We like bringing your attention the best new music we can find here at Soundscape, so it gives us great pleasure to introduce you to The Wild, The Youth, which is a new rock/alternative band from Manchester that formed from the ashes of Through Colour. We spoke to vocalist Steve to find out more about the band, and also took the time to review their upcoming self-titled debut EP. Read it all below!
How did you get started?
To cut a long story short, we were basically in another band together and without going into too much detail, we became tired of being compared and thrown in with a pool of pop punk bands that we felt we had nothing in common with. We’d been playing as that band for so long we felt we had, for want for a better word, ‘outgrown’ that sound and it was forcing us to sound like something we weren’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved with that band, but when the original idea about starting something new was brought up, rather then just rebrand we thought it would be better to leave the old band where it was, let it be its own thing and start afresh as we wanted to write music that we enjoyed and weren’t expected to write/sound like.
Who are your influences/role models in the industry?
I think we try not to get too caught up in the whole influence side of things when it comes to writing and try our best to really just do what we want and what we like. There’s a small handful of bands out there at the moment that I have a lot of respect for because they just don’t care about pleasing others and write what they feel like due to them genuinely just wanting to create exciting music that sounds good to them and that’s something we like to do when we all write. I’ve always said that the reason anyone should start a band is not for fame, not for money, not for a glamourous lifestyle or anything other then just wanting to write music because you love doing it.
You’re currently getting ready to release your self-titled debut EP. Can you describe the writing and recording process for it?
These tracks on our debut EP were the first 4 tracks that we ever wrote as The Wild, The Youth, and we’re incredibly proud of them. I’m quite happy about the fact that each track has its own personality and sound. We recorded them last year so we can’t wait for them to finally be out for everyone to hear. Recording them was really great as we had completely stepped out of the comfort zone of our old band with these tracks and it was fresh and exciting to be working on music and lyrics in a completely different way then what we had done in the past. We got our friend James Green from the band Spring King in to record drums for it as we didn’t have a drummer at the time and he just did an excellent job for us too, we can’t thank him enough for helping us out.
Were there any songs that were more of a challenge to get right?
I’d say The Epicurean was the tougher out of the four, as originally we really didn’t know where we were or wanted to go with that track. We all loved the idea and sound we were getting, but we were also wary about if the song had a decent flow or not. The more we ran with it and kept adding these ideas to it, the better it sounded and in the end, it sounded great. Searching For… was tricky too as we recorded it in the original batch of songs, and when listening back to it, I absolutely hated the vocal melody and lyrics I had come up with. When we got the track without vocals from our producer, I tried to write a set of new ones, but I just couldn’t get past the old melody and lyrics. Luckily Baz had an idea, which eventually became the final vocals on the track, that suited not only the music to the track, but the mood of the whole EP as a whole.
Which song are you most proud of?
For me personally I love Predictable ME. I know each one of us like different tracks for different reasons, but if someone told me I HAD to pick one, it would always be Predictable ME. I don’t know what it is with that track but it just makes me feel good, even though lyrically it’s quite negative. We had both the lyrics and the bulk of the music for a long long time before we actually turned it into anything, but it just clicked into place when we eventually tried it. I remember from the first time we recorded a rough demo to that track I felt a huge sense of pride hearing that back, and I still do now if I ever go back to it.
What can fans expect from one of your upcoming live shows?
Hopefully music they enjoy and get excited about hearing live. We’re currently working on our live set so we’re excited for our first live outing. We’ll be playing the EP tracks and a fair few new songs too. We have some new equipment that we can’t wait to use either, without giving too much away. We really just want to be the best that we can possibly be when it comes to live shows, so hopefully people will leave thinking that in a positive way too.
And finally what’s The Wild, The Youth’s plans for the rest of 2015?
We’re always, always writing. So we’re hoping to get some more music recorded and out as soon as we can. We’ll also be playing as many shows as we can get booked up, which is exciting as we have had some great show offers at the moment too. Towards the back end of the year we’re hoping to head out on a few tours too so fingers crossed everything comes together with that.
The Wild, The Youth Review
The Wild, The Youth’s self-titled EP is our first glimpse of material from the band and it definitely doesn’t disappoint, setting things up well for the future and showing a nice amount of potential.
The EP begins with Awake, which opens with a fairly simplistic introduction before progressing into an atmospheric and light-sounding track. It’s quite a safe-sounding track, with no massive hooks and memorable sections, but it’s also a nice way to ease the listener into the album. Following track Predictable ME has a bit more get up and go to it, however, with a big, chunky feel to it and features a chorus line begging to be sang along to!
Up next is Searching For…, which is a nice emotive track that adds a lot of passion to the EP, with the vocals sounding particularly moving throughout, and finally things come to a head with closer The Epicurean, which is a bit of a mini-epic. With soaring guitar lines and massive group vocals, it sounds like something tailor-made for a big stage!
As a whole, The Wild, The Youth have hit the ground running with this EP – who knows where the future will take this promising new band!
8/10
