After a successful release of “RED GUITAR” back in July, band Waterparks has released their newest song “IF LYRICS WERE CONFIDENTIAL,” a fast-paced song aimed at toxic fandoms and struggles they’ve faced so far during their career. Since the release of the song, singer Awsten Knight has been more open on social media – mainly twitter – about his struggles with labels, what goes on behind the scenes, and how logging onto social media and seeing the petty dramas alongside toxicity of some fans has made him contemplate quitting. Listen to “IF LYRICS WERE CONFIDENTIAL” on Spotify here and watch the video on YouTube here.

The fan reaction from what I have seen has been overwhelmingly positive. So many fans have posted various loving messages for the band, shocked by all the struggles that have been discussed in the song, and now, more than ever, they have been calling out the “fans” that continuously spread hate and cross firmly set boundaries.

One of the biggest bands of tomorrow, Waterparks is Awsten Knight (vocals, guitar), Otto Wood (drums), and Geoff Wigington (guitar). Waterparks has been releasing music since 2012, releasing debut album Double Dare in 2016, and with it, released their forever iconic song “Stupid for You” as a result. Their most popular album, FANDOM, is about the fandom directly and the pressures of being looked up to and the issues that have been noticed — to being about a very hard breakup and mental health struggles that come with everything in general. In a way, the themes written about in “IF LYRICS WERE CONFIDENTIAL” are very similar to the themes in album FANDOM, with singer Awsten Knight calling out toxic fan behaviour that he has seen and been affected by within their own fandom.

“A lot of the songs on the next Waterparks album play with big, abstract concepts, and IF LYRICS WERE CONFIDENTIAL was one of those,” notes frontman Awsten Knight. “The premise is exactly what it sounds like – things I’d get into if I didn’t think anyone would ever hear the song, which in my opinion is the best way to write. It’s how you get yourself to talk about the most personal and uncomfortable things. The lyrics brush through a lot of topics very quickly, all of which could probably be their own songs, but that’s also what makes it exciting.”

The band has sold out headline tours around the world including their 2024 tour in which they sold out venues such as: Los Angeles’ The Palladium in Los Angeles and New York City’s Terminal 5. Recently, the band has announced their headline 2025 “reunion“ tour, kicking off November 6 in San Antonio and featuring support from iDKHOW, WesGhost, Chloe Moriondo, Heart Attack Man, Foxy Shazam, and Plain White T’s.

Tickets & VIP Upgrades for all North American shows are on sale now via https://www.waterparksband.com/tour.

Cover photo by Gracie Knight.