With their second album ‘Midas’ about to land, complete with plaudits abound, Wunderhorse are in the midst of taking the next step up rock’s ladder. Their Autumn tour includes a date at Brixton Academy to precede a European tour and support slots for Fontaines D.C. in the U.S.
They are, in short, hot property right now. Their set in the Radio One Tent at Reading Festival last Saturday very nearly eclipsed their Dublin comrades for Act of The Day and their dusty, timeless rock music could be spearheading a new revolution.
Before the set, Jacob Slater (singer, guitar), Jaime Staples (drums), Harry Fowler (guitar) and Pete Woodin sat down with Clash to discuss the new album, the festival set and what comes next.
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Clash: It’s a busy time!
Jaime: Yeah! We did a gig in Leicester last night, which was an album release show. On Monday we’ve got two shows in Leeds, in the city centre, in-store shows.
Clash: How does it feel being on the cusp of the album’s release? The work’s done, you’re nearly there, but not quite.
Jaime: The work’s never done! Once you’ve made the album, that’s really when the work starts. Making the album is the fun bit. It’s not easy but it’s fun!
Jacob: We’re just looking forward to it. A big part of who we are is playing live, so it will be great to give people this record as a reference point for when we play all those tunes live.
Clash: You’ve called this album your debut as a band. What energy did that bring to the sessions in Minnesota?
Harry: I think we were just able to initially react to the songs as they were happening, as individuals, but also as a group. With (debut album) ‘Cub’, all of that came from Jacob’s head and we were realising that, as opposed to being a bit more instinctive.
Jacob: The isolation of the studio itself definitely played a big part in how the record turned out. We were able to lose ourselves in this world. We were outside the space and time of normal, every day modern reality. Which was definitely part of the process for us.
Clash: The album does have a ‘self-contained’ vibe.
Jacob: Yeah. It’s like a trap door with no windows.
Clash: Then what comes next after the album?
Jaime: Well, we’ve got our tour in October, followed by supporting Fontaines across Europe. There’s some things getting planned for early next year, but we’ll see. We’re basically going to be caning it, I think.
Clash: Where do you prefer to tour?
Pete: It depends. We haven’t really toured Europe enough, I don’t think.
Jaime: I think Europe’s my favourite, just for the beautiful places, the food and everything.
Harry: I think America’s the hardest place to tour, but you get a bigger sense of adventure on an American tour compared to any other tour.
Clash: Those will be big shows, but today is a 40 minute show. How do you decide a festival set?
Jacob: It’s the things you can throw yourself into the hardest usually is a good place to start, especially when you’ve only 40 minutes. You want to pack as much of a punch as possible and leave the nuance for some longer shows, especially at a festival like Reading, I feel like people want to have it, y’know? We design a setlist that will hopefully cater to that.
Clash: It must be a balancing act, wanting to play new stuff but also being aware that people aren’t familiar with. How are you managing that?
Jacob: There was a period recently where we were only playing new stuff, because that’s what we felt like, just because we wanted to get to know the tunes. It’s a big part of who we are, playing live, so we wanted to stay true to us. But we’ve started throwing some of our favourite ‘Cub’ tracks back in the set with a newly realised approach to them. We’ve taken them into the world of ‘Midas’ but we are playing ‘Cub’ tunes.
Clash: What’s the reaction been like to the new material?
Jacob: Really positive.
Harry: As people start to learn these new songs, I think the reaction will get better and better. We’re pretty stoked for the album to come out and have people know those songs as well as we do.
Clash: Personal request: are you going to play (7 minute epic) Superman?
Jacob: Maybe not today. We might. Sometimes we put it at the end of the setlist with a question mark by it. It’s about reading the room. It takes things down, and it’s quite a good ender for a set. Sometimes for a daytime festival it doesn’t always feel right. We definitely like playing it.
Clash: You keep setlists quite fluid then?
Jacob: We make changes sometimes.
Jaime: It’s definitely written on the day, for sure. Then we’ll see how we’re going during it. Sometimes we’ll chop things in and out.
Clash: And this is your first appearance at Reading Festival?
Jaime: We all came here as punters ten years ago, (it was) the first festival for all of us.
Harry: A coming-of-age experience.
Clash: Do you feel old walking through the crowd now?
Jacob: Starting to!
Pete: I kept my head down earlier; I didn’t want to look up!
Clash: Based on that, does it mean a lot for you to play here?
Harry: Yeah! I think, when you’re 14/15 years old and you go and see your favourite band and now you’re playing on the same stage as they were 10 years ago, it feels good. It’s good to feel like you’re in the cycle of everything.
Clash: Lastly, now you’re here, and you going to be checking out anyone else?
Jacob: We haven’t got loads of time. Fontaines are literally right next to us (on the bill) so we might not catch them. I’d like to have seen some of the new tunes on the record. But otherwise see how it goes.
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‘Midas’ is out now.
Words: Richard Bowes
Photo Credit: Polocho
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