WL//WH Interview WAVES OF DREAD
After last year’s cathartic post-lockdown debut album, “A Bad Dream in A Raging Sea”, North-East of England‘s scorching dreamy shoegazers WAVES OF DREAD are back with a diverse 4-track EP “The Tide”, finely teetering between melody and distortion, quiet and noise as never before. Let’s get to know the band deeper with frontman and songwriter Nick.
Thanks so much for the interview. When did the band start? Please, tell us about your background and history.
Waves of Dread started out in 2018 as a solo project for myself. I was offered gigs not long after the first couple of demos I’d put online and I had to throw a live band together pretty quickly! We’ve been chipping away ever since, there’s been a few adjustments to the line up over time and we’ve had our fair share of ups and downs, but we’re in a pretty good place now and we finally managed to get our debut album out last year.
Who have been your influences and inspirations that led to form the band?
When I first started the band, it was very noisy, wall-of-sound stuff, to the point where the first live band had four guitarists! That was influenced by the likes of My Bloody Valentine and the shoegaze scene but also some older stuff like Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
How would you describe your sound?
We’re a mixed bag, we have quieter moments amongst the noise, we get categorised as shoegaze and dream pop but I think we’ve got a little something more to us too.
Let’s talk about your new EP
After the album came out, I was eager to get back into the studio and record the title track to the EP. We’d played it live quite a lot in the lead up to the album and it seemed like the natural next step. “Early Riser”, “Overspill” and “Restless Sleeper” are all songs that were written while the album was in the latter stages of production that I finished off this year to accompany “The Tide.”
What about the music scene in your town and in general in Britain lately… Any bands you would recommend?
There’s all sorts in Newcastle, a lot of acts doing a lot of different things. Rather than an overall scene, there are little pockets dotted all over. There’s definitely a little clique of electronic stuff, a lot of good folk-influenced stuff, hip hop, metal, as I say, all sorts. It’s a very eclectic city for music. Our friends Marginal Gains are worth checking out, they just put out their first release and have been getting a lot of (justified) hype around our way recently. England, overall, I don’t really pay a great deal of attention to.
Tell us about the process of recording the songs and writing your lyrics?
Historically, it’s come from demos I’ve made at home and then we figure them out as a group in the practice room and make improvements where we can. I want to do more writing as a group in the future, although the habit of making demos on my own will probably never leave me.
Do you enjoy playing live and touring?
That’s a loaded question! When all the necessary equipment works and there are no technical issues to deal with, then it’s really great! When we get in the zone on stage it feels like we’re the best band in the world. Fair to say we’ve had our share of bad luck on stage, but even then, we often manage to weather the storm. We’re quite the force when we get going!
What are you listening to at the moment?
All sorts, I listen to a lot of music throughout the day while I’m working. I had a good rummage through MJ Lenderman’s back catalogue last week, some really great stuff in there. It’s autumn now, which means I’ve started playing “Hex” by Bark Psychosis again, a truly underrated masterpiece. Stereolab, Brian Eno and Broadcast have been on pretty regular rotation recently. I’ve had a lot of heavier sounding stuff on too, like Unwound, Husker Du, and Protomartyr. I don’t think I’ve gone more than a few days for about a year now without listening to “A Great Design” by Black Marble, it gives me chills every time.
Were there any key records or memorable live gigs that changed your perception of rock music?
I think in terms of changing perception, it would probably have to be My Bloody Valentine and even before that Jesus and Mary Chain, I’d never really heard guitars like that, until I listened to those bands. I was into a lot of the classics in my teens, The Beatles, Led Zep, etc. with a mix of the indie bands that were around at the time. Shoegaze and similar noisier stuff really changed the way I thought about guitar playing for myself. That and Neil Young, of course.
Make a list of your all-time favorite five albums.
As with most people, if you asked me again tomorrow I’d likely give you five different records… but let’s go with five from acts I’ve not already mentioned…
♦ The Stone Roses – “S/T”
♦ Guided By Voices – “Bee Thousand”
♦ Elliott Smith –“Either/Or”
♦ Joni Mitchell – “Hejira”
♦ Preoccupations –“Viet Cong”
What are your plans for the future?
To keep going! Write and record more music, keep pushing ourselves to be bolder with the sounds we make and songs we write.
Any parting words?
Trust your instincts and do whatever you think is best for yourself and your music/art. Try not to listen to too much outside noise. The advice of others, as helpful as it may seem, is often not what you really want for yourself and taking that advice could ultimately leave you unhappy and disappointed. Do things your own way.
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