On March 1st, London trio Wyldest will release their long-awaited debut album Dream Chaos via Hand In Hive. We’ve been on the journey with this talented outfit for around three years now since the release of single ‘Stalking Moon’, and we had the great pleasure to meet and see Wyldest perform at The Great Escape festival last year. Along the way, there was always that question, when would we get to hear an album? Over the past few months, there have been more hints with the release of each new single, most recently ‘Quiet Violet’ and ‘Alive’.

The upcoming record was written, engineered and produced by the band’s founder Zoe Mead alongside band member Mariin Kallikorm, and the flawless percussion is courtesy of Jack Gooderham. Dream Chaos is the result is tireless work, determination and self-belief, and below we discuss the record with Mead.

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TMR: Here we are, on the cusp of your debut album, what's the journey been like up to this point? Any notable highs and lows?

I know right? Can't believe it. We have a photo of my arm saved to our camera roll with 'Dream Chaos 11.11.17' written on it - that was the night we decided on the name of the album and it's been over a year in the making. There were many nights of complete bliss, when everything was going well and we felt confident that self-producing was the right thing. However, we did have many moments of self-doubt, thinking we needed help to make the songs the best they can be. We've learnt the art of patience and living on a shoestring. The lowest point was probably buying 28p noodles from Sainsbury's for a week whilst tracking the drums.

TMR: Speaking of looking back, your recent single ‘Alive’ is certainly one of rose-tinted nostalgia. Where did this song originate?

This song was formed from one heavily reverberated riff, a drum sample and a traffic jam in the baking sun where the lyrics were written (true story). The lyrics are a reflection of feelings many people have ... about letting a beautiful memory stay as a beautiful memory and resisting the temptation to go back and try to resurrect a chapter in your life which ended for a good reason.

TMR: That track also has an aura of improvisation about it, as do several others. Have any bands or artists influenced this fluid style?

Our songs are written in various different ways – ‘Alive’ seems to be the exact result of what we get when we build the song upwards from a single riff - it’s repetitive and doesn’t build too much - it’s about memories and nostalgia - so it works that the song is easy on the ears and provokes a time to reflect, be a little melancholic - rather than a time to think deeply - like some of the other more intense songs on the record.

I don’t think we consciously took influence from anyone when writing this - in fact it was a tiny step away from music we usually make - a bit more off the cuff, chilled - we sort of took the pressure off ourselves to try and write an emotional ‘banger’ and wrote something softer on the ears and close to our hearts. Something the mums will like.



TMR: When it comes to the songwriting process, does any one member take the lead here or is it more collaborative?

The project started as a solo thing in my room. After outing a few tracks back in the day, playing live in various live formats, I met Mariin - a musician, new to London, who'd been jamming in her own projects back in Cologne.

Wyldest really took the shape of what it is today when we collaborated. The way we work now is that me and Mariin both go away and write riffs/songs/jams - we call this our 'independent study' time. Then we come back together and develop our ideas together. The way I write is slightly different from Mariin - I'm usually pretty vocal/chord-led and Mariin is more guitar riff-led. We're always bouncing ideas off each other and there to support each other and it’s a machine that seems to work pretty well.

Jack usually comes in a little later in the process - we jam out the song and then it becomes real - he's a backbone and a drumming force to be reckoned with.

TMR: There are also self-directed visuals to go along with the record, you largely take the reins there Zoe. Why was it also important to have control over the visual aspect?

I spend a lot of time in my general life creating video for all kinds of means - so it sort of makes sense for us to do it this way. In fact, creating video content is something all three of us really enjoy doing and it is another dimension for creative expression.

I wouldn't say that having control of the visuals is the most important thing to us - as I said, collaboration is something we really enjoy and we have several friends who make incredible music, art and video. Also, when you take things into your own hands - you're only limited by your own time constraints, budget and creative energy - when it is you in the driving seat, you can ensure you arrive at the destination.

TMR: The most recent video for ‘Headrush’ deals with several themes including mental health, which has been an ever more central discussion in the music industry. Why is this topic important to you?

Yes, the music industry in particular is plagued with mental health problems. People who choose to pursue creative outlets much of the time suffer through self-doubt, anxiety and sometimes financial hardship. We're generally pretty focused and we support each other through times of strain - so we're very lucky. But we have certainly had testing times and we have close people in our lives who suffer too. Creative expression is such a tonic for mental health issues - with particular reference to making bonds with others and collaborating/supporting others with their art. We've built up a friendship network with other bands/creative people and it's so nice to share eachother’s art, struggles and success.

We're becoming a little more real with our creative expression and we made a deal when we wrote this album, that we will not hide away from writing about topics that we hold close to our hearts. We want listeners to be lured by dreamy riffs, but also really listen to the lyrics and ponder the meanings - because our music is sometimes not as dreamy as it might seem.



TMR: To that point, Wyldest are commonly referred to by the ‘dream pop’ label, but is this a description you’d agree with?

I think we are always evolving - especially with our newest stuff. We would certainly not disagree with the ‘dream pop’ label thus far - so we'll take that for now - but being put into a box isn't something we're aiming for. The latest music we've been writing seems to be manifesting quite differently. We are always growing, learning and so is our music. What we have in store may be slightly out of our ‘dream pop’ comfort-zone.

We do listen to a lot of shoegaze/dream pop - so it would make sense for our sound to take that on - however it’s also important to us to touch on other genres to ensure we don’t limit ourselves creatively. We also try to go to the source for inspiration. For example, we obviously love Beach House - but they were inspired by Neil Young, who was inspired by the Beatles, who were inspired by Chuck Berry.

TMR: I'm sure all of the songs on the album are special for their own reasons, but did any tracks propose a particular challenge?

We battled a little with a song called ‘Mind Over Body’. To us it sticks out on the album as a little different from the others and we weren’t sure whether we’d moved away from the synth-pop type stuff we made in the early days. It’s very poppy - and we struggled with finding a place for it initially. We ended up concluding that we don’t need to fit in a box and if we wanna write a synth pop song - then we’ll fricking do it.

TMR: A pretty obvious question, although we feel it may have an interesting answer… what does Dream Chaos signify?

All life is a game of risk and you can only really win if you’ve risked losing. Dream Chaos embodies this idea exactly. In order to live your dreams, you have to experience the chaos - and the chaos can end up being the most beautiful thing about your journey.

TMR: Following the album release you'll be heading out on a UK tour, for anyone hovering over the ‘buy tickets’ button, can you describe your live show in five words or less?

Dreamy (funnily enough), overdriven, fun, emotional and groovy (Jack is the leanest, meanest grooviest machine).



Dream Chaos is out 1^st March via Hand In Hive.

-Hannah Thacker