By the time John Backer lights up, you already know the vibe. The Los Angeles native behind the band We Knew Nothing speaks fast, laughs easily, and treats creative choices like sacred oaths. He rolls blunts in the studio because it settles the mind, then chases songs that feel true in his bones. If he sounds like a lifer, it is because he is.
“I smoke all the time,” he says. “I have this thing called cyclical vomiting syndrome. They say 50 percent of the people who have it are caused by weed, and the other half, weed helps them. It kind of just makes my stomach feel better if I’m feeling like ass. But then I also use it. It helps me be creative.”
Backer’s cannabis story started early. He was 11 when his cousin handed him both a bong and a copy of High Times under a storm drain near Tom’s Farms off the 15. “He had like a shanty town under there,” Backer laughs. “He had High Times all over. That was how I met High Times for the first time.”
From Hardcore Halls to 3D Movie Labs to We Knew Nothing
The path from Corona punk shows to a sharpened post-hardcore project took some left turns. Backer grew up in a deeply musical household. His father wanted to be an author and ended up writing ESL grants, but he also built a massive educational record for his kids. “People can play two seconds of a song and 90 percent of the time I’m going to get the song right,” Backer says. “My music knowledge is so crazy because of how my dad is.”
He cut his teeth in high school hardcore bands, found a tribe in those sweaty rooms, and spent time around the Showcase scene …
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Author: Kyle Rosner / High Times
