Whellington Slave Interview
Q: Can you talk about your history as an artist/band?
A: Whellington Slave is a project that has built itself over the years. It started out as a progressive acoustic duo called Colorful Mind for Omen that me and a friend (Jim) formed after the breakup of the metalcore/hardcore band (Antlers Moose) in which I was vocalist and he was drummer. As a duo we had almost enough material to release our first album, but circumstances made us just stop playing together. It's something I still regret today but I will always leave the door open to Jim for a collaboration; he is an extremely creative person who has allowed me to develop so much as a musician.
I still have the material we wrote for Colorful Mind for Omen and eventually I'll work on it to maybe do a special acoustic album or something like that. It was great material, very different from Swimming in Sound and might be surprising (in a good way) for the listeners.
When I was on my own, I had a period where I was lost musically and mentally. For a good year I couldn't create music that I connected with. Looking for inspiration and direction to continue my passion I turned to new genres of music that I was less familiar with. I discovered stoner rock, doom and all the affiliated sub genres. I took the influences I already had (grunge, metalcore, hardcore, progressive) and merged them with these new stoner rock/doom influences and that's how Whellington Slave was born.
From the moment I found my musical direction I released all my frustration of the last years in the first album. A side note on the name Whellington Slave. It was my girlfriend who came up with the idea when I was looking for a name for the project. Whellington is the name of my cat who is always in the room when I play music and Slave is simply what we are to our cats (cats owner knows).
Q: Can you talk about your themes on your new release Swimming in sound?
A: Swimming in sound doesn't have a specific or recurring theme between the different tracks as it was recorded over a period of about two years, but it is a rather dark album. There are songs about different things that reflect my personal struggle and those of our society. It's like I wrote this album to keep myself sane without realizing it.
Q: What is your recording process like? And has it changed over the years?
A: The way I record is constantly changing as I am always learning new techniques and experimenting with the equipment I have. Swimming in sound was recorded in a room I was temporarily using while I finished building my studio in the basement of my house. With Covid and the rising cost of materials the work was delayed but I still wanted to meet my goal of releasing my first album in 2021.
Normally I record each song when I finish composing it instead of recording the whole album at once because I have to wait for the conditions to be ideal to record and that doesn't happen often (no noise outside, alone at home, etc). With my studio finished things will change because now I will have more flexibility to record. I think it will bring a better cohesion between the songs of my next album. Recording several songs in the same session will decrease the variations in my sound.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: My creative process is very visceral and instinctive. I never start with a clear idea of where I'm going or what the song is going to say. Often it starts with an emotion or a frustration I have. I create some guitar riffs and try to find some melody for the vocals that would go with it. When I'm satisfied that I've found something to work with I write the drums to go with it and finish with the bass guitar. When I write I always leave myself a moment in the song free to improvise when I go to record it, that's why the bridges in some songs are surprising and it's something I find very important (like in “F%cktard”). That's what I think makes a song interesting, not knowing what to expect, especially with the infinite amount of music available everywhere. I try to avoid the standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus formula as much as possible, even though it can be found in some of my songs.
I always try not to do the same thing repeatedly and go in a different direction that will surprise the listeners and myself. I like to explore avenues that I had never considered.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: Lyrics are the last thing I write in a song. Most of the time I just try things out randomly and when I have something I follow that idea. This has the effect of reflecting things that are in my subconscious and not necessarily thought out at first.
In the album there is a song about sexual abusers who believe in their lies to escape their guilt. This song (“F%cktard”) is a song that took me a while to come to terms with because of the nature of the lyrics I had written and how they resonated on a personal level, but I think that makes this song one of my favorites in the end.
I also have some less personal songs such as “Smoke rings” which is a nod to traditional stoner rock with lyrics about smoking and having a good time to escape your daily life.
“Darkest Place” is another track that is more personal and talks about the constant inner struggle we have to go through to keep moving forward without sinking into excess and self-destruction. I have been fighting every day to maintain a balance for the last eight years.
Since I write the lyrics last, some songs like “The descent” and “Dreamtime" are instrumental because I didn't find the point of adding any. I am a guitarist at first and in my opinion some songs do not need lyrics to convey a message.
Q: Have you started playing shows or virtual shows?
A: Not at the moment since I'm alone but it's always been in my plans. By releasing my first album I showed my seriousness and it's easier to find people to play with. I have a friend who will take the role of bassist which is already a good start. I can't wait to play in front of an audience.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I have already started working on new music and my vision is to create an album that is going to be very different from Swimming in sound but keeping the essence of Whellington Slave. It promises to be much more progressive and experimental. I want to take the occasion to thank you guys at Divide and Conquer for supporting new independent artists and giving us our chance to grow.
Q: Can you talk about your history as an artist/band?
A: Whellington Slave is a project that has built itself over the years. It started out as a progressive acoustic duo called Colorful Mind for Omen that me and a friend (Jim) formed after the breakup of the metalcore/hardcore band (Antlers Moose) in which I was vocalist and he was drummer. As a duo we had almost enough material to release our first album, but circumstances made us just stop playing together. It's something I still regret today but I will always leave the door open to Jim for a collaboration; he is an extremely creative person who has allowed me to develop so much as a musician.
I still have the material we wrote for Colorful Mind for Omen and eventually I'll work on it to maybe do a special acoustic album or something like that. It was great material, very different from Swimming in Sound and might be surprising (in a good way) for the listeners.
When I was on my own, I had a period where I was lost musically and mentally. For a good year I couldn't create music that I connected with. Looking for inspiration and direction to continue my passion I turned to new genres of music that I was less familiar with. I discovered stoner rock, doom and all the affiliated sub genres. I took the influences I already had (grunge, metalcore, hardcore, progressive) and merged them with these new stoner rock/doom influences and that's how Whellington Slave was born.
From the moment I found my musical direction I released all my frustration of the last years in the first album. A side note on the name Whellington Slave. It was my girlfriend who came up with the idea when I was looking for a name for the project. Whellington is the name of my cat who is always in the room when I play music and Slave is simply what we are to our cats (cats owner knows).
Q: Can you talk about your themes on your new release Swimming in sound?
A: Swimming in sound doesn't have a specific or recurring theme between the different tracks as it was recorded over a period of about two years, but it is a rather dark album. There are songs about different things that reflect my personal struggle and those of our society. It's like I wrote this album to keep myself sane without realizing it.
Q: What is your recording process like? And has it changed over the years?
A: The way I record is constantly changing as I am always learning new techniques and experimenting with the equipment I have. Swimming in sound was recorded in a room I was temporarily using while I finished building my studio in the basement of my house. With Covid and the rising cost of materials the work was delayed but I still wanted to meet my goal of releasing my first album in 2021.
Normally I record each song when I finish composing it instead of recording the whole album at once because I have to wait for the conditions to be ideal to record and that doesn't happen often (no noise outside, alone at home, etc). With my studio finished things will change because now I will have more flexibility to record. I think it will bring a better cohesion between the songs of my next album. Recording several songs in the same session will decrease the variations in my sound.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: My creative process is very visceral and instinctive. I never start with a clear idea of where I'm going or what the song is going to say. Often it starts with an emotion or a frustration I have. I create some guitar riffs and try to find some melody for the vocals that would go with it. When I'm satisfied that I've found something to work with I write the drums to go with it and finish with the bass guitar. When I write I always leave myself a moment in the song free to improvise when I go to record it, that's why the bridges in some songs are surprising and it's something I find very important (like in “F%cktard”). That's what I think makes a song interesting, not knowing what to expect, especially with the infinite amount of music available everywhere. I try to avoid the standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus formula as much as possible, even though it can be found in some of my songs.
I always try not to do the same thing repeatedly and go in a different direction that will surprise the listeners and myself. I like to explore avenues that I had never considered.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: Lyrics are the last thing I write in a song. Most of the time I just try things out randomly and when I have something I follow that idea. This has the effect of reflecting things that are in my subconscious and not necessarily thought out at first.
In the album there is a song about sexual abusers who believe in their lies to escape their guilt. This song (“F%cktard”) is a song that took me a while to come to terms with because of the nature of the lyrics I had written and how they resonated on a personal level, but I think that makes this song one of my favorites in the end.
I also have some less personal songs such as “Smoke rings” which is a nod to traditional stoner rock with lyrics about smoking and having a good time to escape your daily life.
“Darkest Place” is another track that is more personal and talks about the constant inner struggle we have to go through to keep moving forward without sinking into excess and self-destruction. I have been fighting every day to maintain a balance for the last eight years.
Since I write the lyrics last, some songs like “The descent” and “Dreamtime" are instrumental because I didn't find the point of adding any. I am a guitarist at first and in my opinion some songs do not need lyrics to convey a message.
Q: Have you started playing shows or virtual shows?
A: Not at the moment since I'm alone but it's always been in my plans. By releasing my first album I showed my seriousness and it's easier to find people to play with. I have a friend who will take the role of bassist which is already a good start. I can't wait to play in front of an audience.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I have already started working on new music and my vision is to create an album that is going to be very different from Swimming in sound but keeping the essence of Whellington Slave. It promises to be much more progressive and experimental. I want to take the occasion to thank you guys at Divide and Conquer for supporting new independent artists and giving us our chance to grow.