by: Kevin Hockin
So I came across Wild Years from Ann Arbor, MI, while thumbing through the internet, and the sound really impressed me. I wouldn't be surprised if big things happen to this band in the near future. I contacted Alex for an interview, and here's what he had to say.
1.Let’s start from the beginning, when and where did it all start? And with who?Wild Years started last summer. It was originally an outlet for music that I felt didn’t really fit with my other band, LS Banjo.
2.If you had to describe your sound in one sentence, what would you say?It’s like if Andrew Bird became the songwriter for the Flaming Lips but instead of Wayne Coyne, M. Ward led the band. But, not quite as good.
3.Name 3 artists that have inspired you as musicians.I take a lot from different artists but really only Wilco has inspired me per se.
4.What do you see in the future for music, with all of the outlets available for exposure, along with the current Internet craze? I really think this is a great time for music. With the internet I feel like an unprecedented amount of new artists are able to get their music out for people to hear. And the great thing is that it doesn’t look like the music scenes are getting saturated; people just keep coming out with awesome new stuff. The future of music is definitely digital.
5.What can we expect to see from Wild Years in the next year? Any big plans?Well, Wild Years is still very much in its infancy right now. Within the next year, I want to finish putting together a live band and just play a lot of shows.
6.What has Wild Years been listening to lately?I’ve been really digging the new Dr. Dog record, Fate and the new Nomo, Ghost Rock. I also just got out of my Talking Heads phase, listening to Naked, and all that stuff.
7.Your thoughts on independent music and if it’s possible to be successful through these means of distribution?Success is a very subjective thing, but I definitely think it’s possible to get a good amount of hype just from Myspace and stuff like that. The independent music scene is getting huge. It’s more in parallel now with popular music, rather than being underground.
8.If we can’t find you playing a gig or practicing music, where might we expect to find you? Probably, somewhere outside. Running, biking, swimming, that kind of stuff.
9.How many shows do you play a year? What’s the atmosphere typically like?I’ve only done a few shows with Wild Years, but I’m hoping to play a couple dozen this year. When playing, I really try to bring the life to music that it sometimes loses when recorded, but the atmosphere is really left up to the crowd.
10.Lastly, your thoughts on INDISTR.COM?It looks like a terrific site. A good way to stay independent and still get your music out there.