Warner’s new album has impact

Some music tugs at the heartstrings.

There is no tugging with Andrew Warner’s music. It punches through emotional walls and blasts through a Photoshop culture to confront the listener with a piercing reality. It is melodic and soulful music that can be harsh, yet offer hope at the same time.

Warner, a Biology teacher at Penn High School, is on tour this summer to promote his new album, “Temporary Circumstances.” The Album can be downloaded for free at https://andrewwarner.bandcamp.com/album/temporary-circumstances-ep (donations accepted).

Creating an acoustic punk pop sound that converges with enthralling no-holds-barred lyrics, Warner’s “Little Ein’s Tour” will hit Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin, as well as Indiana this summer.

A solo artist, Warner will be performing at The Well Basement, 2410 Mishawaka Ave, South Bend, on Tuesday, June 28. Click here for event info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1704136839832043/

“It’s a message of hope cloaked in anger and frustration,” Warner said of the songs on “Temporary Circumstances”. “I’m not confronting my audience, but I’m confronting myself.”

 “It’s really hard to find people in my genre,” Warner said. “I really like screaming. It’s angry music that tells people how I feel. It’s not like I’m upset at people for hurting me. It’s like, ‘I’m trying to make the world a better place, and here’s why I’m upset by it, and here’s my music trying to make things better.’”

Warner’s music is a lightning strike to the conscience of the human condition.

“My music is about my experiences with divorce in my family, my grandparents,” Warner explained. “I lived with my grandparents starting when I was in the third grade.

“I write about the difficulty of having a relationship with somebody, and how this incorporates with my faith in God, how my actions try to do the right thing, but I always, somehow, end up falling short. It’s wrapped around the idea of my finding purpose in something greater, so that I can still be sad about the things around me, but I can still have hope in the end.

“My music is really sarcastic,” Warner continued. “It’s tongue-in-cheek, like, ‘Is he really calling that person out right now?’ ‘Is he really saying that?’ I’m not cursing people, but I’m yelling because I mean it, and I’m yelling because I’m passionate about it.”

Warner’s high-volume message pushes a mirror in front of listeners, and demands thoughtful self-reflection. His open and punk approach can take some listeners aback.

“In terms of me yelling … some generations don’t think that’s music,” Warner said. “They think it’s scary. I think there is something about my music that my students can relate to, that people my age can relate to. There are a lot of things in the world that aren’t being said, and when they are, they’re being said really quietly, or they’re being said behind closed doors. One thing I like about my music is I’m open, and I’m vulnerable, and I’m not afraid to say things that people talk about, that people gossip about, that people whisper about. I like being extremely honest. I think every generation can afford to be a little more honest.”

Warner is comfortable with being uncomfortable, whether it’s reflecting about his relationship with his wife, how he treats his friends, or overcoming the pain of anguish. He gives that same jolt of discomfort to his listeners.

“I hope my music is offensive to people, because it makes people remember. It’s going to upset people,” Warner said. “It will make some people feel uncomfortable. I openly talk about God in some of my songs, and that will make some people upset.

“I scream at myself more than I scream at people. I see this idealistic way of living that is characterized by the perfect character of God, and then I see my life, and I say, ‘I’m such a broken person,’ and I’m aware of it. There are people who are broken, who aren’t aware of it, and they’re settling and they’re comfortable and it’s driving me nuts. I’d rather know about my brokenness and live the way I am now, than be blinded.

A graduate of Michigan State University and a native of the Detroit area, Warner just completed his first year at Penn. The honesty of his music is an extension of the honesty of his teaching and his character.

“I’m open with my students,” Warner said. “I’ll say like, ‘Here’s what I have. Take what you want. It will come to you in six years, so I’m expecting an email in six years. You’re 14 now. Half of the stuff I’m saying now, you’re not going to understand until you’re older.’

“I’m everything that I’m trying to teach against. I think there’s some value in that, and I think there’s some transparency in that, that you don’t really see in people. That’s what I just want. I want people to be a little more open about themselves. If you tell people that you’re not perfect, then I think they’ll see you as a human, rather than the authoritative teacher.”

Warner said that Penn High School music teacher Lavon Oke provided resources that were extremely helpful in the production of the album. He also credited the album producer, Kept On Hold, for his contributions.

“We just brought it to life,” Warner said of his album. “I feel like that the album has something for everybody. It has the nice, slow acoustic love song, it has the hard-hitting sarcastic real songs.”