Music Interview: Getting To Know Wells

Sydney-based four-piece Wells tell us about their EP “The Pale King”, their latest single “Fractures” and ponder whether Matthew McConaughey has always been a good actor:

We are a band of friends that gathered together one fateful evening for an uncertain purpose. Everyone awoke the following morning with a furious, scotch-fuelled hangover and the realisation that they had joined a band. I, Alastair, was the mastermind behind this stitch-up and had succeeded in coercing the most talented musicians I knew into helping to craft a sprawling concept album about a a failed folk musician (definitely not me) who develops a split-personality disorder as a result of his all consuming desire for fame and admiration. Our debut release The Pale King is a snapshot of this story and the surreal world that it takes place in. It is predicted to be the surprise feel-good hit of the summer.

‘Fractures’ is the first single from our debut EP. It is a song about confessing to your lover that everything that they think they know about you is a lie. Because lies have consequences, and this song is part of a giant narrative arc, this scene takes place on a hill top where the two lovers watch as everything that was built upon these lies is destroyed. In the lyrics I play around with the concept that that the lies we tell are fractures in reality; breaks between fact and fiction. Because of this I included quite a few references to my own life along with corresponding fictions that appear in the songs. I will leave it to the listener to decide if they think my father was a physicist or in fact Sisyphus.

Sydney is the perfect city to live if you are an artist that likes bitching about living in a city that doesn’t give a shit about artists. Rest in peace live music venues, etc. That said, it is a beautiful place that I have lived the majority of my life. I moved here when I was less than ten-years-old from the mid-western state of Iowa (USA). Iowa is famous for corn, meth labs, political caucuses, a writing seminar and Slipknot. So at this moment in time Sydney is a better fit for me and I am thankful to call it home.

Our upcoming show at Brighton Up Bar will be a jolly farce! We are thinking of hiring seven Lamas to stand side-of-stage so we can send drunk punters for rides to the bar to order their Tooheys. Volunteers will also be able to stradle those blown-up-wavy-hand-car-sales-yard thingy’s while wearing stormtrooper armour, Princess Leia wigs, heels and copious amounts of powder. While this may seem strange to some it’s not far off what you would see on Oxford St in Sydney circa 1986. Although our budget may not allow for this circus fuelled fun-time, dreams can still manifest into reality if you send it out to the universe. I hope you are receiving this, universe.

We spend too much time arguing over whether or not Matthew McConaughey has always been a good actor or if some alien force is responsible for his sudden transformation. This is important because he is slated to play the main character in the screen adaptation of our debut. We had the pleasure of meeting the Texan and we discussed small things, revelations, fame, what it was like to be probed within an inch of your life by oppressive beings from a distant galaxy only to discover that it wasn’t the first time this had happened to you, and they got it wrong the first time, mistakenly installing a “Bro chip” forcing you to spend excessive hours at the tanning salon, perming your hair and LIFTING! Anyway we’re rambling here, after all they got it right the second time.

We’re currently listening to slightly puzzling noises coming from the brothel next door to where this is being written. In terms of music though I am in awe of the new Titus Andronicus album The Most Lamentable Tragedy. It is almost as great as their The Monitor and manages to teeter between all out mania and depression in a way that perfectly serves the themes that they are writing about. Action Bronson is another one; casual diss’ and beats. A Sydney band named Retiree are super dreamy and Chromatics are a favourite amongst the whole band.

It might surprise people to learn that our guitarist Richard stole the keyboard to complete three of these questions. It is a common occurrence for him to tell me to stop taking myself too seriously.

In the future I SHALL TAKE OVER ALL KEYBOARDS WITH MY HACKING PROWESS! THE PEOPLE SHALL TREMBLE AT MY INATE AND TERRIBLE KNOWLEDGE OF QWERTY! BOW DOWN AND RECOGNIZE MY CAPS LOCK SKILLZ! RECOIL IN FEAR OF MY SHIFT BUTTON HOLD! MWHAA HAAA THE PEOPLE SHALL SUCCUMB SWIFTLY TO THE POWERS OF MY TEXT <! …… Other than that we will be heading out on an East Coast tour to support our second single Shepherd and our debut EP.

Keep up to date with the band on Facebook 

You can catch them at the following venues, if you happen to be in Australia in September…

THURSDAY 3rd SEP | ANCIENT WORLD, ADELAIDE
SATURDAY 5th SEP | BRIGHTON UP BAR, SYDNEY
THURSDAY 10th SEP | THE MILK FACTORY, BRISBANE
WEDNESDAY 16th SEP | THE LASS, NEWCASTLE
SATURDAY 19th SEP | UNI BAR, WOLLONGONG 

Interview by Bobby Townsend.