Meet The... Band Wonderswan
Camille Ainsworth meets Pavement influenced indie rockers
Meet The...: Band Wonderswan
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It’s almost become a no-no to talk about the Leeds music scene and influences from the 90s but there is no avoiding the Pavement influence in indie rock boys Wonderswan. Made up of Michael (guitar/vocals), Russ (guitar), Sam (bass) and Ged (drums), all are experienced veterans of former indie bands. Drummer Ged, who also plays with Downdime, used to play with fuzzy indie punks Boyracer before they moved to the States, and Sam and Michael played together in Held By Hands.
“I was in Grammatics for about a year,” says Michael, the creative force behind Wonderswan. “I was kicked out of the band for being aggressive and argumentative. There were a lot of volatile personalities in there and I think the ideas I had in terms of musical direction were just incompatible with that band. It was probably the best thing that could have happened to be honest; it gave me the drive to start working on my own ideas independently.” And no one can kick you out of your own band.
Wonderswan started in early 2008 when Michael and Russ realised that they shared similar taste in music. Lots of late night discussions while wasted at parties playing each other CDs and talking about bands like Pavement, Sebadoh and My Bloody Valentine eventually led to them to playing together.
“It wasn’t really until we found Ged, who joined around April, that the band really felt right. We’d known him for a while and he kept telling us he wanted to play drums in a band. We had one practise to see how it went and straight away all the songs we played sounded so much better, they started to sound how I would imagine them in my head.” A few weeks later they started gigging and are well worth a look in.
With a classic wall-of-sound approach, sensitive lyrics with an insensitive tone across a fuzz rock bed that only Pavement fans could really achieve, there is a lot to look forward to from this band. Tracks to check out include ‘Hey Nature’ and ‘Furrrpile’, a song that explores a particular sexual fetish that they don’t indulge in themselves. Apparently.
Playing as part of the Futuresound Competition. 21 July, The Cockpit, Swinegate, Leeds LS1 4AG. 0113 244 1573
Posted on Wednesday 8th July 2009
CA
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