Whereswilder

About

" Imaginative 60s psychedelic turns adventurous with pop accessibility "

Playing at Europavox Festival Bologna on the 25th of June!

Psychedelia’s endless appeal to musicians is unsurprising: there’s something alluring about this pioneering and adolescent spirit of 1960s rock music, but to Whereswilder, it seems less of a genre than a sonic playground. The quartet from Athens, Greece, who drew their name from the popular American game “Where’s Waldo?”, produced their debut ‘Yearling’ in 2014, for which they drew inspiration from the forward-thinking aspects of psychedelia. The album was a success, making the band gain fans from all over Europe. Released in March 2017, via Inner Ear Records, ‘Hotshot’, which features a goat’s head on the cover, made an even bigger splash, with a punch that is a bit less 60s psychedelic and more expansive 70s fuzzy rock with crunchy guitar riffs.

Their third album, ‘Movement in Place’, followed in 2021 via United We Fly. Whereswilder interpret their Brit prog rock/glam pop influences in different ways (the vocals bring to mind especially the style of Marc Bolan and Sweet’s Brian Connolly), while also taking on jangly guitar pop and nascent heavy-American psychedelia – a combination that turned into a blueprint for the band. They cook up 13 songs, and the result is an Americana-style take on Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino; Alex Turner would definitely love to have thought of songs such as the Prince-like ‘Evolution’, ‘Helping Hand’ and ‘Hold Up’, which has a soft Todd Rundgren feel. Wallowing in colorful 70s nostalgia from both sides of the Atlantic and winking at futurism, Whereswilder nail the concept of retro modern, and their palette continues to evolve.

Picture credits: Evan Maragkoudakis

Published: January 17, 2018 – Updated: December 15, 2021