diehard Denver Broncos and CU Buffs football fan. I love attending games and getting together with friends and family and watching the games. I also love Coors Field and attending Rockies baseball games. It’s the prettiest baseball diamond in the country in my opinion. My alma mater (CU) was terrible at football and has been for many years, so we’re excited to have Deion Sanders as the coach and I am so happy that there is excitement with the football program. It is an unbelievable place to go to school and it deserves attention and excitement. 

Who is the last new artist you checked out and loved?

Outside of metal, I absolutely love soulful and R&B style singing. I discovered Teddy Swims recently and his powerful vocals really are amazing. I hope he continues to grab mainstream success. Another band I’ve really enjoyed lately is Valiant Hearts and Galleons (same vocalist). They’re singer has an amazing tone and incredible range. Even though I play metalcore, I mostly listen to post-hardcore bands or pop music and r&b music (unashamedly I’m a huge Drake fan) and I hope some of those influences will come through in my music. 

If you could open for any band past or present, who would they be?

I would love to open for my grandfather's band, Johnny Olenn and The Jokers or at least be able to travel back in time and see them perform. My grandfather was a successful drummer and singer in the 1950 and 60s, playing with the likes of Elvis, Buck Ownens, Doug Sahm and The Platters and he performed in movies as well. I would also love to open for For Today when they played, as they have obviously influenced my life musically and spiritually. I met Mattie Montgomery on their farewell tour in 2016, and he planted a seed in me to find out who Jesus is and how to be a man of God. 

Thank you guys again for taking the time to answer these questions! Is there  anything else you want to plug or say to your fans?

I just want to say thank you to everybody who has supported this new chapter in our lives and the little bit of music we’ve put out so far. We’ve gotten emails and messages on social media personally thanking us for some of the songs. Many of them shared their own testimonies in their lives. People have bought our merch and shared our songs to other outlets and we can’t thank you enough.  I just want this band to be like a community or a family of people who love music and want to love Jesus or are curious to find out who He is. That is why we hold a weekly live stream podcast on Facebook every Friday night for anybody who wants to connect with us or ask questions about scripture or how to deal with some of the troubles in your life with the word of God. God wants us to have fellowship with Him, and He wants us to love others and have community with each other. He never wanted us to be alone. That’s why even if you have a hard time with God or spirituality, you can rest assured that our band cares for you and we’ll be your friend and your family even if we think differently. We can at least connect with music! If you’re a christian and you're struggling feel free to reach out and let us pray for you. God never said life was going to be easy, but you should never do it alone. No matter what you’ve done in your life, Jesus died for you to be able to live in peace. You have a buried treasure inside of you called the Holy Spirit, and He will use it to give you life and you will change the world. Just trust Him. Thank you so much for having us Ghost killer Entertainment.