Wet Denim on their latest EP ‘On The Line’
Emerging indie rockers Wet Denim have released their latest project presenting the band’s evolution, blending their iconic raw live energy with their signature vocal pop sensibility. Emotionally charged with high-octane songs like “Want You Here”, it offers a powerful exploration on themes like love, acceptance, gratitude, addiction, and self-perception.
Hype Medium: How have you guys been?!
Luca: Yeah great, had a busy weekend. We just played a gig supporting The Tullamarines in Melbourne on Friday night, which was really fun. It was good turnout, it was fun.
Hype Medium: Awesome. So great to have you guys on, and absolutely loving all the music you guys are putting out. And first of all, I'd love to know how your musical journey started from how you guys all met and started making music together!
Luca: So we all met at Massey University in Pōneke. I have lived with Jack for like five years now, ever since halls. That was the connection there. And then Joe and Jack are brothers, so I met Joe that way. And then Joe and Nick were in the same year at uni, so that was kind of the connection. And then Joe and Jack were wanting to start a band, and then I was recruited. And then Nick was recruited.
Nick: I was doing session guitar work at the time actually, but I did pretty desperately want to sing in a project. So it wasn't that hard to convince me really. I’ve got the initial DM still of Joe messaging me on Instagram saying “Hey, do you want to be in a Kings of Leon type band with me and my friend”? (laughs)
Luca: And then Joe had a few kind of sessions and songs that he took to these first few jam sessions. I mean, we started pretty casually just having a jam, having these ideas. And then when we wrote first few songs on our debut EP, like ‘Free’, that's kind of when, I guess for me at least, personally I realised like “oh, this is actually like a proper band” and not just a little jam thing here and there. And then we played our first gig, opening for a band called Haven at Meow in Wellington. Really awesome venue and it was really cool turnout. And I remember just being really surprised. We were like “okay, this is like an actual thing”. You know, there's actual potential here in terms of doing band stuff, which was really cool. And then from that point on, we just really got stuck in and it's been three years.
Hype Medium: Wow awesome. Yeah, I guess when you start a band, you don't really know what kind of trajectory it's going but when you find a good connection, it works. I feel like it must be quite hard to find a good artistic connection across multiple people. And what would you say are your main artistic, musical, and creative influences, individually and as a group?
Nick: So I sing and play guitar in the band, but I predominantly kind of identify as a guitar player, so most of my influence sort of comes from other guitar players who also are almost secondarily singers as well. Growing up, the likes of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, where their sort of focus is on how they're virtuoso guitar players, but they also sing and write these awesome songs. So my guitar playing was definitely inspired by the likes of them, and sort of blues guitar players like B.B. King. And I really love writing vocal melodies, probably that's my favorite part of songwriting over sort of the lyrical aspect of things. So I think my melody writing has sort of also stemmed from guitar playing and sort of blues melodies, and as Luca likes to point out pentatonic melodies.
Luca: For me, my background is in production and kind of soundscapes and timbre and texture. For the longest time, I was always and I still am, really fascinated with sounds themselves and how they can serve an atmosphere. So for me, playing guitar, I really try to think about arrangement and transitions and just air candy. I really love like guitar pedals and making kind of cool sounds and that kind of thing. And that really informs my songwriting a lot. But in terms of more traditional band influences, I really like progressive/post rock kind of stuff, like big song structures and heavy tones, bands like Deafheaven and Holy Fawn. Something I've really enjoyed in Wet Denim is taking these influences and sounds I really love, whether they're kind of heavier guitar parts or really chilled ambient sections, and how I can incorporate that into a rock pop song, and what I can bring to the table while retaining this band sensibility. So I've really enjoyed that process and the challenge that brings.
Nick: I think, on the whole though as a band, we definitely have some shared inspirations of our songwriting and our sound. It's developing and changing - I'd say some of the earlier stuff and sort of also the current stuff as well that we've written was quite inspired by, like we said earlier, Kings of Leon and some of the early Coldplay staff and almost Foo Fighters as well. But now there's quite a big resurgence of bands becoming really popular over in Europe at the moment, bands like Wunderhorse and Fontaines D.C. and those kinds of just really big sounding guitar bands is kind of where we're drawing a lot of inspiration at the moment.
Hype Medium: Yeah nice! And congrats on the release of your new EP! I’ve had a chance to listen to it all the way through and it sounds so good! How did you land on the name of it and what central themes were important for you to delve into lyrically for this project?
Luca: I mean “On The Line” as a title, there's so many different meanings. It's a lyric in the track “The Why”. Also kind of like hanging out the wet denim to dry on the line. Also “on the line” as in kind of “on a path”. I guess with a second project, it's like we're really trying to take this seriously, so we're kind of “on a line”, wherever that may lead. Also thinking about “on the line” as like a recording term, like a line input, or whatever. On the phone, we're phoning into the listener or the audience (laughs). There's a lot, some more forced than others.
Nick: Yeah, it kind of almost started as a joke in that aspect of seeing how many different applications “on the line” could have and then it kind of stuck and had to be the name (laughs).
Hype Medium: Yeah amazing! And one of our favorite songs on this project is “The Why”, as you mentioned. Can you tell us the inspiration behind this track and how it came about?
Nick: So this one, it was a pretty special one. Actually, we all took a weekend earlier at the start of last year and we went to the Wairarapa. My family has a batch at Riversdale Beach, and we just sort of took two cars, filled it with all of our music gear and went out there for the weekend. And we actually originally went out there to finish some other songs that we've been working on, one of which is also on the project called “Cascade”. That was in it’s sort of early days as well and we'd gone there to finish that, and finish another couple songs. And when we got there, we just instantly started writing something out. So we're like “you know what? Let's not try force doing what we said we'd come here to do. We're in a new environment - let's just let the environment inform how we create”. It wasn't the ideal time to be at the beach, I think it was almost a start of winter. It was quite windy and moody, but a different kind of special time to be at the beach, because it just felt really cozy inside the batch. The batch is right on the sand dune, right on the beach. So you step out the front door, and you're right into the water. It's a really special place. The song is all about feeling grounded and finding some sort of equanimity. That was really informed by the location that we were at.
Hype Medium: Yeah! I can totally understand that the setting that you're in must inspire you in different ways, depending on like, if you're at the beach, if you're fully in the studio - that must bring different inspiration I guess?
Nick: Massively, massively.
Hype Medium: And we also love your song “Again and Again”! What was the writing and production process like for that song?
Jack: It's actually a chord progression that I started, I kind of had it actually since high school, just changing it all the time. And then finally landed on one and then showed Joe and we started a tiny little session on it. Showed the boys, and then just jammed it from there, kept writing. And then it kind of just became ‘Again and Again’. The lyrics are like a bit of a poem about addiction really, just addictive tendencies with whatever that might be for anyone.
Nick: Yeah, that one was sort of entirely Jack's brainchild from the start. “The Why” was one where we all sat down and started it together, and then something like “Cascade” where Luca started with all of the musical ideas. And then “Again and Again” where it's all Jack's musical ideas, and a poem that he then gave me to sort of format to the music and write melodies over. These songs are big examples of how this project is definitely our most collaborative work today.
Hype Medium: Yeah, it's so great that you can bring together all four of your brains. I'm sure each of you have personal experiences or ideas that you want to write about, so that's cool that you can collaborate in that way. And you guys have just moved to Melbourne? How are you finding it in Australia?
Nick: We’re about to move back actually (laughs). We moved here in May and we've had a really awesome five and a half month stint here. I actually don't know quite exactly how many shows we've played, but we've played quite a few shows. Within a month, we started a residency at The Evelyn Hotel playing every Thursday night, which was definitely, as they say, cutting your teeth in the live scene. It was really awesome, and sort of building that rapport with the Evelyn and have come to love that venue and the staff there. And because we had to get support acts for each week, it got us nicely connected with some people in the local scene, and then that just sort of flourished into more and more shows over the past five months. It's also been the first time we've all lived together so there's been a lot of writing, lot of recording, lot of practicing and playing live, and everything has just felt really nicely revolving around the band all the time which has been pretty cool.
Hype Medium: Amazing, you guys are smashing it! And what would you say were some of the core highlights or most memorable moments working across this EP?
Luca: That’s a great question. I think for me, a highlight is that whole final stretch, like going back and forth with our mixing engineer, Neil McLeod. Some songs had been in the live circuit, like “Cascade” for example, for like two years, and then we ended up changing the whole bridge. And then you’re kind of in this point of uncertainty with songs for a while, where you're like “is this the best it could be? Are we overthinking it? Do we just need to put a pin in it? Are we trying to be too perfect with the song?”. But then you get to this final home stretch where you kind of cross the peak. It's getting mixed, getting these revisions. Everything's coming through, album art’s coming through. We're thinking about this tour, about the track list. And it's such an awesome feeling because you kind of get this snowballing effect where everything is just hitting the home run, so I really love that part of the project.
Nick: I think a bit of a highlight for me was, Luca was talking about working with Neil, Joe and I went down to Christchurch where Neil's sort of studio’s based. And yeah, it was as part of that finishing stage where we recorded some of the vocals for the last couple tracks that needed to be finished. That's where we did “Window Song”. Just finishing something that at times sort of feels like you don't know what it's going to look like or if it will ever get properly finished. That was a pretty fun time finishing off the last of it.
Hype Medium: Yeah, it must be such a rewarding feeling! All that work that you've put in and seeing it all come together must be feel amazing.
Luca: For sure.
Hype Medium: And do you have any favourite artists in Aotearoa at the moment, or any favourite songs from kiwi artists that you've been listening to?
Luca: For me, really love Frank On Tap - their latest EP, just incredible. I think really cutting edge, like alternative rock, some really fresh sounds and musical ideas. I think they've executed it really well. I really recommend that project, really well mixed - really raw but has still got a lot of polish.
Nick: For me, a close friend of mine and an artist that Joe works alongside, First Reserve out of Pōneke as well. Really awesome. Actually formally of Haven, who we were talking about who we played our first show with. But First Reserve’s writing, Ryan's writing, is just something pretty special and also their sort of ability to convey that into the live show as well. Like if you ever have the opportunity to see First Reserve live, it's a pretty epic live show. But yeah, First Reserve’s “no one think we’re cool” and I think another song is almost out, which is an absolute banger. Joe's been doing a lot of the production and mixing for First Reserve.
Hype Medium: Yeah nice! And then what’s been the biggest lesson that you've learnt in your career so far or do you have any advice for other artists out there?
Luca: I think it's knowing when and where to apply the most effort and when to like chill out on something, and that goes for the music business side and the songwriting side. “We don't need to write a crazy bridge, we can just cut this section in half “ or “we can simplify this tone or this mix part”. We don't need 20 guitars laid up in this one section to convey our message. Less can be more. And then, we don't maybe need to try email all these places to try promote ourselves and things. It's like knowing when to do what I guess, which you have to find some of that stuff out by experience,
Nick: I think also taking pressure off of the creating process. It's pretty easy to get so invested in something that you're creating and thinking that “this has to be the thing” - like, “this has to be the song of all songs that we ever create”. And then that's kind of almost just like always setting yourself up. It's very easy to do that when you first start making stuff, because you don't have anything else to look back on. Just realizing that it's going to be something that, if you're in it for the right reasons, you're just going to it do forever. So you're always just going to be creating things, and the best way to create something is to just do it, and then it'll become part of everything that you are and as an artist. It's less about the performance of that piece of work, and more just, that's part of the catalog and it's something special that you made at that one point in time. Otherwise you just won't make anything. You just get stuck. It's so easy to do that. I always feel some form of that writer's block, just based off of thinking that I have to write something that's awesome, which then stops you from writing at all.
Hype Medium: Yeah, that is a lot of pressure to put on yourself, and I think that's a great mindset you mentioned to think about just writing for the music and not worrying about the success of it too much. With social media, it does seem like there’s so much pressure, perhaps to get the numbers for streaming and all of that stuff. But what it really comes down to, as you mentioned, is focusing on the music and the writing, that's the most important part.
And so excited for your nationwide tour coming up in October! We had a chance to see you guys perform at Big Fan for the NZ On Air showcase and you guys smashed it - it was such an electric performance, and I think your live show is so special. I feel like everyone should go and see you live at least once in their lives! What are you looking forward to most about those performances?
Joe: Travelling!
Nick: Yeah, honestly I miss Aotearoa a lot after five months of being away (laughs). I'm just really excited to go back down to the South Island. I'm originally from Timaru, so we're playing a show there, which is going to be pretty special. And also we haven't been to the other areas in a while, but I think the big one is going to be the final show of the tour in Pōneke at San Fran. It's always a special place to play. We sort of cultivated the majority of our live sound and experience as a band live there last year. And it always just is an awesome turnout and such a great vibe and energy.
Joe: And the staff are just lovely.
Nick: Yeah, miss Christian.
Luca: Yeah, I'm so keen just to essentially go crazy with it. I think it's been a while since we've played some of these places. I think we've all gotten just better at our stage craft. I'm keen to go and try set some new benchmarks for ourselves, in terms of how much we can give in to our performance and the new songs and the new arrangements. I guess our songs are always evolving live. I think it's a special thing, like new intros and extended bridges, new tones, new articulations, which is really cool. I guess our live show is always representing us that time we’ve recorded stuff. It's got a pin in it indefinitely, pretty much. So it'd be cool to show how our new experiences and Naarm and Melbourne have kind of shaped us and give it our all I guess.
Thanks lads! Make sure to catch them on tour and keep up with them on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Spotify or Apple Music.
