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Written by Paul Portell
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Tuesday, 19 June 2007 |
Hot off the heels of their debut "Conquering the Fear of Flight," Rawkzilla.com's Paul Portell conducted an interview with Wavorly's bassist Matt.
What differentiates Wavorly from Freshman 15, both musically and their origins?
Well, Freshmen 15 started as kind of a joke/fun project thing between Dave (our lead singer/guitar player) and I,and he actually taught me how to play bass our freshmen year in college. We were a pop-punk band (think Blink 182, New Found Glory, early Relient K) and we recorded two cds, one self-titled that Dave actually did all by himself because I was working at a camp in New Mexico that summer (2002?), and then a follow up called Hi-5 Pedestrian that actually had a radio single by the name of "Social Humiliation" that is (oddly enough) still receiving some radio play randomly across the country. One day Dave was asking what I thought a cool band name would be and he very jokingly responded with "freshmen 15." He loved the name, and that's how we started. We played for about 3 and a half to 4 years under that banner and after losing our original guitarist (Dan Isbell) and our original drummer (Trey Hill) as time passed we decided it was time for a change. Our then road manager, Ryan Coon, also switched over to keyboards, allowing us a new musical freedom that we had been toying with, and our sound began to change. Both of our newest members, Seth and Jaime, brought new influences into the mix and that (combined with our own changing musical tastes) birthed a new sounding music from our band that leaned more towards a straight up rock flavor, a la the Foo Fighters, Muse, Anberlin, and Mae. We had thrown around the idea of changing the name, but after signing with Flicker and deciding that the best time for a name change would be along with our new start with them, we went with Wavorly. Wavorly is a play off of a civil war mansion called Old Waverley Mansion in West Point, MS. We wanted a name that reflected where we came from (Mississippi), and it also has a really cool haunted mansion story attached to it. That's how we became who we are.
What inspired you to write the song titled "Summer Song?"
Dave would probably be a better responder to this one, but he wrote this song as a gift for his girlfriend on their two year anniversary. It's just a good ol' love song(by the way, the title is "A Summer's Song";it's a common mistake).
What is the primary theme of "Conquering the Fear of Flight?"
It's just a title that reflects those times in our lives when we have to face up to any situation (whatever it might be) and realize that we have to get through it, because tough times are just a part of life. Each of us in the band is blessed to have a relationship with God, and He gives us hope to get through all of the tough times that come our way. So for us, He is our hope, the one that always gives us the courage to meet those situations and get through them.
What led you into adding orchestral-type arrangements to the end of a few of the album's songs?
Dave actually writes classical pieces on occasion, and I believe that during the recording process one day he was just playing Rob's (Rob Graves...our producer) piano, and Rob started listening to what he was playing and he loved it. After learning that Dave had written a bunch of classical music, Rob recorded a lot of the pieces and he and Dave chose the ones that you hear on the album now. In fact, all of the music of "Tale of the Dragon's Defeat" was written on the piano first.
What musical influences do you draw upon?
We listen to a lot of bands from a lot of different genres. Muse, Mae, Relient K, Anberlin, Coldplay, Jonezetta, Underoath, Paramore, and of course many classical pieces from many composers. Dave is into Danny Elfman, John Williams, and Debussy. The rest of the guys don't like "music," but prefer CD soundtracks such as "Sounds of the Beach," or "Sounds of the Forest."
How did you get hooked up with Flicker Records?
A good friend of ours introduced us to Mark Stuart, and he came and watched us showcase a few times in the Nashville area. We played at Icthus the summer of 2006, and we met Will McGinniss, and he introduced us to our now A&R guy Josh Heiner, and they signed us a couple of months later (September 2006). We love the whole team at Flicker/Provident and they're awesome.
Do you have any major tours planned following the Summer Festivals?
We have a tour with Red, Grits, Falling Up, and Run Kid Run in July called the Revolution Calling Tour, and we recently confirmed a tour with Disciple, Fireflight, and Dizmas during September and October that we are super excited about. In August, we're doing another leg of the Rock, Paper, and Scissors tour with our best friends High Flight Society (RKT) and Our Hearts Hero (Gotee). We'll be jamming out on the west coast and we can't wait. We love touring with those guys.
Do you look forward to going beyond the confines of churches and Christian-owned venues to reach a larger audience
We are more than willing to play anywhere that we can, and we hope to get the chance to do just that. The hope we have in Christ was never meant to be confined to churches, so we are blessed to be able to play anywhere to anyone. We love meeting people from all walks of life, and God is teaching us all the time that we should be willing to love anyone the way the He loves us. Whether it be an awesome youth group that is super stoked to see us in their church or a completely apathetic audience in a bar or club that might just need to hear a little rock to pick up their day. We do look forward to it.
How is life on the road currently in contrast to your pre-Flicker Records contract?
It's really about the same, except we're a little more busy and a little more broke. The most amazing thing is when we are completely in a different part of the country and people will sing our songs while we play. I know that everyone talks about how cool that is and it's so cliche to mention, but for real...it's awesome. It's also a pretty big deal to us to have a cd in Wal-Mart, the six flags of Mississippi.
Do any of you engage in Halo Tournaments or sport video game match-ups while in your tour bus?
Some of the guys play Guitar Hero, Halo, and various other XBox 360 games. We've also got a GameCube, but not so many games for it. And we've definitely only got a van. No tour bus here.
Favorite Scripture verses?
One of my favorite verses is Colossians 2:8, which says "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." I also love the book of Hebrews.
Ever been confused for a major celebrity or rockstar?
I've gotten Adam Brody before, but it was when my hair was shorter. Coon used to get Jack Black a lot (like every show), but now that he's gotten his hair cut he looks more like a common forest animal as opposed to a famous one.
Check out www.myspace.com/wavorly for upcoming tour dates and other happenings with the band.
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