{"id":34054,"date":"2014-07-23T10:14:26","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T10:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/?p=34054"},"modified":"2017-03-01T13:04:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T13:04:19","slug":"new-noise-wild-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/2014\/07\/23\/new-noise-wild-club\/","title":{"rendered":"New Noise: Wild Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

We catch up with Wild Club’s Keegan DeWitt for a New Noise grilling to talk film scores, fronting the band and the ultimate Nashville experience<\/p>\n

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Collectively formed by\u00a0Brooklyn hailing, Nashville based\u00a0Keegan DeWitt and\u00a0multi-instrumentalist\u00a0Jeremy Bullock, Wild Club formed when despite his success writing indie scores, DeWitt longed for the thrill of fronting his own band. The decision to unite saw the band reap success within an instant. Not only were they climbing the US radio charts, but also fronting sell out gigs across the states \u2013 a declaration that the Wild Club bond was one not to be broken.<\/p>\n

As with all ambitious creatives, Keegan had ideas beyond the success of his home turf and so Wild CLub touched down in London town to play alongside The 1975. A sell-out feat on word of mouth alone. Returning to the UK this coming September for three dates including one at XOYO, their debut album is also set to be released the same month,\u00a0and will be accompanied by the release of a new single, the frenetic \u2018Thunder Clatter\u2019 on the same date, September 15th.\u00a0Recorded and produced in Nashville by frontman\/guitarist\u00a0Keegan DeWitt\u00a0and multi-instrumentalist\u00a0Jeremy Bullock,\u00a0Youth<\/em>\u00a0is a record that acts as a thorough introduction to who\u00a0Wild Cub\u00a0are, and exactly where they are heading \u2013\u00a0\u00a0all melody-heavy and bursting with colour and purpose. We catch up with Keegan himself to talk film scores vs band life, the stories behind the lyrics and Nashville hangouts…<\/p>\n

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Where did the name wild cub come from?<\/b><\/p>\n

We all met in the midst of other pursuits in Nashville. Some of us were producing, others playing in different bands and some playing as singer-songwriters. A big part of what drew us together was the desire to be a band. There are already too many white guys with guitars in Nashville and we felt like it was exciting to really remove our faces and names from the record cover and release something where the music came before all that. We chose \u201cWild Cub\u201d mainly because how meaningless and anonymous it was. The record is black on black with a single evocative image (what\u2019s the history of those people, what is that moment?) and a band name that is totally non-intrusive.<\/p>\n

It’s catchy! So how does writing film scores compare to performing in a band?<\/b><\/p>\n

Film scoring and composing for Wild Cub are two parallel things that I always have to balance at the same time. I went to a conservatory for university, first for film writing\/directing and then for acting. Alongside that, I was always recording music, almost like most people keep a diary. It was something I was doing to catalogue my own life, very organically and without much expectation. It organically came about that my friends in conservatory needed scores for their films, and one close friend was brave enough to ask. Since then, I\u2019ve been spending the large amount of my life scoring films.<\/p>\n

Now, as Wild Cub has come to life, it\u2019s been a great opportunity to live two musical lives. With scoring, I have the opportunity to collaborate with incredible people, tell stories entirely unique from mine and most importantly\u2026 tackle really delicate emotions with the help of beautiful imagery and stories.\u00a0Wild Cub is very different in that we can use the construct of a three and a half minute pop song, and place layer upon layer (drums, bass, repetition, lyrics, instrumentation) to try and tackle more dense emotions. The wonderful thing about emotions is how multi-faceted they are, and well constructed pop music can capture that. When The Ronettes sing \u201cBe My Baby\u201d, it\u2019s a massively complex feeling\u2026 there is yearning, dark unknowns beneath it all, beautiful and lush orchestration\u2026 it\u2019s a simple pop song representing a massively complex urge. That\u2019s unique to pop music for sure.<\/p>\n

What did you grow up listening to and how have they influenced your sound?<\/b><\/p>\n

I grew up listening to almost entirely British music, so playing in front of British crowds has that added pressure for me. I would pay double for a Q magazine every week and even more for import CDs as a teenager. Blur, The Verve, Oasis, Supergrass, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp\u2026 these were the first bands that hit my ears and made me want to go write something for myself.<\/p>\n