“We were just trying to figure out how the band dynamics were going to work” – An Interview with waltzerr
Today sees the release of the outstanding debut album Tomorrow Will Be Better from Seattle-based indie-rock band waltzerr. The band have partnered with Share It Music, a non-profit record label, and a portion of the proceeds from the album will be donated to the Washington State-based organization Northwest Harvest. The organization provides access to healthy food to local residents and works to remove systemic inequities that create barriers within the state’s food and economic systems.
waltzerr formed in 2023 with vocalist and songwriter Emily Waltzer before growing into a three-piece indie rock band with Anthony Coraggio on bass and Schuyler Jensen on guitar. They have toured throughout the West Coast, performing at local shows and festivals while sharing the stage with artists like FIGHTMASTER, Wallice, Ava Maybee, and Bear Hands.
Across the ten tracks of 90s-influenced alt-rock, Tomorrow Will Be Better explores the emotional aftermath of love, friendship, and change. Opening with the exhilarating “Throw a Bone”, it builds from Emily singing over a bass riff before exploding into a huge guitar driven chorus. Lead single “ciggy b” explores longing for someone after a relationship ends with a ridiculously catchy chorus while the reflective “Catching Clovers” is about recognizing when love is no longer enough to sustain an unhealthy relationship. Closing with the epic “Slow Down”, the album enthralls throughout with Emily’s passionate vocals, fuzzy guitars and driving rhythms. It’s one of the best debuts you’ll hear this year.
We caught up with Emily as she was getting ready for the album release.
IDOV – Hi Emily! How are things? Thanks so much for chatting with us.
EW – I’m doing good. Fun Wednesday and about to go to a Dodgers game after this
IDOV – So how’s everything going as you get ready for the release of your debut album Tomorrow Will Be Better in a few weeks?
EW – It’s good, it’s busy. Honestly though, now that we’re done recording, we’ve got all the album art and everything is sent to distribution, all the hard stuff is done. Now it’s just the waiting. We’re planning a little West Coast tour so trying to get that all planned and scheduled, all the bands set up and the poster art done is now my second big wave of busyness. But soon that’ll be all settled, and so I’m kind of just settling into life. After music and before the storm, a full release.
IDOV – Which classic cover album art is your current mood?
EW – If you didn’t know, which you probably don’t, it is Hello Kitty Night at Dodger Stadium. So I feel like I have to go with Smashing Pumpkins – Pisces Iscariot because it has Hello Kitty cat on that record and it’s so fitting.
IDOV – Congrats on your debut album Tomorrow Will be Better. It’s genuinely one of my favorite LPs of 2026, Where did you write and record the record?
EW – We recorded in Omaha, Nebraska. Our drummer, Nate Van Fleet, who played on the record, used to be an engineer at… I forgot what the studio’s called…so we flew all the way to Omaha. The rest of the band is from Seattle. I flew from LA with Nate and our producer, Jesse Field, and we recorded pretty much everything except two songs there. The other two we recorded in Big Bad Studios in LA.
IDOV – I was listening to your debut EP, Small Talk and the new record definitely has a more 90s alt-rock sound than the indie-pop of the EP. Was there anything that kind of changed or was it just a natural progression?
EW – So our band’s kind of gone through a couple renditions of people. When we started the band, it was me and a bunch of my friends from right out of college, and the sound that we did together was more of a synthy, indie-pop sound. Then when the band started to get more serious, they didn’t want to be in a serious band, and I found the bandmates that I currently have. Myself, Anthony and Skylar, who are also in the band, have more of a 90s-alt taste in music. So this record was definitely heavily inspired by Momma and Smashing Pumpkins, and I wouldn’t say we’re too shoegazy, so maybe, not Drop Nineteens, but those are the types of bands that I listen to.
IDOV – Do you have a favorite track at the moment off the album, or is it difficult, like, picking a favorite child kind? I picked three, but it was kind of hard. I went with “TGL”, “ciggy b”, and “Slow Down” as my current favorites..
EW – It depends what mood I’m in. “ciggy b” is definitely the one if I’m just trying to have fun and put myself up driving down the 101. If I’m in my feels and I just want to depress myself, it’s “Counting Clovers”. And then if I’m angry, it’s going to be “Pushing 33” or “TGL”.
IDOV – You mentioned about your cover art earlier. I was really impressed with the single art for “ciggy b” and also for the album. Who’s being doing your art for the releases?
EW – Thank you. Her name is Regan Hand. She is an art student out of New Mexico, going to the University of New Mexico. She does such great work and she is so professional, so quick, so easy to work with, so kind.and she does commissions, so if anyone wants originals hit up her Instagram.
IDOV – So second question we ask everyone, if you could only listen to one record, what would it be?
EW – This record is kind of new so it’s not, like, a classic, but if you know the artist Prewn, last year she came out with a record called System and that is a 10 out of 10 record for me. I listen to it all the time. I saw her two nights ago, because she played here in LA, and it was just even better seeing it in person. Her stage presence and her band were just amazing, and I would say it has all of the different aspects of music that I enjoy. It’s kind of folky, but with gritty, fuzzy, weird guitar parts and really good lyrics.
IDOV – You’ve partnered with Share It Music for the release with a portion of the proceeds going to Northwest Harvest. How did you get involved with SIM for this project?
EW – They actually reached out to us. I had just moved back to L.A. in October so we were just trying to figure out how the band dynamics were going to work with me moving and them still being in Seattle. We weren’t even planning on really releasing any music, maybe just singles here or there. But then Cayle reached out with Share It Music and that was kind of like the fire under us to keep going now that we had this opportunity. We talked it over and we thought, what better way to put out a record than through a charity organization and a nonprofit? Then we worked kind of virtually, me in LA, them in Seattle, on getting all of these songs done.
IDOV – It’s obviously a very worthwhile cause but was there any reason you chose Northwest Harvest?
EW – Yeah, that was kind of weird, trying to think of different charities to give to. Around December, we did a charity show to do a food drive, just because food scarcity is such a big issue right now. That’s when we decided that Northwest Harvest is probably a good, relevant way to go for this one.
(As well as helping Northwest Harvest by buying the record, you can donate here)
IDOV – Who were your musical heroes when you were growing up?
EW – Ooh, that’s a hard one. My musical influences were definitely based off of what my parents listened to so…let’s see, Billy Joel via my dad, Helen Reddy via my mom. My brother really loved Smashing Pumpkins and Rob Zombie when I was growing up so I listened to a lot of that. I personally loved The A-Team, and Britney Spears.
IDOV – You got a whole mix there.
EW – Yeah, it’s basically, like, whatever new music my brother was into at the time, and then 80s music and yacht rock from my dad and then 70s music from my mom.
IDOV – So you’ve got an album release show coming up on the 29th in Seattle. And you mentioned you’re going to be doing a West Coast tour. Are you planning anything else, maybe to the East Coast, where other people can see you?
EW – Oh, I’m gonna try. I’m behind the scenes for all of this business stuff for the band and I have a 9 to 5. Just planning the West Coast was a headache but I think maybe in the spring or summer, we’ll try to do theEast Coast. It’s just so hard with all of us, because music is kind of secondary to our day jobs and so having us all get PTO off at the same time is always a struggle.
IDOV – You’ve mentioned you’ve done some dates on the West Coast. Where would your dream venue be to play, if you could pick one venue anywhere in the world?
EW – Ooh, a dream venue. I guess I would Red Rocks although I feel like that’s such a stereotypical answer, though.
IDOV – It is an amazing venue, though.
EW – It is. I actually do have an answer now. A Hometown venue – The Gorge in Washington. It’s over a canyon and The Columbia River. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful outside venue in Central Washington and that’d be the place to be.
IDOV – Last question we ask everybody. What would go on your signature pizza, and what would it be called?
EW – See, I’m not a pizza person but I would do a white sauce pizza, or a pesto pizza with arugula and prosciutto and a really nice cheese and, like, a balsamic glaze, which I’m pretty sure is a standard pizza that they serve. I’m just not a tomato girl, and so pizza is always… like, pizza, ketchup, tomato sauce can’t do it.
IDOV – What have you got planned for the rest of 2026 and into the future?
EW: Well, hopefully an East Coast tour! I want to work on another record. Honestly, this was so much fun. I feel like when we did our EP, Small Talk, we were so rushed and just didn’t know what we were doing that it was kind of a stressful experience. Where this time around, it was just kind of fun, and I got to travel with my friends and make music with new people that I kind of want to do that again. I really like the writing process and the recording process of it all and so I think just exploring kind of what our sound is even deeper than this album and getting to do that process all over again.
You can get tickets for the album release show tomorrow and on their upcoming West Coast tour here. The dates are:
09/12 – Tacoma, WA @ Real Art Tacoma
09/13 – Vancouver, BC @ Red Gate Art Society
09/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Garage Music Factory
09/20 – San Diego, CA @ Banshee Bar
09/26 – Las Vegas, NV @ Red Dwarf
You can find out more about waltzerr by visiting their website and follow them on Instagram and TikTok for all the latest news.
