Who?
Forming in late 2007, WIM are a band harking back to classic pop and timeless folk, whilst facing steadfastly forward toward modern indie/art rock. Incorporating psychedelic instrumentation, soulful and earnest lyricism and intriguing vocal melodies, the sound travels a broad spectrum.
It happened something like this…After living in Paris, Martin Solomon returned home a singer. He met songwriter Simon Jankelson and they began to collaborate. Harry Thynne assumed the kit, Dustin Bookatz the bass and lead guitarist Saul Wodak soon entered the picture. Most of the members had spent extensive periods of time in different parts of the world and their experiences and stories slowly presented themselves in the songs they began to write.
Their path seemed to be motivated by the search for something ‘enduring’, in that the focus was certainly more on the songs themselves, as opposed to the sounds and trends happening around them. ‘Old’ songs were merged and new ones written and this entity formed the bricks and mortar, the palette and the shape of WIM.
The band travel from the realms of such timeless sounds as The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel and Neil Young, to the more contemporary Grizzly Bear and Devendra Banhart. Describing themselves as ‘glam folk’, WIM aspire to meld and cross-reference a variety of genres.
This gamut of creativity was made clear in WIM’s 2008 demo. Interestingly recorded mere months after the band had formed, the result was a surprisingly professional and emphatic recording that managed to capture their variety of song styles. The demo has since helped the boys gain the attention of various local media and notable industry figures.
It has also catapulted the band into a series of noteworthy shows, in turn creating a kind of mysterious aura around the name “WIM”. The band has recently played to packed out and captivated crowds at Manning Bar, headlined nights at Oxford Art Factory and featured in a series of underground music spectacles. Writer and editor of Music Feeds Magazine, Michael Carr, says of their live show: “WIM delivers the most crushing and indomitable set of perfect shiny pop I have ever seen.”
Perhaps this credit is indicative of the group’s attitude to playing live. Says singer Martin Solomon: “We’ve always preferred the word show to the word gig. I think that’s what we’re really aiming to achieve more and more with the band - putting on a show where that audience is truly engaged and involved – transported, even”.
In the end, the band is really about a sense of return to music and a new take on the modern-classic song. WIM’s sound travels over a vast array of colour and feelings; their songs truly speak for themselves.
