Info
Genre: Punk/Hardcore
Years Active: 2012-Present
Hometown: Kitchener, Ontario
Record Label: None
Record Label: None
1) What's
your name and role in the band?
I’m Kyle
Krische, I’m the primary songwriter and when we play live I play guitar and
sing.
2) What
made you want to be in an emo punk band?
I got real into
punk/hardcore in my early teens and I still love a lot of that stuff but I’ve
always had some softer sensibilities. When it came to my own song writing it’s
always been like this. This is the only band I’ve been in where I’m the one
writing the songs and lyrics and this is just what came out. A big turning point
was seeing a band from Windsor, Ontario named Orphan Choir play a house in
Kitchener. Up to that point I just sort of liked big bands but seeing a group
of people like me, playing in some house in a city they weren’t from and
writing some of the best songs I’d ever heard really inspired me to push and
try to write something to their level; a level I hadn’t fully believed I could
ever get to.
3) Your
band is from Kitchener, How is the scene doing there?
The band is so
scattered at this point. While we all lived in Kitchener together at some
point, I’ve been living in Hamilton the last four years, Steve (lead guitar)
has lived in Toronto for probably close to the same amount of time and Mike and
Duff (drums and bass respectively) are the only two still left in Kitchener.
There’s cool stuff still going on there, Harmony Lunch shows, Kyle Wappler
recently hosted Hope Fest and we have friends who still play and come out when
we do make it out there which sadly, hasn’t been often. We play there October
26th for the first time in probably 3 years? I never know what to
put now when people ask us where the band is from but I think Kitchener is
still the correct answer.
4) What is
the meaning behind your band name, and how did it come to be?
For the record
I hate the band name and think it’s awful. It’s a dumb name, it’s brutal for
search capabilities, the facebook algorithm hates it because all the spam
accounts share wayfarer sunglasses ads so it autoblocks us a lot, all around
it’s been a total nightmare but that’s the kinda shit you can’t foresee or
don’t think about when you’re 17 and you only care about hot water music and
you need a name for your horrible acoustic project. But yeah, comes from the
hot water music song.
5) What is
it about Hot Water Music that people seem to relate the band to?
At this point I don’t think there’s much there to
consider in terms of comparison but the name will always tether us to them. As
I’ve gotten older (read: better at singing) I’ve thankfully lost the ‘punk’ or
HWM style gritty voice but I guess the fact we’re just sort of a midtempo,
often overly emotional band with loud guitars is where the comparisons both
start and end.
6) How do
you feel Reckless Spring compares to your previous two full lengths?
I don’t even consider the first full length, Our
Fathers, part of this band. In my opinion, the current Wayfarer starts at the
Decayfarer split LP. Our second LP, Sleep Through to the Light, was a fully
conceptual album where I had characters and very specific themes and ideas I
was exploring. Every single detail of that album was meticulously planned out
from lyrics, to tone, to artwork, to specific poems and monuments I needed
included in the album and artwork. For Reckless Spring I ended up doing the
exact opposite. I had no plans, I had no preconceived notions of what I thought
the album would be or look like and I wrote anything and everything that came
to me. I used to spend a lot of time considering, “is this something wayfarer
would do?” and this time around I neglected that thought completely. I’d love
to claim it was out of a grand artistic vision where I was cutting the fat and
exploring a route we had not yet travelled but the reality is I was just too
fucking busy. This stuff would come to me and I’d bang it out. I’d demo it and
send it to Steve and Duff and we’d just make sure it smashed. There was a
little more of an effort to sort of ‘hit’ with all the tracks and not really
slow down or let up and I think we pretty much got that this time around. The
only parameter I had was to make sure it clocked in at less than forty minutes.
I felt like that’s the sweet spot for a band doing what we do.
7) What
obstacles made Reckless Springs take a year to release?
It’s simply the realities of three guys in their
twenties trying to make a record at drastically different stages in life. We
have no label so every expense came out of pocket. I work full-time, Steve was
working and touring with other bands, Duff was working on his PhD, so while I
usually swear by locking down in a studio until the album is done, we just
couldn’t do that here. I couldn’t just take three weeks off, wave goodbye to
the family and record an album. So, we cut it when we could. Weekends, evenings,
and we really went hard on stuff we used to have to cut corners on due to cost
or time restrictions. We made sure it was perfect, we had time to get friends
singing on the record and sending us parts, we took our time mixing and
mastering and artwork was always an issue. While the beauty of having no plans
was fun for the writing, stuff like album art suffered because I had no idea
what to tell the artists. After a couple failed concepts and a few different
artists we finally got our guy Branko Vranic whose done almost all our album
art to do it. After some hiccups minor hiccups including a broken drawing hand,
we finally had the finished package.
Because we don’t have a label, we have to be very focused and directed when it comes to releasing the record. We needed to create our own plan, make sure all the streaming platforms were setup, all the youtube videos created and posted, keep up on Instagram and emails and beg press to cover a small band without a label putting out a full length in the era of streamed singles. We did our last EP, Three Winters digital only and independently with the idea of just put it out there and as a result no one heard it. Thankfully, that was really just an EP of b-sides I had sitting around but I wasn’t going to make that same mistake with how much work we put into this album. It’s just avoiding those dumb mistakes you make when you’re a kid in a band, now that we’re older we can see how it works and where bands go wrong. The worst thing we could do to ourselves was rush it. The slow rollout and being selective on when you’re actually announcing the record was all explained to us by the engineer on the album, Adam Bentley, who runs Auteur Research Group who are a music promotion company. It’s part getting people’s attention and part gaming the Spotify algorithm. This was the only area we brought in outside help because it’s just way out of our wheelhouse. Our last full-length record came out in 2015, there are virtually no similarities in releasing music then and releasing music now. We needed the help.
Because we don’t have a label, we have to be very focused and directed when it comes to releasing the record. We needed to create our own plan, make sure all the streaming platforms were setup, all the youtube videos created and posted, keep up on Instagram and emails and beg press to cover a small band without a label putting out a full length in the era of streamed singles. We did our last EP, Three Winters digital only and independently with the idea of just put it out there and as a result no one heard it. Thankfully, that was really just an EP of b-sides I had sitting around but I wasn’t going to make that same mistake with how much work we put into this album. It’s just avoiding those dumb mistakes you make when you’re a kid in a band, now that we’re older we can see how it works and where bands go wrong. The worst thing we could do to ourselves was rush it. The slow rollout and being selective on when you’re actually announcing the record was all explained to us by the engineer on the album, Adam Bentley, who runs Auteur Research Group who are a music promotion company. It’s part getting people’s attention and part gaming the Spotify algorithm. This was the only area we brought in outside help because it’s just way out of our wheelhouse. Our last full-length record came out in 2015, there are virtually no similarities in releasing music then and releasing music now. We needed the help.
8) Which
song are you most excited for people to hear, and why?
This changed constantly for me for months but I think
I’ve probably settled on the album closer, Emotional Youth. I used to make the
last song on every release a really grand spectacle. This time again, I wanted
to avoid old conventions, so I decided to end the album on a song that just
slaps. No introspective, atmospheric sob story closer, just a straight banger.
I feel like it just ties the bow around the album. Lyrically it’s just about
how much of an idiot baby you are most of your young adult life. The shit you
did where now you just shake your head but it’s a chance to rejoice, for me
personally at least, in the fact that I’m through it. Obviously, I’m not through
being a dummy, but I’ve got an appreciation for those around me who forced me
to grow and most of that growth came emotionally with how I handled myself and
how that impacted others.
Listen, I feel like in this current moment, music is
all about pretending not to care. Instead of getting good, just be awful and
pretend like that’s your schtick. Reject people who call music ‘art’ and only
write songs about budget beer and thinking your friends who grew up are lame.
When the industry revolves around singles and bands who can get people to come
to bars to buy drinks, I get it, some awful acts are going to be in vogue. It
used to piss me off, but I think Emotional Youth sums up my attitude now. We’re
going to stay over here and just keep doing what we’re doing for the small
group of people looking for that lane. It’s a great place to be where we get to
make these songs, release them, play a few good shows and not drive ourselves
and the band into the ground trying to fit with these temporary fixtures in the
current music scene. This isn’t the most important thing in any of our lives,
not even close, and with that comes a joy when we do get around to doing it.
Making this record with the band was an absolute blast. We pushed each other to
grow and work in ways I only dreamed of before in the studio and it paid off
immensely. We all left a mark on this album and we all are better musicians for
it. Playing live is draining sometimes because I have this picture in my head
of what these songs are and on stage we just can’t ever hit that level, it’s
impossible. But when we’re in the studio, with enough time and work, we can get
there and that’s why I love recording so much.
9) You’re
playing two weekends of release shows at the end of October. What are you
hoping for/expectations with these shows?
Mainly to see friends and bands we haven’t seen in a
while and the people we know and love from these cities. These sets will be all
new stuff and concise and to the point. I remember seeing Make Do and Mend
around the release of the Bodies of Water EP and they played 25 minutes, no
stops, no breaks and just hammered the audience. Even as that band got bigger
they never stopped doing that and I always loved it. I can’t even count how
many times a band just ruined their music for me by playing forever. I once sat
through a set from the Wooden Sky that included an encore they gave themselves
after already playing for over an hour and I wanted to die. I try and make sure
we never do that to anyone in the audience whether they’re there to see us or
not.
10) Ten
years is a long time as a local band, what mistakes or lessons have you learned
that you feel younger bands should know?
Honestly, I’m not sure there are many lessons a young
band could learn from us because the music world we existed in is so
drastically different at every point. We’ve been a band through all of the
2010’s. CD’s, LP’s, tape fads, mini-disks, USB sticks, free downloads, download
cards, streaming, youtube, Instagram like what could we even tell some kids now
that they probably don’t already know better than we do? The only important
parts about being a young band is making mistakes and working hard on songs.
There’s so many kid bands doing this way better than we do so if they could
send us some tips, that would be much appreciated. We’re the Olds now anyways
in the scene, kid bands don’t even want to respond to our messages anymore.
11) How
have you managed to keep the band going and people interested while having
life, jobs, and other influences keeping the band from being the main focus?
It’s easy when everyone is very clear this is not a
main focus. I write the songs when I have time, I do simple demos of drums,
guitar and vocals so that when we do practice, which is rare, we’re all coming
in with a virtually finished product. Other people work on their parts at home
on their own time so that when we do get together we’re not wasting anyone’s
day. We understand the work we have to do and most of the preparation has been
done prior. I love recording, it’s my absolute favourite part of being in a
band. If I could just make records that would be my perfect scenario. I’d write
and record these songs regardless and just use the moniker Wayfarer even if
other people couldn’t help out with it. I just love doing it and work hard in
my real life to carve out and prioritize that time without taking away from my
responsibilities.
12) The
band has championed having vinyl releases from the outset of the band. Why go
that route when many other unsigned bands steer clear?
Probably because we’re dumb. At this point we’re down
to super small runs of lathe cut vinyl because people just don’t buy it, we
don’t tour so we’re not pushing the product and I can’t fit anymore boxes of
LP’s in my place. I do it because I love it, it’s my favourite format, there’s
a real exhilaration in holding it, seeing the art, flipping sides and it
promotes an environment of active listening. My daughter also loves holding it,
seeing it, having a connection to it besides yelling at the Bluetooth speaker
to play her songs and I absolutely love that. I don’t think it’s an accident
that as the physical experience with music has changed we see more and more
people talking about how lackluster every year seems for new music. There’s a
connection there that’s mainly financial that runs through all this. The top
will always make their money but those mid-tier bands that 15 years ago could
afford to go for it and sell maybe 5000 units in the early days can no longer
afford to do that early work they had to to get to where they ended up. Who
knows how many great albums we’ve already lost due to the current state of the
music industry and all the people who just couldn’t afford to keep losing money
on a passion project.
For vinyl though, it’s just a personal taste thing
for me and I’m thankful to those labels previously who fronted the cash to
allow us to have such beautiful releases.
Hyness is playing with us in Waterloo, half that band
has played in Wayfarer at some point. Marcus and Geoff both played on Sleep
Through to the Light, our last LP and everything they’ve been doing lately has
been stellar. Exalt has always been my favourite band from the area and
continues to make heavy music so far beyond what every other band around here
is doing. They’re out my way in Hamilton but I love the new Drew Thomson
Foundation record and can’t wait to play with them in Montreal in November. We
get to play with Laureate and Stuck Out Here on these runs of shows as well and
both have been great friends and great bands for the last few years.
Published: Oct 18th, 2019
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