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Beyond the mat stage... Wrestling (L-R): Rich, Gareth and Andy |
On hearing Wrestling
the last place you might expect them to come from is Wolverhampton. In fact,
they have more in common with 90s emo-revivalists stateside than the landfill indie
that their home-city usually tends to churn out. Y'know, the kind of bands that act like
brit-pop never died. Please folks, regardless of what the NME tells you, it
happened, get over it…. I digress. Yes, Wolvo, that’s exactly where they’re
from.
One of the most exciting and, crucially, different acts
currently plying their trade around the Midlands, the three-piece (comprised of
Rich on guitar, Gareth on bass and Andy on drums) have already notched up some
impressive gigs as well as releasing their debut EP, Wolf Town, on Man the Ramparts earlier this year. These guys have humour, passion and tunes, all wrapped up in a fuzzy lo-fi bundle that tugs at your ears and screams "Let's have a beer in the park!" It's hard not to smile with this trio on your stereo.
I went “beyond the mat” with the lads to find out how they
came to find their sound, what’s in store for the future, as well as the all-important
question… why Wrestling?!
For someone who
has never heard Wrestling, how would you describe what you are all about?
R: Fun! Foremost, we are about just having a laugh.
A: If you’ve been to one of our
shows you’ll know we don’t really take ourselves too seriously!
R: We know the band is never going
to amount to very much or make any money, so we just want to have as much fun
as possible while writing some sweet jams. We are all long-time friends and
really enjoy playing and hanging out with each other and to me that is what
being in a band is about – good times with good people!
G: We play music that feels and
sounds good to us. We're just 3 guys who enjoy jamming together and seeing what
happens.
R: Sound-wise, we have been
described as all sorts. I think my favourite one so far has been “you sound
like Spy versus Spy... but not as good”! They are one of my all-time favourite
bands so that was a real compliment for me.
G: We're happy to be described as
fun shouty party jams, or similar. We bring a fresh yet raw approach - for
instance, we utilise a minimal setup, guitar, bass, drums. The drums themselves
are stripped down, the guitars don't use distortion or any other effects
allowing the bass to really get involved, and as for our vocal styles, none of
us can really sing but we all go for it.
R: I suppose in a nutshell we are an
'emo' band, but we are very wary of using that term due to the negative
connotations associated with the genre it eventually evolved into. We have all
sorts of sounds going on in our music, from fast punky bits and twinkly
instrumental sections to all out cathartic epic screamo jams.
G: It's what I like most about being
in this band, we're just raw and honest sounding.
How did you three meet, and why did you settle on the
name Wrestling?
G: Richard and I go way back, high school and all that.
We've been in numerous bands together including the legendary KRM, who were
pretty much the greatest Wolf Town band of 2003.
R: We have played in various bands
on and off for around 8 or 9 years now. Our last band was a kind of screamo
outfit that sounded like a cross between Yaphet Kotto and City of Caterpillar,
but it never really went anywhere. After a few years of doing nothing, we
decided to start something new and asked long-time friend Andy, to play drums!
G: I knew Andy from working on the
bars of the Civic Halls about 4 years ago now, and he was also in a pretty
sweet pop punk band I'd seen live so I knew he kicked ass on the kit. Rich and
Andy did something together for a while a few years ago as well so Rich always
had him in mind when we decided to get together and jam some ideas mid-2010.
Andy joined us later that year once we had a few songs down and we took it from
there.
R: We settled on the name Wrestling
due to a mutual love of the amateur wrestling that takes place on a monthly
basis at infamous Wolverhampton nightclub The Planet.
G: We didn't decide on the name for
a long time but when we did it was basically when we realised the only thing we
really did together, outside the practice room, was to go and watch the FCP
dudes go at it
A: Sadler suggested it and it felt
right. We all go down to watch the FCP boys wrestle and we always have a right laugh.
R: By naming the band after it, it
again kinda reflects our desire to have fun and not take things too seriously.
Compared to
other bands in the area you have a very different sound to your contemporaries.
What have been your main influences as a band?
R: Sound-wise, I am really into the re-emergence of the
whole 'Mid-West' thing that is happening in the US at the moment and to a
lesser degree some bands over here. I grew up with all the original bands so
that sound has always been with me and very prevalent in a lot of my song
writing. I am also really into old screamo bands, like Saetia and Indian Summer
etc., so I try to combine the intensity and honesty of those bands, with the
clean sound that is present in a lot of the Mid-West-esque bands.
G: Personally I listen to all sorts of stuff, but we'd be
here forever if you got me started! I'm into a lot of stuff right now, and
strangely none of it sounds like Wrestling!
A: I feel we never really went out of our way to sound a
certain way; we just started to
jam and the sound of Wrestling happened.
G:
We never set out to emulate anyone…
from the very beginning we would just jam riffs and ideas, we would do a lot of
improv until we found something we liked. Some songs we've discarded along the
way have had heavy post-rock elements, or they've been really slow and quite
emotive, or just something that just wasn't really us, and at some point we
found a sound that suited. We've even gone back and reworked songs to fit our
sound now because we knew that even in our older stuff there was always at
least one section or riff that we've liked and wanted to keep. We're all agreed
that we didn't want to go the conventional song writing route, so you will
rarely find a simple verse/chorus/verse,etc kind of structure to any of our
songs. I like that we keep listeners on their toes, it keep things interesting!
R:
Lyrically there is the usual crap,
like friends, relationships etc., but there are also a bunch of references to
the works of Tolkien. I am a huge fan of Lord of the Rings and everything
associated with it, some quotes and themes from it are in quite a few of our
songs that the nerdier listener may pick up on!
G: As for my lyrical content, mine are often observations
from a third party view, not necessarily about myself or anything really that
personal, so basically the complete opposite to Richard's. I like the contrast.
We often don't know each other's lyrics, and quite often I don't know what I'm
singing myself! I've actually been improvising a lot of our new songs lately
and it felt good so I've kinda kept at it. In the end it all adds to the fun
when on stage!
Not long
ago you released your first EP, ‘Wolf Town’. Would you say that living in
Wolverhampton played a part in shaping the songs on that record?
R: There are definitely some songs about growing up in a
town that has very little prospects and the difficulty of escaping it. The last
song on the EP, ‘Nick's Got a New Blackberry’, is about how your friends grow
up, move away and start taking life more seriously and the conflicting feelings
that come along with accepting their choices. We also have a lot of fun here
though, and as shitty and run down as Wolverhampton seems a lot of the time, at
the end of the day it is home and holds loads of awesome people and memories, I
hope this comes across in some of the more positive songs we write!
G: It was always going to be about ol' Wolf Town. We
recorded the EP in the heart of the city so it's all over the record really in
spirit. Lyrically I know Richard's stuff relates, but for me the music just has
that honesty about making the most of what you've got. I've never lived
anywhere else and I still kinda love my hometown despite all the negativity
surrounding the place.
‘Wolf
Town’ came out on a limited cassette through Man the Rampart, how did that
relationship come about?
A: I just heard some guy with the sweetest beard I’ve
ever seen liked our demo and wanted to help us out by putting it out for us on
his new label!
G:
Rory Butterworth is an old school
friend of mine and he came to see us play and he was just buzzing with energy
afterwards. He told me he was starting a bit of a label/distro thing and wanted
us to be his first release. He was so enthusiastic and we were up for anything
really so we went for it. We recorded a bunch of tracks with Matt Pinfield (of
Grandflat Productions and The Young Runaways) before Christmas and we just
kick-started the New Year working together on the release. We decided early on
we wanted to put out a cassette and from there Rory had these great ideas for
the aesthetics and as you know it turned out pretty ace! We made a limited run
of 50 individual tapes and we've almost sold out now, so we're pretty stoked
how well received it all was. We can't wait to work with Rory again.
R: Rory truly is a pleasure to work with. He does a lot
for us and really understands where we are coming from and what we want to do
as a band, so we really appreciate everything he does for us.
G: And yes, he does have the sweetest beard I've ever
seen, it's true.
You’ve got a
very DIY aesthetic to everything you do, was that a conscious decision you made
as a band, or just a happy accident?
A: I think we all feel the same about this; I’ve always
had respect for bands who take the DIY approach.
R: For me, it is definitely a
conscious decision. I think doing everything as DIY as possible is crucial if
you want to maintain integrity and honesty as a band. We want to make the music
we love without any compromise and to do it within a community of like-minded
people who not only appreciate your music but also your intentions and ideals
that surround that music is really important to us.
G: Yeah definitely a
conscious decision. Like Richard said, we're an honest band, and whilst we want
to have fun making and playing music, we don't want to compromise our music, or
get fucked about, and I'm grateful that we have found ourselves in a great
little community at present where everyone understands and is really supportive
of each other. As punk rock as it may sound, being a dick gets you nowhere, a
solid bit of old fashioned kindness is way cooler!
What are
your feelings about the current music scene in Wolverhampton and the Midlands?
Are there any bands you would recommend Distorted Tapes readers checking out?
A: The music scene in Wolves has seen better days! We
grew up going to shows when we were young it’s just a shame that people don’t seem to do the same now. I think it’s
on the up though as more sweet shows are going down in Wolves.
R: It is certainly getting better
compared to what it used to be like, but it has a long way to go if it wants to
resemble some of the more successful scenes like Leeds or Manchester and so on.
In Wolverhampton especially, there is a real feeling of apathy when it comes to
convincing people to come to a gig. We try to organise something ourselves once
a month or so but it really is just a start. Fortunately, at the moment there
are some great people around such as Distorted Tapes (aw shucks, guys!), Man the Ramparts and Let Your Fingers Do the
Walking! who are trying to make something of the local scene.
I feel what Wolverhampton itself is really
lacking is an independent venue that is willing to put on gigs at a reasonable
price. At the moment, everything in the city is a pub or chain bar that doesn’t
want to hear from you unless you can pay a massive fee or guarantee hundreds of
people to turn up. Unfortunately, this is largely to do with the council who
seem very reluctant to grant a music licence to anyone due to their fear of
losing the monopoly they hold on live music. It really sucks.
G: I haven't felt that there's been
much of a local music scene for many years now but since we played our first
show last November it's become more and more apparent that, despite the lack of
venues in Wolverhampton especially, there is something of a scene after all
what with the likes of DT and LYFDTW working hard to put shows on. It's kinda
reassuring and gives a lot of promise for the future. I agree with Rich on the
need for a new independent venue for sure.
R: As far as local bands are
concerned, there is of course God Damn who seem to be doing all the right
things at the moment!
G: Those guys are seriously the best
thing I've heard in a long, long time from this area. They're also neighbours
of mine! I hear them through the walls at the lock up where my other band
rehearses. Their new stuff blows my mind! Talking of my other band, (self-plug
alert), we're called Women, we supported God Damn recently and if any DT
readers like doom, sludge or stoner metal we're right up your street.
R: We are good friends with the
pop-punk band Maycomb, and I for one am really looking forward to their album
coming out. The recently deceased Cannons and Tanks were a really great band,
so I am looking forward to seeing what they will do next. Human Hands are
probably my favourite Midlands band though, anyone who likes early 90s screamo
will love them. One of the members also runs the fantastic Eat a Book records,
which is definitely worth your time and cash!
G: I'm also liking Birmingham band
Them Wolves right now, excited to hear more from them, I think they have a
record coming soon. In stark contrast in sound, there's Young Runaways who are
excellent too. They're kinda folky indie, complete with trombone, trumpet and
violin, and the frontman Matt Pinfield recorded the tracks for our tape so
they're pretty ace in my book! There's plenty more I'm sure, there are just so
many good bands in the Midlands right now it's really exciting.
What have
Wrestling got planned for the rest of the year?
A: Hopefully play some more sweet shows!
G: We aim to play as many shows as
possible so if anyone out there wants to put us on just hit us up on Facebook, send
Richard an email. Just ask; we'll play anywhere we can!
R: I have organised a really awesome
show in July at Scruffy Murphy's in Birmingham featuring some really awesome
British Mid-Westy bands, like Nai Harvest and Zola, so I am really looking
forward to that.
G: We're also working in
collaboration with Rory at MTRR on a t-shirt design so we can work up some more
funds and very soon we are recording new tracks with Matt Pinfield for what
will hopefully be a 7” vinyl release this summer on MTRR again. We're hoping it
might be a split so that will be really fun if we can pull it off!
facebook.com/wrestlingtheband
