Wage War’s Cody Quistad On 'Stigma', Touring & Evolution

Wage War have cemented themselves as one of metalcore’s most dynamic bands, consistently pushing their sound forward while staying true to their roots.

With their latest album, Stigma, the band explores new sonic territory, incorporating industrial, nu-metal, and even country influences.

We caught up with guitarist and vocalist Cody Quistad during their European tour with Papa Roach to discuss how Stigma came together, the evolution of their sound, and what keeps the band going after a decade together.

Cody also shared insights into the writing process, their steady lineup, and what’s in store for Wage War in the future. Read on to get an inside look at one of metalcore’s most exciting acts!

Strife: First of all, thank you so much for having us. How’s the tour been so far?

Cody Quistad: Yeah, dude, it’s been great. We are sadly almost at the end. We got five shows left. But yeah, it’s been great. Papa Roach is not only such an incredible band but incredible people. We’ve been hanging out and just enjoying Europe. We’ve never done it on this scale before. I think the biggest we’ve ever supported here has been like a thousand cap room. So to be in arenas that are sold out is crazy.

Strife: It’s your first tour since Stigma, for Europe, etc. How do you think the sound has evolved from Blueprints to Stigma, if you look at the timeline in general?

Cody Quistad: Yeah, I mean, it’s kind of a whirlwind, really. Just seeing where the band started, it was very much this melodic metalcore sound, which I think we still are.

We’ve just explored different facets of it and tried a bunch of different things. We never want to make the same record twice, so we’ve always changed things up in some way—whether it’s pushing the heavy envelope, the melodic envelope, or adding electronic/industrial elements.

We’re just trying to keep exploring the space. It’s such a crowded scene right now, and we want to further our footprint. We want to have our own thing. And I feel like we’re just going to keep exploring that until we find the right balance.

Strife: So you’re keeping the same core as Wage War with the metalcore base?

Cody Quistad: Of course. Yeah. We will always be a heavy band. We will always have big melodic parts. We will always try new things. And I feel like even though it’s our fifth album, we’re still finding what our true identity is. Like, we know the components, but we’re still defining what the lasting part of it is.

Strife: Can you maybe tell us more about the writing process? Where do you guys get your inspiration to make this evolution happen—especially with the melodics and electronics?

Cody Quistad: Yeah, I mean, we all just like a lot of different music. And you also have to keep in mind that we’re the ones playing these songs thousands of times.

The last thing I want to do is rewrite a song we already have. And I’m sure it’s the same for you guys—your tastes change as you grow older, you find new things you like, and you pull inspiration from different places.

For Stigma in particular, we leaned into a lot of industrial elements—maybe some early nu-metal stuff, some Static X, some Rob Zombie. There’s even some country influence in there. For the metal stuff, we wanted to shy away from the classic metalcore breakdown and explore what the new side of heavy Wage War sounds like.

To do that, we dove into the metal side rather than the hardcore side of metalcore. We listened to bands like Pantera, Metallica, Gojira, and Lamb of God—bands we really respect. That’s where songs like Tombstone come from.

Strife: Yeah, and it also logically evolves from the previous record as well, which started introducing some of these elements.

Cody Quistad: Exactly. On Manic, we had a lot of trap elements, and we wanted to keep some of that going. Like Nails—that song is basically if Stitch and Manic had a baby. If you think about the structure, tempo, and production—it’s laid out like those two songs combined.

Strife: When you guys released the album, you mentioned it took three years to write. Can you tell us more about how that process went? What challenges did you face?

Cody Quistad: Yeah, I mean, three years is yes and no. We work on music all the time, so once we really zeroed in, it was probably more like a year.

With Manic, we were gone a lot on tour, and even though we were together, you don’t always want to sit in a room with the same people you see every single day and be like, “Alright, let’s work on music.” That can be challenging.

I write a lot of what we do, and I keep a mobile recording rig with me so I can stay inspired. But inspiration is probably the hardest thing. I like writing on tour because you get to see firsthand what songs work.

For example, we’ll play a set and be like, “Wow, Amsterdam really loved the fifth song.” Then we take that and lean into it—whether it’s the tempo, the riff, or the chorus. It’s like getting live feedback. And sometimes, we go, “Yeah, not doing that again.”

Strife: Are there any songs on this album that were received better than you expected?

Cody Quistad: Yeah, honestly, it’s all been great so far.

As far as non-singles, Happy Hunting is what we call the “Euro theme song” because we wrote it to be like a Rock Am Ring anthem. It’s four-on-the-floor, very simple, chanty—everything I associate with European music.

We love how much appreciation there is for music over here in Europe. It feels like that’s been lost in America. Every night we play it, even though it’s not a single, people just go absolutely crazy for it.

Strife: Were there any songs that almost didn’t make the final cut?

Cody Quistad: No, we had to do ten contractually, so we did ten. Honestly, we fought all the way to the tenth one, which ended up being In My Blood. That’s kind of our Nickelback nod, because we’re big Nickelback fans.

At that point, we were like, “Dude, this record feels great—why don’t we just have fun with this last one?” So we made a song about Florida, referenced some Nickelback songs, and made it our own.

Strife: One impressive thing about Wage War is that you’ve had a steady lineup since 2013. That’s rare in the scene. What’s the secret to that?

Cody Quistad: We’re just really close as friends, and I think that’s a big part of it. We treat each other with respect. That doesn’t mean things don’t get tough, but we’ve always looked after each other—whether it’s mental health or making sure we have time for family.

We’ve also grown at a steady rate. It wasn’t meteoric, but we had a fast upswing in the first couple of albums. Since then, it’s been a steady climb, which helps keep things sustainable.

Strife: You guys have been in the scene for quite some time, more than ten years. Are there any significant changes in the music industry since you first started out?

Cody Quistad: Yeah, I mean, more than ever streaming is just it. We fought to not make physical copies on our last record, because no one is gonna buy a CD. Like, vinyl, there’s a market for that, but making just regular CDs—it’s like, most cars don’t even have CD players anymore.

Also, music consumption is crazy, and there are more bands than ever. Anyone can be a producer these days with bedroom interfaces and monitors. So there’s just a lot of volume of music coming out. And that’s for better and for worse.

Strife: If you could show a song from Stigma to Wage War from 2015, how do you think you yourselves would react to that?

Cody Quistad: Ha, that’s a great question. I think that we would be—”excited” would be the first word and then “shocked” would be the second word.

Thinking about how we’ve evolved, I’d say slowly, but we’ve always had melodic songs. You know, 21 is a lot of singing, Youngblood has a lot of singing. Blueprints—none of the elements of Wage War that exist today are completely new, it’s just the parts we’ve leaned into more.

But I think we’d probably be like, “That’s hilarious that you think Wage War can put out that song” based on songs like The River. But that’s what we’re leaning into—being the band that plays The River, plays Magnetic, and then does an acoustic Johnny Cash song. We literally did that on our last headliner. We played every facet of our band, and I like it.

Strife: Speaking of evolving and new music, are there any topics you’d like to touch on in the future?

Cody Quistad: Lyrically, yeah. We kind of have our things that we feel comfortable and knowledgeable talking about—relationships, mental health, and just life in general on the human spectrum. The things we all go through, like heartbreak—whether it’s a romantic relationship, a family member passing, or just growing up and figuring out who you are.

Those are themes we keep coming back to because they feel most relatable to us. We also love Florida, so we always sneak in some kind of Florida song. Death Roll was about gators, and we’re trying to get a song played for the Florida Gators college football team. Seth went there and got a degree from there, so we’ve given them Death Roll and In My Blood—both undeniable Florida songs. We’ll probably do another one of those.

Strife: Looking back at the last ten years, what’s been the biggest lesson for you as musicians?

Cody Quistad: Just excel at your craft. And I think we’re still realizing this—it’s not about how much fun I have, it’s about how much fun they have. The crowd.

On this tour, most of the shows were sold out before we were even on it. So every night, we walk out there, and the goal is to win people over. Make sure they had a good time. People pay good money to be at these shows, and we take that seriously. This isn’t just a hobby—it’s what we do for a living, so why wouldn’t we be the best that I can at it?

Strife: Is there any advice you’d give to musicians trying to grow as a band or artist?

Cody Quistad: Yeah. We have a long-running story, and even before anything happened with Wage War, we played in local bands together. We watched all our friends go to college, have babies, become doctors, and we were still grinding. I was 23, living at my parents’ house while my friends were moving on. But we just kept our heads down and said, “This is what we want to do.”

For me, I’m a plan A only guy. If I give myself a plan B, I might divert to that. So whether it’s Wage War, songwriting, or anything else, it’s always, “I’m gonna do this, and I’m gonna find a way to make it happen.” Looking at music biopics and successful bands, that’s the attitude most of them have. Commit.

Strife: Are there any routines you guys have before or after a show?

Cody Quistad: Before, we usually listen to music, get a little goofy, wake up a bit. Nothing too crazy. We like to be together. We don’t warm up as much as we should—but we’re gonna fix that. It’s part of taking this seriously.

After, we’re really reflective. We shut the door in the green room, just the five of us, and go over the show—what worked, what didn’t. It used to be just getting hyped and getting on stage, but now we like to set a vibe. Our bass player Chris always does a chant before we go on, and it always has some kind of pun. Like in Brussels, he called it “Kurt Brussel,” and tonight he’ll probably say “Amster-Damn.” Just something funny to loosen us up.

But honestly, we’re not as wild as people might think. We’re not really a party band. We just get excited to play shows, and that’s it.

Strife: What’s next for Wage War?

Cody Quistad: After this, we go home for a bit, then we’re touring with Breaking Benjamin and Staind in the States. We’ve got some awesome stuff lined up, and we’ll be back in Europe, which is a first for us.

We’re always working on new music, and as fast as we can deliver it, I’d love to. No set date, but we’re pushing all the time. The goal is to become the best version of Wage War this year.

Strife: That’s exciting! One last question—on the Stigma album cover, there are five nails, and you guys are a five-piece. Is there a significance to the number five?

Cody Quistad: Yeah! The nails represent the five albums, and the broken chain symbolizes breaking free from the box people try to put us in. We wanted to make an album that transcends cliches, where every song sounds different.

We’ve done exactly what we set out to do, and the next record will be something entirely new.

You can listen to Stigma below!