Wells* on his debut album ‘i don’t want you to miss this’
One of Aotearoa's most sought-after super-producers and songwriters that has collaborated with the likes of Navvy, Paige, Thomston, Foley & Alisa Xayalith, Wells* has now released his long-awaited debut album that is nothing short of pop perfection. As the title states, you absolutely do not want to miss listening to this new project.
HM: Hey Wells*! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us about your new music! Congrats on your amazing new album 'i don't want you to miss this' - can you tell us about the themes of this album and how you landed on the name?
Wells*: Hey thanks so much for having me! The name came from a demo, which I'm putting on Spotify, of the same name. It fits this ideal I have in my head about album names that are not too serious but not random or silly. The song it comes from is a love song but as an album title it's more just about it being my debut album and not wanting people to pass by it on the internet because it's special to me and i think it's really good. The whole album is kind of about desire and longing, whether that's in love, my career or heartbreak, but it's not that deep for me. I write a lot of music and I just picked my favourites.
HM: One of our absolute favourite songs on this project is 'Lose My Lines'! How did this collaboration come about and what was the writing and production process for this track like?
Wells*: Thank you! I wrote this with Foley at a time we were musing about doing a compilation/collab album (which I hope still happens one day) and we just got in the studio with no real purpose and very casually wrote my favourite song on the album. I was showing them how I resample old demos (a technique I used a lot on the album) and by accident found the vocal chops heard throughout the song and it just kinda fell out of us.
HM: Awesome! And we also adore 'Self Fulfilling Prophecy' - can you tell us about the inspiration behind this song and how it came about?
Wells*: This song feels a bit like the black sheep on the album to me. I've had friends disagree but I feel like it's the least pop, least concise and most songwriter song on the album and so I kind of dismissed it as something other people would enjoy, so I really appreciate that you love it! It's about someone who is so insecure about you breaking up with them that they end up sabotaging the relationship altogether, I guess as a means of control when everything feels out of control. I honestly had no idea how to produce this song but I loved it so I took the demo to Harry Charles so that him and Struan Finlay (who exec produced the album with me) could finish it off.
HM: What were some of your highlights working across this album as a whole?
Wells*: I got my flatmates during covid lockdown to do gang vocals with me. Neither of them are musicians but David, Matt and Katie are some of my closest friends and it was hilarious recording them all together.
HM: So good. And you've been writing and producing with lot of different artist projects recently! Can you tell us a bit about what you've been working on over the past year?
Wells*: I've been doing a lot of different things this past year, and I don't want to spoil any artist release plans, but lately I've been doing a lot more projects rather than singles and it's actually crazy that i get to do this every day. I'm very grateful!
HM: Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you especially love?
Wells*: Been loving ‘grb2’ by George Barney Roberts. I helped make ‘Isobel’ but ‘Runner’ is my soty.
HM: What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in your career so far, and what advice do you have for other artists out there?
Wells*: Every time I think I understand compression, I try and mix something and get really confused and have to watch a video for help, so I guess just keep learning and trying to improve things whether it's the songwriting, compression or getting the perfect boiled egg in your ramen.
HM: Haha yes! Lastly, if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?
Wells*: i don't want you to miss this :)
Thanks heaps Wells*! Make sure to keep up with him on Instagram, TikTok, Spotify or Apple Music.
