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By: Patrick Thompson
Wildernessking kicked off 2016 with their powerful sophomore full-length album Mystical Future, from Sick Man Getting Sick Records (read our review here). Patrick Thompson got the chance to have a quick chat with bassist and vocalist Keenan Nathan Oakes, and we talked about all things Wildernessking.
(((o))): Thank you for taking time to let us get to know Wildernessking, it is much appreciated. Can you please tell our readers a little about yourselves and how Wildernessking came to be?
Keenan: No problem! Wildernessking started in 2011, but we began playing in 2010 with the line-up we have now. The band started out under the name Heathens, with myself, Dylan [Viljoen, guitar] and Jason [Jardim, drums]. It was just a fun project with no real intentions of being a serious band or anything like that. We put out our first EP in May of 2010, and things have progressed nicely ever since. Jesse [Navarre Vos, guitar] is doing his Honours degree in branding and business management this year, Dylan is a high school maths teacher, Jason is a drum teacher and I work at a wine bar and play for another band called Sakawa Boys.
(((o))): Your first full- length album, The Writing of Gods in the Sand, came out in 2012. How does it feel to finally get your 2nd full-length album, Mystical Future, recorded and released?
Keenan: It’s a huge weight off our shoulders. We are relieved to finally have this new record out there, especially considering that we finished writing it in September of 2013. Nothing has really changed (musically) since then. So we played a serious game of patience in the build-up to this album. But we’re glad that it’s taken awhile to get it out there… We were well rehearsed because of it. It won’t be long before new music drops.
(((o))): Let’s do a quick track by track if you don’t mind, please tell us about Mystical Future.
Keenan: ‘White Horses’ was written in January 2012 in our old pre-production studio at Dylan’s parents’ house. It was a very collaborative effort between Jesse and Dylan. I remember Jesse bringing the intro sequence, and we just took it from there. I fell asleep around the point the verse was written, and woke up during that final bridge/climactic section. That song was pretty much written in one day.
Dylan had the intro riff for ‘I Will Go To Your Tomb’ for awhile (the original demo file is dated June 2012). We were playing the song live in March of 2013 already. The song initially veered off into more progressive territories after Dylan’s first lead section, but we weren’t that pleased with it, so we decided to jam it out as a band. The song wrote itself from that point, and I distinctly remember being over the moon because we managed to write as a band in our rehearsal room. That was the start of many band jams that turned into songs (see ‘Soundless Longing’ from the Secret Ceremonies compilation).
Dylan had written the intro to this song (‘To Transcend’) and once again it was completed in the band room, as Jesse came up with the guitar picking part in the bridge. That was the touch the song needed to be fully structured and complete. The additional stuff, like overdriven guitars and ghostly vocals came later on. Like most of this album, once we had the song and structures down, nothing changed much.
‘With Arms Like Wands’ started with a picking guitar section before the intro you now hear in the song. Because of how the album was flowing, in terms of dynamics and pace, we decided to scrap that intro and cut right to the core. Jason’s drumming really brings the frenetic energy of the song alive, and once again we just took it from there, and built upon that initial chord sequence. We wrote the song fairly quickly, and I distinctly remember the 3/4 section, and how Jason wanted to include it in the song, but we were struggling to find a section to slot it in to. He suggested doing it after the blast beat that follows eventually after the second chorus, and we didn’t think it would work. It did, and it’s one of our favourite parts on the album now, as it goes from a 4/4 blast beat section into a 3/4 blast beat section, and the song just pulls and lifts in that moment.
We had written about 6 minutes of a completely different song. We knew what type of song we wanted the closer to be, but we weren’t feeling it. So we decided to scrap the idea (I still have it on my PC somewhere) and start from scratch. Jesse, Dylan and I met up at Jesse’s house one evening and started simple. We said that we’ll choose a chord and try to build the song from there. And that’s exactly what you hear on the record. We had the opening A minor chord repeat for awhile [we settled for something as simple as that], with subtle changes in the other instruments (bass guitar came in with the bass drum), then the toms and Dylan’s guitar lead eventually. We built upon the layers we created, and used an old idea of Jesse’s to complete the song. It’s an idea we were jamming for awhile, but never knew where to place it or how to get to it. It was written in a different key, but we changed it to suit this song, and it kind of just worked as the ending to the album. We approached Alexandra Morte after the entire song was written, and I had mapped out all the vocal sections. And that’s ‘If You Leave’ really, a title that Jesse found from an art exhibition.
(((o))): Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Keenan: It can build from a riff, a drum beat, anything really. Sometimes someone will come in with a more refined idea. Sometimes someone will just play something in the band room/mess around, and another member will pick up on that and roll with it. I guess we’re inspired by what we listen to, what we read, what we see, and by our experiences. I think a lot of the inspiring moments happen in our personal lives, where we feel that we must capture that instance musically, and that inspiration is manifested when we bring it to the band room and everyone gives their take on it. It’s funny, it’s almost always interpreted differently when we come together, but made better for the most part.
(((o))): How does the music affect the lyrics and vice versa?
Keenan: Often I will come up with vocal arrangements to the music that we’ve written. Some stick, and others I discard. For the ones that stick, sometimes I am not saying actual words, but I like the melody, so I try to write to the part I came up with. It’s a fun challenge, syllabically. So in that sense, the music affects the lyrics. Other times I will have a song title (Jesse’s been contributing quite a few titles lately as well), and that plays on our sub-conscious I’m sure. It can steer the song into a different direction somehow.
(((o))): With all of the numerous metal genres out there, why did you decide to pick atmospheric black metal?
Keenan: I wouldn’t say that we chose anything to be honest. We don’t see ourselves as an atmospheric black metal band, as that has become a very specific thing in itself. There’s atmosphere, and there’s black metal for sure, but that’s the jumping off point. We just play the music that we love, the music that comes naturally to us. In response to a “These guys will be labeled as hipster/atmospheric black metal…” comment on his blog (called That’s How Kids Die at the time), Josh Haun said: “Do you really think so? Man I hope not. I just don’t hear it… as I stated above, to me these guys sound more like latter day Enslaved with maybe a dash of Primordial’s grandeur than anything remotely similar to Krallice or Liturgy. Also, these guys have songs…”.
That always hit home with me, especially as Enslaved and Primordial are big influences, and I feel that if we are taking anything, it’s from those bands.
(((o))): What was your first concert and your favorite concert when you were younger?
Keenan: It wasn’t metal, that’s for sure. I know Dylan watched Roger Waters when he came to South Africa, and that had a big impact on him. I watched some local alternative bands back in 2003, and it definitely sealed the deal in me wanting to start a band. Jason had a similar experience when he used to go watch his cousin’s band In 2001 at an old local venue called the Purple Turtle. Jesse’s first live gig was watching The Offspring on their South African tour in 2004 when he was 13 years old.
(((o))): What is your dream gig if you could tour with two or three other bands (current or historical)?
Keenan: 9pm: Wildernessking; 10pm: Mastodon (Playing material from Leviathan and Blood Mountain only); 11:30pm: Opeth (Playing material ranging from My Arms, Your Hearse and ending at Ghost Reveries).
(((o))): What do you do to unwind outside of music?
Keenan: We use music to unwind. But we also enjoy the outdoors, hiking, going for drinks and dinner with friends, etc. The usual really. Occasionally, though we haven’t done so in awhile, we play football/soccer.
(((o))): Have you had a chance to play any of the songs off of Mystical Future live yet, and do you have an upcoming tour?
Keenan: We’ve been playing all of these songs for a long time now, and have played all of them live. As I mentioned before, Mystical Future is pretty old, to us at least. We are touring South Africa this year, and hopefully Europe at some point. We are doing our best to get out there more, as we don’t play too often.
(((o))): Again, thank you so much for taking time to do this interview. In closing do you have any parting comments for the Wildernessking fans out there?
Keenan: It’s a pleasure! Thanks for a fun interview. And thanks to everyone for the amazing support of Mystical Future. The response has been overwhelming and we couldn’t be happier. Stay tuned for more music this year.
