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.
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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.