Yhdysvaltojen Philadelphiasta tuleva heavy rock -artisti Wax Mekanix vastaili Metalliluolan kysymyspatteristoon. Tutustu artistiin alla.
| Bändin nimi: | Wax Mekanix |
| Yhtyeen genre: | I’m considered a heavy rock artist, but infuse my records with themes and sounds of many other genres such as folk, pop, indigenous, and touches of industrial and urban. |
| Ketä yhtyeeseen kuuluu: | At the core of my recordings are many heavy guitars, Bass, Drum/percussion, and lots of vocals. Depending on what the track is wanting to be, I’ll add other industrial and organic sounds to give it character. |
| Mistä yhtyeenne on kotoisin: | Philadelphia PA, so eastern USA |
| Yhtyeenne esikuvat: | What drives me is certainly not monolithic and is really vast. I’m open to, and pull from, any imaginable source. When I think of influences, I usually look at them from two perspectives: 1. Writing and recordings 2. Live performances For writing and recording, I find myself referring to typical artists like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Queen, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Woody Guthrie, The Beach Boys, Mozart, Van Halen, and Robert Johnson. It’s a challenge to know where to stop listing them. When I think of live performance, first to come to mind is KISS, AD/DC, Aerosmith, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Metallica, and Alice Cooper. Those are really huge powerful, tribal events that are almost like a sport. Really physical and adrenaline-charged. I also enjoy focused virtuosic performances that lean toward classical and nuanced acoustic things, too. A full understanding of the scope of what informs me can be see and heard at a playlist I put together here: https://open.spotify.com/ |
| Kertokaa yhtyeenne taustatarina: | My beginnings as a writer, performer, and record-maker are in the early 1980’s when I was a founding member of an American cult rock quartet, Nitro. We were carving out the same kind of thematic and sonic mission statement much like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, and Anthrax. High velocity, loud, strident, snarling, slamming, howling original tunes inspired by British, European, and American rock of the 1970’s. We performed in the eastern US while putting out a DIY 10” EP in 1982 called “LETHAL”. That disc landed us on the pages of fanzines and magazines like ‘KERRANG’ and ‘SOUNDS’. From there, we were signed in 1983 to Belgian heavy metal stronghold, Mausoleum Record for one LP, ‘LETHAL + II”. When a major record deal didn’t follow, we finished our initial run in the mid ‘80’s. As one of the primary songwriters of Nitro, when that went dormant, I continued writing, performing, and recording with others until the late ‘80s when I started to perform as a solo artist. From then until today, I’ve been broadening my thematic and sonic landscape in my performance and on record, while retaining my heavy rock core. Although I was not actively looking for a record-making career, in 2019, I came to the attention of Philadelphia’s Electric Talon Records and together, we have worked on three records together so far. 2020’s ‘Mobocracy’, ‘Blunt’ in 2021, and my new release, ‘Mobocracy Deluxe’. |
| Minkälaiset tavoitteet yhtyeellänne on: | This is easy to answer. The goal is singular for me. I write, perform, and record to satisfy myself. I do it to serve myself on a few different levels. Now, the danger is that this may sound arrogant. I’ve evolved into doing it this way and truly believe that meaningful creative work for me has to happen like this. It’s a highly personal thing and may be different for other artists. For live performances, it’s certainly a shared experience that I’m after. My view has always been that the relationship between me and my audience is one way when I’m creating the work, but changes up to a two way partnership during live performances. Maybe this is odd, but it works well for me. |
| Minkälainen työnjako musiikin tekemisessä on: | Although I enjoy creating with others, I usually write alone. Once I have something that excites me, I’ll take it to my producer. Recently I have been making very enjoyable records with Philadelphia’s creative wizard, Lectriq. He’s got amazing instincts, technical abilities, songwriting skills, and a ferocious drive to make great sounding records. I pass every song candidate by Lectriq, and together, we optimize them. Basically, he suggests changes to get each composition ready for the studio. When we start recording, I’ll usually establish the core of the tracks with my guitar, lead vocals, drums/percussion, and backing vocals. We then call on our generous and talented friends to help us build each track as we see fit. My recent records have had a small crew of great American players, like guitarists/bassists Tom Altman, Crobot’s Chris Bishop, and Wendell Sewell. Since we love having vocal harmonies with pop structures, we call on a choir of friends that include Brandon Yeagley, Mason, Marissa Wolner, Raje Shwari, as well as Lectriq and me. The amazing sounds of the record are perfected in the mixi and mastering by the legendary Gene ‘Machine’ Freeman. |
| Millainen kokemus bändinne on livenä ja miksi yhtyeenne keikoille kannattaa tulla: | For live gigs, it’s a rock thing for sure. I’m rehearsing a quartet of loud guitars, bass, drums, and vocals for raw, searing, heavy renderings of the songs from my Electric Talon Records along with some new unreleased stuff. It’s going to be glorious. |
| Uusimman levynne nimi: | ‘Mobocracy Deluxe’ was released October 28, 2022 on Electric Talon Records.
|
| Avatkaa uuden levynne/julkaisunne taustoja. Mikä on toiminut sen inspiraationa ja miten tuotos on syntynyt: | ‘Mobocracy Deluxe’ is an accumulation of songs from ‘Blunt’ and ‘Mobocracy’ along with some tasty extras that are from that creative period. ‘…Deluxe’ is my take on what America and the world were experiencing socially, culturally, politically, and economically from about 2015 until today. I was trying to capture the tectonic shifting and thrashing around that was permeating those times. Specifically, how all of that was impacting me and others. |
| Minkä bändin kanssa lähtisitte kaikkein mieluiten kiertämään maailmaa: | The fantasy, without a doubt, would be AC/DC! Raw, primal, celebratory, tribal gatherings seem to be what they do live, and I’d love to be part of that. |
| Jos uudelta levyltä/vanhasta tuotannosta pitäisi suositella kahta biisiä, niin mitkä ne olisivat ja miksi: | ‘Blood in My Eyes’ and ‘Black’ since they cover the scope of sonic and thematic territory that was in my thinking. From musically powerful to nuanced. And then from lyrically macro view and micro focus, for sure. |
| Mikä musiikki kolahtaa yhtyeellenne juuri nyt: | I’m putting the finishing touches on a new record that will probably be unleashed in 2023 that’s been consuming me and my gang. It’s a set of songs that are wonderfully heavy rock with searing, trippy, quasi-psychedelic characteristics that have a pop edge. Since it’s still coming together, I may add some interesting twists here and there to make it a true Wax Mekanix record, but overall, if Sabbath, Hendrix, Beatles, and Beach Boys made a record in 2021, I imagine that it would sound something like my new stuff. It’s exciting and I’m stoked to drop it on my audience. |
| Muita asioita, joita haluatte kertoa yhtyeestänne: | ‘Mobocracy’ was grammy-ballotted, and ‘Blunt’ built on those themes. They were meaningfully different records, stylistically, for sure. They had robust connective tissue and were one conversation I was having with my audience, while being received as interestingly unique releases. I was surprised and thrilled that they were greeted so positively, and celebrated as high quality records. That’s due, in large part, to the wonderful people who helped make them. My upcoming jams are certainly not trodding the same ground covered by those two records. I hope my new tunes will be greeted with an open mind and my audience will see the intense passion I have for them. I have this odd vibe about the record that it’s going to have listeners stake out really strong opinions about it. That’s a bit cryptic, but once it’s out in the world, I think you’ll better understand why I’m postured like this about it. My hope is that it will be received as I intended. Uncompromising creative adventure with a core of those things I’ve become known for. I know the record I’ve made, I love it, I’m very proud of it, and nothing will change that. As I mentioned earlier, all that it has to do is please me, and it’s certainly done that, so I’m good. |
| Minkälaiset terveiset haluatte lähettää lukijoille: | As much as I’d like to gush with appreciation for anyone listening to my work in these days of thousands of songs released daily, I’ll just offer my sincere ‘thank you’. Most important is to let anyone interested in what I do, know that I’m confident that my best work is ahead of me, so stick around, folks. Link to the project’ |
| Linkki yhtyeen kotisivulle: | Easy one-stop shopping… All things Wax all the time are at linktr.ee/waxmekanix |
| Linkki yhtyeen musiikkivideoon: |  |
Kuva: Ken Wolfe Photography