“The Young Wild is the creation of singer and songwriter Bryan B William. From writing songs on the piano, William crated the modern rock sound that he had always envisioned for the band he wanted to create. After forming in late 2014, the band released their debut EP, “For Now Not Forever,” and had success with their single, “Moment Goes.” The band then hit the road with Barcelona and Switchfoot and wrapped up 2014 in the studio writing new material. The Young Wild plan to release a new EP in 2015 and will go on tour across the US.” – CO5 Media
The Young Wild: “Moment Goes”
1. How did you choose to call yourselves, The Young Wild?
Bryan: “At the time of choosing a name, we opened the floor up to everyone to sort of come up with their own idea of what they think the name could be. Sonically we want wanted the name to fit with the sound of our songs and instrumentation. I don’t know were the lists are, but there are some pretty odd names that people came up with. As any band trying to name themselves, I feel like it’s the hardest thing to solidify and feel good about. When you choose a name you are stuck with it. You can continue to write new songs, make a new logo, or get a hair cut, but you’re stuck with the name. So, right off the bat, when The Young Wild was suggested, I think Gareth was trying to come up with a play on the word “young.” He liked that idea a lot because we are trying to make our music feel youthful, both lyrically and the way we arrange our songs. In a lot of ways we want to make it reminiscent of music we heard as 80’s babies growing up. There were these old, cool synthesizers and drum machines. There was also this big shift happening into digital recording. Some of what was going on was cool and some of it was not cool. There are parts of this 80’s sound that definitely started to appear throughout our music. I guess we were playing a character almost.”
“The name, The Young Wild, seems like it’s a little bold. Someone recently said on a blog, “It’s probably the three most cliche words to have in a band name.” He had a good spin on his comment, we actually really liked the article. His ideas were around the fact that we better live up to it if we’re going to put those three words together. We’re not wild, party people or anything like that. However our music is sort of a play on the times we were young in and what we were hearing. We were hearing a lot of the 80’s synth and big, leading vocals. It was that area rock sound. So, we were confident that the sound represented the name and vice versa.”
“We had a conference call and we were like, “Ok, we have twenty-four hours. If anybody doesn’t step forward and say no to the name, we’re going to use it.” Once we came up with the logos, which were also tailored to that 80’s look, we really committed to the name as well. If we are all still in this band one day when we’re fifty, it will be one nice big joke that we’re called The Young Wild and we’re all old together and still making music.”
Photo by: Garrett Richardson
2. Who would your best template be for someone who is young and wild in a way that you visualize yourself to be, or ever wanted to be?
Bryan: “Lately, a lot of the ideas around the songs refer to this wide open space, sort of referencing life’s landscape we all experience. The landscape that consists of love, loss, heart ache, and whatever we all may experience in cities to small towns. A lot of the lyrics lately have been about painting the landscape of emotional experiences with other people.”
“When I think of being young and wild I think a lot about the esthetic and lifestyle of our bass player, Gareth. We make music and we have a lot of fun doing that. However, on the side, he’s worked a lot of industry jobs. Much like when you’re at a gig, you’re playing and entertaining, but you’re also trying to make a living in an environment that is so chaotic. It is up to you to sort of not succumb to the urge to be a part of that environment because you’re making a living. So, Gareth’s someone I always felt could walk between those worlds. When we’re on tour the idea is that we’re there to have a good time and rock out. Gareth is someone, for me, who maintains a balance, somehow, so it doesn’t get the better of him. There is a lot of responsibility when we are on tour for a month and we’re out on the road. It’s funny because on tour, you’re in an environment where you’re encouraged to have a good time and let loose, and for a lot of people that means getting wasted and hooking up. However, when you’re a thousand miles away from home it’s really up to you if you’re going to make it to the next town (laughs). When people get a sense of who Gareth is, they see how our band name translates. He’s the guy in the band with really long hair, he’s over six feet tall, and he has the boots and the whole look. He’s a good guy to have in your band and on your team of musicians. From working in bars and clubs over the years he’s just someone that knows how to navigate that world and not let it get the best of him. It’s almost like he’s riding the storm.”
3. If you could record an album anywhere in the world, based on the inspiration you feel this location would bring, where would it be?
Bryan: “I was in Big Sur yesterday. It’s pretty amazing area. It’s how you would get to San Francisco from where I live. All that coastal highway, all those mysterious big stately homes that are in the hills there; at least one of them would be fun to record in. A couple of weeks ago I was talking to our drummer Brandon about Feist, who we really like, and who I believe recorded her last record in Big Sur somewhere. We really liked that record. Once we heard that she recorded there we were like, “Yeah, California coast.” There’s a lot of inspiration in the state, even though sometimes people think L.A. is a little stagnant as far as creativity or turning out music. However, I think there are a lot of cool areas along the California coast. You can probably spend a week at any one of them and record. So, Big Sur, would probably be the place for me.
4. How does one learn to write a song? What is your formula for writing a song? How do you see or hear music in your head during the writing process?
Bryan: “I think a better way to phrase the first question is to ask, “How do you get better at writing songs?” That’s how I would think of it. I believe the answer to that is just trial and error. The more you do it and the more you take chances, will make you stronger in the process. For example, a lot of comedians write jokes. You can write a joke, but until you put it into the context of a stand up routine and in a club, performing it in front of people, you don’t really know what the affect is going to be. This type of writing is largely for other people to interpret whether a song is good or not, or a joke is funny or not. So, for me, the more I work at it and the more I attempt to make songs, hopefully the better they get. What people are hearing, whether it’s something I write or a solo piece, they’re probably hearing one idea out of twenty five or thirty other songs or ideas I explored but didn’t carry though to fruition. So, the approval rating for live song use is pretty low when you think about how many ideas I might explore to get to one I like the most. It’s interesting to see how many voice recordings are in my phone or demo sessions are on my computer. In looking at that now, over the last five or six years in writing music, the more I work at it, hopefully the better instincts I have to run with ideas that are great and shy away from ideas that are not so great. What I’ve tried to be open to lately, as a result of having so many little ideas, is to combine separate song ideas, or remix them, that sort of thing. I try to look at my ideas from a lot of different perspectives, whether I’m just noodling on piano or I get together with someone and showcase my ideas for them and the band. This way I am able to see how they react to my ideas. However, really, like I said at first in regard to learning to write a song, “Trial and error, work at it, see how people react to it, and try it in different environments.” Trying music in different environments is what really informs me the most. I might work on something and feel really good about it; however when I play it for people, it immediately falls flat. When this happens I know to go back to the drawing board or to move on to something else.”
“Some people describe songs as being “out there,” you just have to catch them at the right time. Maybe that’s true. Sometimes I have really clear moments where a really great lyric excites me enough to where I’m willing to spend the rest of the day, even the rest of the week, trying to write a second verse. Sometimes, I even push to finish this idea. Everyone has their own method, however I think the more you’re willing to explore it and not be fearful the more options you’ll have. You will have opportunities to try things out and make things work.”
“With The Young Wild, at the end of the day it’s a band. As much as I may sometimes want to streamline the way things happen with production, it doesn’t work unless we all get in a room, play the songs, and make an interpretation of how it should happen. So, in the end it has to work as a band for us. We all have to keep looking around and communicating with each other. Then, once the song is formed, if we aren’t grooving it, or if it feels great, then that’s ultimately what determines whether or not it gets recorded any further.”
“For the last couple of songs, just because we really don’t have the budget to go into a studio and just “see what happens” for a month, usually by the time it’s time to record there should be a pretty good song in place. If the song is good, everything else kind of always seems worth pursuing. However, if we’re not all pumped about the song, bobbing our heads, or even just smiling about the melodies, then we probably shouldn’t go further with it. When a song is ready it could have been anywhere from six to eight months of me retooling vocal lines, tweaking versus and arrangement ideas. Then, I get all this to a certain point, then I need to bring another person in and have them listen to it. That’s what I think producers are, usually. They’re not so much another member of the band but they’re someone who facilitates and makes the writer feel comfortable with what they put together. So, I definitely feel that with Brandon, Gareth, and Vanessa, they’re people I feel really comfortable sharing my ideas with. I can say, “Here’s what I got and if you don’t like it, I’m ok with it, and you can tell my why.” I’ll work on some grooves or some basic arrangement ideas with guitars or synthesizers and piano. Then get in a room with the drummer or a drum machine and just kind of work out the groove. Lately what we’ve been doing, once the song is done and exists in a really simple way, is to just start recording the nuts and bolts of the track. We choose the BPM, what the tempo is of the song, what the bass line is, and what the drumlins are. You can do all that these days from a computer and with a couple of little accessories. You don’t even need to get into a room with a drum set and all the loud amps. We can kind of form the basic structure of the track on the computer with keyboards and drum machines. Then, I start layering guitars and spend time in the studio getting the drum actually recorded. So, that’s what we’ve done lately because it’s economical and we’re getting a little bit more bang for our buck when we actually do go into the studio. We go in with a plan. I don’t know if it’s really that world anymore, where a band’s label will say, “Yeah, just go in there and figure it out and we’ll pay for it.” Now, labels, agents, or publicists ask, “Well, how far can you take it on your own two feet until you have something solid in place?” It’s when you have something solid in place and people like it, that labels will discuss taking the next step. There is less risk involved for them and the proof is right there in the songs, the production, and the way that fans react to the music. We try to do as much of that work on our own as possible. I don’t live in that world where labels are shelling out money for bands to record and everybody’s getting signed. I don’t know what that even would look like.”
5. In general, what usually inspires you to write songs? What sparks your initial idea?
Bryan: “Sometimes a song will start on an instrument. On the guitar it would be in the form of a riff or chord progression and a groove. Some songs live and dye on whether they make you groove or not. I think the groove is a pretty quick indicator of a good songs, as it can grab someones attention very quick if it is strong. So, sometimes my ideas are generated on an instrument or it’s one line. If that line is kind of vague it can open itself up to allowing for a couple of pages to be written from that one idea. Then, for a writer, sometimes writers like to start with titles. I have done that a couple of times, to just start with the title of the song and try to elaborate on it as much as I can. The time in between when a song starts and a song ends, it gets put in so many different scenarios and pulled in so many directions. It’s anybody’s guess to what the inception of the idea and what the finished product are going to be. They can even turn out to be totally opposite. Just being in pursuit of it, being consistent, and continuing to grind out an idea is probably the most important part. For me, with The Young Wild material, it started when I bought some old, old synthesizers I found on eBay. Before we even picked the name a lot of the songs were written. It was those machines and those sounds that opened me up to a whole other world of music that I was hearing when I was very little. All those production treatments and ideas that were around at the dawn of the digital revolution are kind of what it reminded me of. They are old 80s synthesizers. So, for whatever reason, those machines in some ways formed the melodies of our music, some of the lyrical ideas, and probably even our band name. In the end, The Young Wild, becomes very specific musically, based on what we are trying to incorporate into the sound and the lyrical ideas. So far, it’s been pretty cohesive and sometimes it feels like I’m playing a character. I grew up doing imitations of people. Learning other peoples songs was how I learned to play music. I practiced doing strong imitations of guitar solos. In some ways, The Young Wild’s music feels like imitations of things we grew up listening to and trying to incorporate that into our ideas. I don’t think any song writer in their right mind tries to go in and rip off other people blatantly. It’s just when you hear those old synth sounds and reverbs from that Alpahville, “Forever Young,” time period, it makes me say, “I want one of those.” It’s nostalgic, with the combination of the fact that the vehicle that’s revising this sound is a twenty-eight year old kid from San Diego. I’m not the only one doing it. Lots of great musicians and bands out there are doing that now. It’s cool, we are marrying something familiar with something brand new. That’s a really fun exercise.”
“In the end, if it’s a good song, it will stir something in people. Maybe it doesn’t matter what production ideas you associate with with it, or from what era it is. For us, if it’s a good song a lot of the work is already done. At the root of it, it should exist in an interesting and powerful way, with only one instrument and one voice. That’s actually the cool thing about a lot of Bob Dylan songs. His purpose for writing something he wrote was to exist with only one man and one guitar. As you hear, over the years many have reinterpreted his songs with different forms of productions. His song will alway remain great no matter what spin is put on the production just because it was a good song to begin with.”
6. How does The Young Wild arrange their vocals? Does it switch back and forth from male to female, with Vanessa in the band?
Bryan: “So far the songs have been based on a single voice. However, as soon as we get in a room with her and begin recording, it’s always about wanting to layer it up. I think this is why the song, “Not A One,” feels like it has so many voices on it. The studio term for this would be “gang vocals,” where everybody’s around one mic and singing a phrase together. It’s participatory for the band. If you see us at a gig, you can see us yelling the lyrics together. I’m the one with the lead vocal part and then everybody sings together. However, we haven’t worked anything out where Vanessa does any lead parts yet. I’ve written some material that she and I have worked on and off on over the years together. I’ve written some material where she’ll take a verse and I’ll take a verse and that sort of thing. I think as we go forward we may expand a little bit with the vocals.”
“Currently we are concentrated on who can make gigs, who can leave for tour, and that sort of stuff. I think as we solidify the line up a little bit more, and find out who really wants to commit to traveling, it will be fun to open up the floor and have conversations about how members of the band can musically explore things further in the band. The things can be from writing to vocals, etc. I think Vanessa has a fantastic voice. It always gets stronger with each month and every gig we do. I think she’s still finding her own voice amongst the rock feeling. All the stuff she and I have done has been acoustic, striped down sort of stuff. Once you put a band behind that you have to find a persona that is amplified. She’s one of my favorite people to collaborate with. I like female singers more then male singers anyway, and she’s the perfect person with great technique and good instincts. Hopefully, in the near future, we will be able to get more of the female voice in there. Even four or five months ago, she was making her way into the group and finding her footing. Now, when we play gigs, Vanessa rocks out and is not afraid to engage with the audience. I think it will be fun to have her sing something.”
“Some of our new material, we’re in preproduction for right now, has some unison sining on it. Vanessa and I are singing the exact same parts at the same time. It’s a cool technique because it fills out the vocal sound. Also, it gives the music this presences of a male and female character, these two dynamics are an octave apart. This is something we found cool to do lately. So, this will appear in music we put out later on. We work really hard to detail every line and every word and then we sing it in unison together. Simon and Garfunkel like to do that sometimes and occasionally they depart and there’s a really cool harmony that happens. After the harmony they both end up coming back to the center to sing the same line.”
7. What do you think gives people the drive to break free and find out who they really are at a certain age?
Bryan: “lyrically, when I wrote “Not A One,” I was thinking a lot about momentum. I relate this idea to Bruce Springsteen. Many of he is songs seem to be about momentum. This is the momentum that we either collectively establish or we, as individuals, have. An example is the whole “baby we were born to run,” idea. Springsteen is a really important person and his songs haven’t gone away and the ideas of the songs are important. For me, just some of the ideas behind those songs provide momentum. The idea of being in a place that isn’t right for you, or the act of taking control are some of the things that inspired our song “Not A One.” This song is for people who are in a place that don’t feel it’s where they want to be, whether it’s socially, based on location, or emotionally. The song is also based on whether you physically leave the environment you’re in or if you just try to get to in a different head space to better the situation. I think those are some of the ideas. For me, it changed from the decisions I would make to more of a collective idea where if I’m going to leave town, or an environment I don’t like, and I should probably keep and take the best people that I have in my life with me. The song “Not A One” is very ambiguous, however lots of songs are very ambiguous. The lyrics go back to the idea of The Young Wild and trying to think of the landscape for all the subject matter we explore in the songs. This can be anything from a big city with neon lights and late nights, to being out in an unknown territory on an adventure. It’s fun to just get in a car sometimes and drive and get into that different head space and quiet your mind. I think I was trying to be extra poetic about all of that stuff. Sometimes people say, “I just have to get out of here.” There is a little bit of that idea in the song too.”
The Young Wild: “Not A One” (Official Music Video)
8. What’s the fine line between pushing boundaries for yourself when you’re young and wild and being considered irresponsible?
Bryan: “I run into the most trouble in my personal life. I’m pretty lucky and in general I’m a pretty happy dude. However, currently the trouble seems to come from a communication breakdown. For example, the band doesn’t get to see each other every day, however things happen from needing to book gigs to wanting to work with new musicians. Staying in contact and doing your best to keep everybody in the loop is a real important part of the relationship working. Sometimes the worst things can come from our own mind or what we generate in our own imaginations. What can happen is that we can assume the worst just because we haven’t heard from someone for a couple of days. I think the time I always ran into personal struggles, whether it’s with family or friends, is when people aren’t kept in the loop of what you’re thinking. Communication is an important aspect of being in a band or a relationship. I’ve written songs before about that idea. People don’t like when your brutally honest, but sometimes it’s good to just say it. I’ve had that in bands, in relationships, and with family. It’s good to sort of just say what you aim to just so people know where you’re at. If not, they’re going to kind of make their own interpretation. Sometimes peoples’ minds go into some dark places if they are not in touch with someone or out of communication. It’s important to communicate. As a band we try to check in as much and as best we can so there’s no surprises and no tension.
9. Why is music is important?
Bryan: “Because it’s universal right? It’s the universal language. Music is a real privilege, whether it’s a profession or a hobby. Everybody likes music right? Anyone can be involved in music, whether it’s as a musician or someone whose a fan of music. From an entertainment industry standpoint, there’s sort of someplace for everyone. It’s important for me because it’s not only been a means to survive financially, but also, it’s something I love to whittle away and work at. There are times when my work is singular, and I’m alone in my creation of something, however I also have by best friends who I collaborate with. For me, music is really based on relationships, that’s why it’s important to me.”
10. What is your most favorite young, wild, rebellious, freeing experience you’ve had?
Bryan: “I’m a pretty low key person. I just turned twenty-eight the other night. I guess that’s kind of wild. I’m not comparing myself by any means to the great people we’ve lost in their 27th year, in music, however I think just making it through the age 27 is an achievement. That was my golden birthday last year. I’m on to a new plateau now, a nice rounded out number. I think it’s a cool thing that I’ve made it this far and I still feel good about what I’m doing with my life. That’s kind of wild.”
“I feel like I’m in a good zone for this time in my life. I had no idea this is what it would look like or this is where I would be.”
“In terms of band stories there we some epic rain storms when were were going from Dallas to Houston and driving at like two miles an hour. We were in a van with our crew and all seven of us. Nobody thought we were going to die or anything. However, when we were approaching the storm we were going almost eighty miles an hour on the freeway and our sound engineer really likes Judas Priest, so he was playing that at like full blast. I was driving the van at the time and it was like the final countdown kind of vibe. We were just driving into the thunder together. It was like, “This is pretty poetic, lets remember this guys.” That was kind of a fun one. I felt like that was a lot wilder then I’m usually willing to be. We were listening to Judas Priest as loud as the stereo goes, we were riding into this rainstorm, and we were a thousand miles away from home. It’s all kind of poetic I guess.”
Interview by: Laura DeSantis-Olsson / LDO Photography
Cover photo by: Garrett Richardson