Wunderhorse And The Alchemy Of Collaboration
Photography and Words by Elena Saviano
Shortly before their performance at Mercury Lounge, I sat down for tea and croissants with Jacob Slater, Jamie Staples, Harry Fowler, and Pete Woodin of Wunderhorse to talk collaboration, Fontaines D.C., and the perfect crowd.
The band’s debut record, 2022’s, Cub, was gritty and honest, brimming with reflections on heartache, self-exploration, and the strain of youth: relatable in ways you might wish it wasn’t. Their set in New York City last Saturday night satiated a hungry crowd, stitching together the old and the new with snaking guitar licks, electrifying vocals, and magnetic bass lines, the drums acting as the backbone to a sizzling body of sound. Wunderhorse met us where we were with rich and addictive melodies as intimate and compulsory as the lyrics. Towards the end of the set, Slater asked the crowd what they wanted to hear, and for at least a minute, the room shouted their track requests with a desperate conviction, as though they might never hear it again. The excitement was tangible, and I was surprised by how vicariously proud I felt. It was a night of punk with purpose, introspection and intensity: a shimmering display of sonic versatility with energy to spare.
Shortly after the set, I wrote in my notes to remember to write that they were “epic” and “unforgettable.” Wunderhorse was epic and unforgettable. On the horizon are their biggest shows yet and the release of their second record. They’re on their way.
So I saw you guys here last year at Mercury Lounge, how does it feel to be back in New York?
Jacob: Feels great!
Pete: Feels like we never left!
Yeah, welcome back! Cub has been out for a while, and you’ve played it quite a bit since then. Do you feel like the album has taken on a new meaning?
Jacob: Yeah, it turns a year old in October. I think we all feel as a group that we’ve left it behind quite quickly, because there’s been a really long build up to writing and recording and releasing. We knew the songs so well by the time it came out. We’ve just recently done our next record, and those are the songs we’re really excited about now. We’re still playing some of the Cub stuff, but musically I feel like we’ve moved on from it.
“It’s a weird, alchemic thing, and you can’t really put your finger on what it is, but everyone is just in exactly the right headspace to collaborate and come together and create something that’s bigger than just the running order of the songs.”
Yeah, I hear that. Cub felt really introspective in a lot of ways, listening to it felt like a cathartic release. How has the transition been? I’m wondering if any of those same feelings are present in what you’re writing now?
Jacob: Yeah, we’re writing as a band a lot more now, rather than just me, which is kind of what Cub was. There’s a lot more of all of our personalities in the new one, it’s a lot more collaborative. And the subject matter is very different. A lot of the songs on Cub are really, really old, and it was cathartic in the sense that they had to come out, on a personal level.
Pete: The new album represents more of a moment in time for us. A lot of the songs that are going to end up being on the record are collaboratively written, we came with an idea of what songs we thought we were going to have.
Harry: Yeah, we came in kind of half prepared and a little bit concerned whether anything was going to actually come out.
Jacob: A little bit, yeah
Harry: We kind of had a vague idea what we wanted it to sound like, but we were kind of guided by Craig Silvey, who was a massive part of that process, and if it wasn’t for Craig, half of it wouldn’t be what it is.
Jacob: Half of that record was written in the studio, and Craig created an environment that was totally new to us.
Harry: Yeah, we weren’t crazy rehearsing the new songs, there’s one song called Midas on there and we used a tape that was a rehearsal of the song. We weren’t planning on it being the tape but it ended up being the tape. So yeah, there’s a lot more character on the next album.
Funny how that happens. You mentioned working with Craig in a new environment, what did that look like?
Pete: Well we’d never actually written in a studio before. Prior to that, it had always very much been Jacob coming in with an idea and us trying to figure it out with him in a rehearsal room or someone’s bedroom. But being in a studio with a full setup, being able to play something and have it played back to us makes you start to listen to music very differently. You start to process it very differently.
Within the vein of processing and experiencing music, I saw on your Instagram that you recently played a show that had a notably incredible crowd.
All: Toronto!
Yeah, that was it. What about that show or that crowd was so special?
Jacob: Well I was tripping quite hard. But I think it was just one of those shows where everything just comes together. I remember asking the guys, ‘Was that as good as I thought it was?’ and everyone answering, ‘Yeah, that was really good!’ It’s a weird, alchemic thing, and you can’t really put your finger on what it is, but everyone is just in exactly the right headspace to collaborate and come together and create something that’s bigger than just the running order of the songs. Some nights, it’s more like a job, you just go on and play the songs, but some nights you really lose yourself in it, and I think we really did that at that show. I think we got a good feeling for the place too. We got there and were like, Yeah this is a really cool place. And it created a nice mood for the rest of the day and resulted in a great show.
Pete: On top of that as well, at the start of this short stint, we were playing new songs fresh out of the studio onstage, and I think it always takes a couple of days to warm up to it and learn how it works live and start relaxing into it, letting it do its thing. I think [Toronto] was the third or fourth show, and we felt like it really belonged.
And right before that, you were on tour with Fontaines DC, how was that?
Jacob: Great. Really good opportunity to watch people who are so good at their craft and have been on the road more and really know what they’re doing. We learned a great deal from them.
And I assume working with them was motivating creatively.
Harry: Yeah, there are certainly a couple songs on the new record that wouldn’t be there without them, the inspiration we got from them, being on the road with them, watching them more or less every night. It definitely rubbed off on us.
Jamie: And it really gave us a leg up. We were in no position to support them at the time, like whatsoever. And then we did it from two months here and in the UK, and I think the ground rose a little bit underneath us. No one in the industry was giving us really any recognition, and it felt really natural and authentic for a band we all look up to to be like, Hey, come on the road with us. That kind of started generating a bit of momentum for us.
Harry: It’s definitely given us the attitude of when we look at bands to support us, to make sure that we always pick a band that we genuinely feel like needs the opportunity that Fontaines gave us. They’ve done a lot for us.
All that touring can be so exhausting, what do you guys do to wind down, on tour or back home?
Jacob: Go surfing.
I surf! Well, I can surf.
Jacob: Really, nice! That’s the absolute best thing for me to do personally.
It’s very therapeutic.
Harry: I lay in a dark room for days on end.
Jamie: I do other music projects, football, sports, that kind of thing. The pub.
All: The pub!
Yeah, that’s all of us.
Pete: I just like getting outside where there’s no people. Being somewhere on a walk or something like that, you’re in cities constantly, you’re around people constantly, it’s nice to get outside, not specifically in nature but just somewhere where you won’t see anyone. Where you can be alone with your thoughts.
Jacob: Lack of people, basically.
Yeah, silence must be nice.
Pete: Yeah, a place to recharge your social battery.
What are you guys listening to right now?
Harry: When we were recording, we were listening a lot to Exile on Main St. We listened to a lot of Dylan. Those are the two that jump out.
Jamie: Yeah, Jonestown Massacre
Pete: The Replacements
Jacob: Grian from Fontaines just put out a record, well not a record but he’s got some singles that I’ve been really enjoying. I’m quite out of the loop honestly, I don’t know what’s happening much, so I just listen to old stuff! But every once in a while something comes along. I don’t know if they’ve got anything out, but a band supported us in Toronto actually, they were so much fun.
Great name!
Jacob: Yeah, and they were really great.
Pete: I seem to remember them saying they released two singles that evening.
Jacob: They’re cool, and they’re a great live band. They’re one of those bands that reminds you like shit, music is supposed to be fun. You can tell they’re having so much fun up there and it really rubs off on the audience.
It always feels so good when you see a band with so much more energy than what can be felt on the recording.
Jacob: It’s totally a step up.
And looking into the rest of the summer and the year, is there anything you’re particularly excited about?
All: Glastonbury!
Jamie: We’re playing with Sam at St. James’ Park, biggest venue we’ve ever played.
Pete: And we’re playing O2 Kentish Town Forum at the end of the year. We’ve seen a lot of gigs there so it’s going to be pretty surreal to play there.
Jamie: These are the biggest shows we’ve played in the UK so far.
Congrats, it’s going to be great. Excited to get the new stuff out there?
Jacob: Oh yeah, we’re not gonna waste any time!
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