The Mind of Wide Wail: Changes of the Heart
By Steve Lemcke
The collaborative effort that it takes to create music within the structure of a “band” always amazes me. The idea that musicians, as human beings, with all their own beliefs, ideas, and idiosyncrasies, can come together and five up pieces of their individualism for the sake of “the band” baffles and delights me. Musicians, like all other types of people, seem to feel the need for community- to be a part of something larger than oneself.
But as with most things in life, the belief in communal effort in music always works in a matter of degrees and shows its limits in the various stories and rumors one hears concerning personnel changes or the break-up of bands. These stories remind us that egos and personalities are at play in group oriented projects; musical or otherwise. The ironic thing about it is that the creative process of a band would be stultified if the clash of egos was not ever-present. This is what mystifies and delights. Listeners get to enjoy the end result of this creative struggle between the personalities within a band.
In certain cases, a band approaches the ideal of true communitarian creative spirit. Wide Wail is one such case and has earned the respect of their musical peers for the creative path they have chosen.
When listening to certain groups, it is sometimes easy to identify the emotional direction of the band’s music as a reflection of a certain person within the group of individuals. This is usually the member who is responsible for the singing of lyrics, and they usually embody the personality of the band as a whole. They are the “front-men ''; putting on the various masks of performance to give listeners a clue as to the emotional content of the songs and “the band” as a whole. And while any musical group is necessarily collaborative effort, the singular personality of the “front-man” attaches itself to the listeners and identifies a band with a peculiar sound and emotion.
Burlington’s Wide Wail as their band’s personality delivered in the powerful and pretty voice of their lead singer “front man” Amanda Gustafon. But Gustafon may make it easier for audiences to identify a face, a certain look, a certain visible style, and a certain feminine strength with the music, focusing on her ignores the secret life of the music as a product of the entire group.
The quintet known as Wide Wail, more than other groups, is a collaboration of the musical personalities of the individuals in the band. While the music may convey that there is a certain direction, there are five individuals with their own distinct characteristics at work; five intelligent and serious minds, all different in certain aspects, working together to form a vision that is the sum of the individual parts, yet decidedly different. And while this may be true og all musicians who work within the structure of a “band” there is an egalitarian ethic that is undeniably clear in what Wide wail is all about.
In Wide Wail’s case it’s as if the individual members provide certain character traits that when brought together provide the unique combination of mind and art that finds its home in their music. Each character within the band is distinct and vital. Compromise, love, understanding, and respect push the music in its own direction.
When other bands can change personnel and retain the fundamental sound of their band, Wide Wail, it would seem, could not exist without these individuals. To overuse an appropriate analogy, each member is a pillar holding a roof. If one falls, the roof collapses. Through patience, hard work, and a strong belief in their songcraft, they are able to create music that satisfies the artistic needs of the individual minds at work.
A look at the band makes it clear enough that the individual members of Wide Wail bring different personality characteristics to the band’s music. Kieran Donaghey, the wiry and astute bassist provides the critical mind to the band. Quick to dismiss what he doesn't like, and fully versed in those things that he finds interesting, Kiernan seems to bring a belief in perfectionism to the band’s work. Guitarist Josh Mechem, affable and unpretentious, gives the band a charismatic openness that fuels the bands belief in trying new musical ideas. Drummer Dave Lancombe is the part of the mind that is care-free as well but in a more irreverent and rebellious tone. Quick to shock and do the outrageous, Lancombe puts the anarchical and irreverent twinkle in the band’s eye. Lancombe is almost a caricature of the zany, rock ‘n roll drummer, but with a depth that is well beyond plain old eccentricity.
Guitarist Dace Rosenstein and singer Amanda Gustafson provide the artistic temperament that is the band’s most notable characteristic, but each in different ways. While Dave’s artistic expression has a quiet, almost Russian sadness and intensity that surrounds it, Amanda is the lip side of the coin. A coolly assertive and intense presence on stage, her role as lead singer allows her the opportunity to be more directly expressive with audiences. That seems to make her more confident in the expression of her art. The strength and range of her voice allows a wide variety of emotions to be read from the music as a whole.
Band members can push the music to new places. The metamorphosis of Wide Wail’s muss during the band’s two-and-a-half year life shows that all the personalities are at work in the creative process. From the neo-hippie folk funk of its earlier life to the beautifully doleful phrasings of its present “alternative” status, Wide Wail understands that change is the universal constant.
I talked to the band recently on these and other things:
GC: The obvious question is how you guys got together as a band?
Dave Lancombe: (facetiously) Amanfa and I had a pretty strong friendship going. Very strong friendship. We had strong feelings for eachother. I don’t know if you could call them friendly at first, though.
Amanda: I knew David [Lancombe] when I was a little kid, when I was five years ol. HIs mom and my mom grew up together and were best friends at one time. But when I was five years old I went to visit Dave in Plainfield, Vermont and he told me the electric fence wasn’t on.
Lancombe: You know now, I do remember that!
Amanda: And he tricked me into touching it. The only time in my life I have touched an electric fence.
Lancombe to Amanda: But let me ask you a question: Did I deny…did I laugh and say ‘Ha! Ha Did I trick you or did I say ‘ I didn’t think it was on?’
Amanda: I don’t think you were malicious about it. I think you were just trying to be funny.
Lancombe: No, I didn’t trick you, I don’t think so. Because I think I thought it wasn’t on. Because when I was a little kid I used to go down and actually test the fence and know if it was on or not. I think I thought it was off, but maybe…because it was always grounding out and shit and it had been a weak signal, but I think it might have been on mildly, maybe, I didn't notice it but it really startled her.
While Gistafon and Lancombe’s initial meeting was “electric” in its worst sense, these two would meet again at the University of Vermont. Three additions later, the group of friends that shared an interest in music would become the band known as Wide Wail. Three of the five members graduated this spring. Two of the members graduated last year. Amidst the degrees of women’s studies, history, art, religion, English, ecology, and philosophy, it is easy to see where the cerebral nature of their music has come from.
GC: What kind of music did you first start playing as a band?
Josh: Original folk funk.
Kieran: Basically all the people who saw us danced like this. (Proceeds to jiggle hippie style with the cliched hippie hand movements)
Dave Lancombe: And there were times when we would have fans wave their arms back and forth….
Kieran: …and light lighters
Josh: And there was this one hippy chick who would come out of the woodwork every time. You’d think she wasn’t around and then Blamm! She’d be in your face.
GC: What were the changes that occurred to your music and what were the reasons behind it?
Kieran: It changed in a couple of different ways. We were playing shows for people who really liked the music then and we were playing because we liked to play together, but it wasn’t music that was emotive of what we were thinking about; the songs weren’t as close to what we were about…
Dave Lancombe: What was interesting about the songs we started out with has that folky funk thing and then a couple of songs, “Water,” “Spider” and “Fences” they (the songs) started going into a different direction…
Kieran: The fans stopped liking us.
Lancombe: Less danceable, less dance groove oriented…
Josh: (with smile on his face) Louder!
Lancombe: Yeah and more exploratory, more chords, different drum beats and it seemed that we focused on the songs that were catchy and danceable and then we started to think about the songs more as expressions, started to simplify things. I think it arose out of a dramatic shift in Dave Rosenstein’s songwriting.
Josh: There was definitely a musical change. Dave (Rosenstein) wrote a lot of folk songs, a lot of good songs and when put in the band it forced the creative change.
Lancombe: We were kind of ”jonesing” to do something with a harder edge. We were always talking about it. There was this one funky, funky thing we were doing and then there was this whole other thing we wanted to try that was harder. It seemed like we were bent in that direction. There are still times… I still would like to bust out those old songs even though they’re folky rock sings but they’re a lot of fun to play. We always end up laughing when we play them, laugh at ourselves. But they’re fun for people to listen to and there are definitely times when I wish I could look out and see people jamming out as hard as they used to…just dancing. Because a lot of our songs now are hard to dance to.
Kieran: People were very outspoken about what they didn’t like about the new material. I had people coming up to me and saying ‘Man, I used to like you, but…’ We were in school so we couldn’t really work on the new stiff. A lot of out songs took months to finally hone. And then after a certain point, I think it was the end of last summer, songs just started coming out…(snaps his fingers a few times) After that it didn’t take up that long to get the finished product.
GC: Does it take longer to create songs with al;l the hands in the writing of songs?
Kieran: There are some bands that follow a certain dynamic whereby everyone follows one person: parts are pretty much put down and one person calls the shots. We’re not like that. Everyone has a say.
Landombe: It can happen so quickly. We’ll be practicing and we’ll stop in the middle of a song…this needs to happen or that needs to happen and we’ll check it out. One of the main reasons for everyone's ability to participate in the songwriting is that Dave doesn’t have any hang-ups about out taking just songs and ripping them apart and utterly neg a part or change it.
Dave “Rosie” Rosenstein: It’s very much a group situation. My personal feeling is that we’re here in Burlington, working day jobs that don’t pay a lot, and we’re trying to focus on our music. It wouldn’t be good for one person to make other people unhappy. If they’re not happy with what’s going on then they won’t be psyched to play. Then it won’t last. I think that’s the really important part of being in a music group is that everyone has a say. It takes a lot longer to be happy with something because everyone gives their input, but in the end it’s all worth it. Just give it time.
On leaving this interview I quickly noticed something that encapsulated what this band is all about. It was a piece of poster paper decorated with an artist’s touch, barely attached to a wall. It read “Music and art are like good and water to us.” It’s obvious that this band will never have too big of a thirst or feel the pangs of artistic hunger.
Wide Wail’s long awaited and self titled debut release will be available within a month. Their first sing;s “Help Wanted” is on the Good Citizen CD., Vol.1. Request it on your favorite local radio station. Thank You.
Steve Lemcke is the music columnist for the Burlington Free Press. Read him every Thursday in “Scene and Heard.”.