Wunderhorse at Reading & Leeds 2024 on expanding to a full band and their new album ‘Midas’

NME

Wunderhorse caught up with NME backstage at Reading ahead of their first performance at the festival to chat about their new album ‘Midas’ and the festival’s rite of passage.

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Rhian from NME and I'm joined backstage at Reading by Wonder Horse. How are you guys

00:11doing?

00:12Very well, thank you.

00:13This is your first time performing at Reading as Wonder Horse. What does this festival kind

00:16of mean to you? Is it one that you came to growing up?

00:20Yeah, it is. Yeah, I think it is one we all came to growing up. I think most people in

00:27England probably do, coming of age festival.

00:30Yeah.

00:31Yeah, 10 years to this day, Pete, Jacob and I went to Reading and yeah, it was sort of

00:40the, sometimes, it's usually like the first ever festival most kids go to, I think sometimes.

00:46So yeah.

00:47Yeah. Were there any sets that you remember that had a big impact on you?

00:52Well, we went to see Drench, we went to see All Worlds, I think those were the two bands

00:58at the time we really dug at the time. I can't remember, to be honest, I don't really remember

01:06seeing many people, anyone else. It was a bit, it stood out for me.

01:15Yeah, that's fair. It sounds like a classic Reading to not really see that much anyway

01:19and just go around having fun when you're that age.

01:21Yeah.

01:22Yeah.

01:23How do you prepare for a festival show like this compared to a headline show where you

01:26know people are coming to see you specifically and they know your music?

01:31Well, you kind of have to get yourself in the headspace a lot quicker. You kind of arrive,

01:36everything is set up and then you kind of have to just jump into it. But that can introduce

01:40a kind of bit more spontaneity to the set. You know, there's more that could happen,

01:48I think. Sometimes with the touring, you know, it becomes such a learned rhythm that

01:56it can sometimes get a little predictable. But festivals, you never know. You never know.

02:02Yeah. Things have changed in the band a little bit since the first album. It's now officially

02:07a band compared to just a solo album. How would you say that that has kind of changed

02:11the dynamic and what you've created with the new album Midas?

02:16I think it's just like a natural development. We all toured lots together and sort of natural

02:22chemistry sort of happened. And yeah, I think a lot of the album was written in the studio.

02:29You know, I'd kind of come up with the chords and the basic lyrics, but everyone would be

02:32there to sort of put their own sort of unique kind of print on it as it was happening while

02:39they were still in this sort of embryonic stage rather than something that had been

02:42fully learned and fully realized. So everyone's personality just naturally comes out a lot

02:47more, you know?

02:48Yeah. Jacob, you've said that Cub kind of lacks spontaneity. Is that kind of how you

02:53were able to bring more spontaneity into this record, do you think?

02:55I think, yeah, I like some of the songs on Cub. I don't mean to do it down too much.

03:03I think what it lacked for me was sonically, it wasn't an accurate representation of what

03:09this band is really about. There weren't too many rough edges, which is fine. You learn

03:14stuff on your first record and take that into the next one. But I think a lot of the stuff

03:18that we all love and listen to has that sort of like that feeling that it could fall apart

03:24at any time. And I think that's missing a lot in a lot of music today. There's a lot

03:28of sort of people aiming towards very polished, kind of perfect sound. So we wanted to get

03:33as far away from that as possible, you know?

03:35What would you say were the biggest influences or inspirations on this new album then?

03:39Well, we were, even the place we were recording in was, had been home to Nirvana at one point,

03:45Pixies, PJ Harvey. So I think they were in our minds definitely arriving. But then when

03:54we were there, there was quite a limited record collection. And we all took the time each

04:01morning to put a few, you know, put a record on. And a lot of that would have been like,

04:05well, like a few Rolling Stones records. Yeah, some Beatles. I don't know if you remember.

04:11Yeah, it was specifically Rubber Soul. That was at the house that we're staying in. We

04:20listened to specifically quite a lot of Exile on Main Street. And there was one more Stones

04:26album, Beggar's Bank.

04:27Beggar's Bank.

04:28What would you say is the biggest lesson that you learned on the first album or touring

04:31the first album that you brought into this record as well?

04:35I think, well, I can't speak for everyone, but I think when we recorded the first records,

04:41I mean, A, it was, you know, a collection of songs, a lot from Jacob's past, but also

04:46it was, it was in COVID. So we weren't gigging. And then I think off the back of that, we

04:52did many, many shows and almost revived those songs, not revived, but re-imagined those

04:58songs that we just recorded, really. And I think for me, that went, took a lot of that

05:06into the second record because we wanted to make it sound live.

05:11I think, yeah, just the more we've toured and stuff and played, you have to, some of

05:15the magic is actually where things go wrong. I think that's been a big, big thing for us.

05:19I mean, even we played a show last night and I didn't have a guitar for the whole second

05:24half of it. And that's kind of interesting. So, yeah, to embrace those things, it couldn't,

05:29you never know, it's going to might take you somewhere you didn't know you could go. So

05:33can be scary as well, though. It's good fun. I like that.

05:38What do you hope people take from the album when they hear it, when it's out next week?

05:42I don't know. They take what they like from it, really. I hope people enjoy it, but I'll

05:49have to decide.

05:52Yeah, you take what you want to take out of an album that you listen to. I think that's

05:58the magic of listening to records. You take what you need out of it.

06:04Fair enough. Thank you so much for your time, guys. Enjoy the rest of Reading.

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