DirectLyrics Interviews The Wind and The Wave: On Origins, Getting Signed To RCA & Debut Album!
Let me introduce you to The Wind and The Wave. They’re a relatively new duo hailing from Austin, Texas and made of Dwight Baker and Patty Lynn. Their sound is a riveting mix of rock, folk and indie music, they last year signed a major deal with RCA Records, and just in a few days, to be precise on August 5th, The Wind and The Wave will release their full-length debut album titled “From the Wreckage”. The first single is the very powerful record “With Your Two Hands”, which is a song very personal to Patty and you will soon find out way.
What’s The Wind and The Wave story? Many years ago, Dwight was touring musician doing what he loved, music, but one day he changed his career choice to producer. And in fact, he managed to work with few very talented singers of the industry... Kelly Clarkson, Bob Schneider or Brandi Carlile to name a few. Meanwhile, Patty was the lead single of rock band Soldier Thread. The two met in 2009 when Dwight attended one of Patty’s band concerts and was fascinated by her performance and voice. Fast forward three years, and in 2012, when Soldier Thread split, Dwight and Patty ended up working together in the studio, simply making music for individual purposes. Nevertheless, after writing and recording tracks who one helped produce and the other helped writing and singing, they came to realize that together they were stronger. A few songs later, the magic and chemistry was evident. The Wind and The Wave had been born. Now in 2014, it is their time. “From the Wreckage” will be out very, very soon!
DirectLyrics recently caught up with The Wind and The Wave, just mere days away from album release, to chat with the duo from their beginnings, to the their right now. How they met, how they decided to form the duo, getting discovered by RCA, their debut album recording process or what they're favorite songs of the moment are, we talked with The Wind and The Wave about everything.
Pre-order @TheWindTheWave's #FromTheWreckage and get an instant download of "The Heart It Beats The Thunder Rolls"! http://t.co/I1bFeIDkST
— RCA Records (@RCARecords) July 29, 2014
The Interview
How did you come up with your stage name, The Wind and The Wave?
Patricia's boyfriend asked Patty if she had heard of another band and she misheard him and thought he said The Wind and The Wave.
We decided it made a great band name for us
Dwight, you were a touring musician before fully embracing production and song-writing. Most notably, you have worked with Bob Schneider, Brandi Carlile or Kelly Clarkson. I believe you did five songs on Kelly’s ‘My December' album. What was it like working with her?
Kelly and I have only worked directly together on a few occasions. She mainly cut a song that I wrote for her and did her thing lyrically. But in my limited conversations with her Ifound her to be totally real and super cool and completely humble.
Patricia, you were the front-woman of band Soldier Thread until it split in 2012. The sound of Soldier Thread was very different to that of The Wind and The Wave. Did the jump from musical styles felt natural to you? And, do you feel you can incorporate your previous experience with Soldier Thread in The Wind and The Wave?
It wasn’t a jump at all. It was more like a trip and fall. And it was as natural as you can possibly get. We were two friends who wanted to create music together, partly as an excuse to not work, drink whiskey and hang out. With every experience, hopefully we learn from it, and carry that knowledge with us into new and more adventurous experiences. So perhaps in that sense yes.
The two of you met back in 2009 when you, Dwight, went see one of Patricia’s live shows with her band. You said then that you were ‘captivated’ by her performance. What makes Patricia’s voice and live delivering so unique?
She never misses vocally. She never has a bad night vocally. She could sing the phone book and make it sound magical. The power the comes out of that small frame is incredible.
When Soldier Thread split in 2012, the two of you started working together in the studio, writing and producing various songs without knowing then that you would later officially form a duo. When was the time you said, ‘look, we may be onto something. Let’s form a two-piece band!’?
We still have never said let's form a two piece band. It's the way we are feeling and presenting it right now. It feels right. We try not to think about things too much and go with our gut. About three songs into to writing this project it was pretty clear to both of us we had something special
What is the song-writing process like for The Wind and The Wave?
Whiskey, laughter, my studio and an idea. It comes quickly for us or it doesn’t come at all. Its usually me on an acoustic and patty with a pen and paper and we just start. We have written enough together at this point to know when something is gonna be great or if we should bail on it.
The sound of The Wind and The Wave is a mix of indie, folk and rock. A good mix, I should say! We have heard a sampler of your upcoming album, and we are loving every song. By the way, last year you got signed by RCA Records. What was it like going from independent musicians to being part of a major label? How did RCA exactly discover The Wind and The Wave?
Nothing has really changed for us as people. The chance to get our music into the hands of lots of people is the difference that RCA makes. It's been really cool to have them be a part of this because they haven’t messed with our art at all. They love the record we made and support us completely. They want people to fall in love with it the way they did.
We did a meeting on our first tour when we were out with Plain White T’s with our now A&R person Rani Hancock. We played three songs in her office for her acoustically and she loved it. 2 weeks later on that same tour we played for the head of RCA Peter Edge in his hotel room in L.A. He got it also and we had an offer on the table very soon after that. Its nice that they signed us off of playing a couple acoustic songs for them. It means they got the songs at a core basic level.
The first single from your upcoming debut album ‘From the Wreckage’ is ‘With Your Two Hands’, a song about ‘overcoming demons in order to be happy in your life’. This song is very personal to you, Patricia. Can you explain us the origin of the lyrics?
All the songs on this album are very personal. Nobody wants to die alone. The thought is scary to me. If I let my ‘demons’ have control over me all the time, I would be a sad and lonely human. I want to be better than that. I want to be loved. Sometimes you have to work through some inner demons to allow yourself to be loved, love yourself and pursue your true happiness.
When is the music video for ‘With Your Two Hands’ coming? Do you have any treatment already in mind?
The lyric video came out last month. It's amazing. Not to sure when we will get to the full video...we would have to get off the road first (laughs).
You are definitely not afraid of giving your songs long titles (eg; “My Mama Said Be Careful Where You Lay Your Head”, “From The Wreckage Build A Home,”, “It’s A Longer Road To California Than I Thought” or “When That Fever Takes A Hold On You.”). Song titles should be born naturally, right?
Yes, for us the song title isn’t necessarily the chorus of the song. We try to find the line in the lyric that sums up the entire vibe of the song.
You performed a few shows during the SXSW week in Texas earlier this year. What was the experience like? Did you attend other artists’ shows too?
We didn’t have time to attend any other shows. We had a great time playing as we usually do. SXSW is a a hectic frenzy of activity in a very small amount of time. It's crazy
You were the special musical guest on an episode of CW’s ‘Hart of Dixie’ last March. You performed two songs from your upcoming album. What did this feature mean to you? And, are you fans of the series?
It was great and meant a lot to us that an established show like that would have such a small unknown band like us on it. Of course we are fans!
How many songs have you recorded as The Wind and The Wave to date? And what is one totally-unheard song you can’t wait for fans to listen to and why?
We have recorded 15 songs. We can’t wait to share all of our music with our fans. Every song has become so special to us.
The Wind and The Wave‘s first album ‘From the Wreckage’ is released this summer on RCA. We have already heard five songs (thanks to the album sampler your label kindly gave us). How many songs do you hope make it on the album, though? Have a fixed tracklisting yet?
11 songs will make the record and yes the artwork and track listing is set!
What are Dwight and Patricia’s Top 5 songs of the moment?
Ray Lamontagne - "Ojai"
The War on Drugs - "lost in a dream"
Future Islands - "A dream of you and me"
Eric Clapton - "Lay down Sally"
Boy & Bear - "Southern Sun"
What are bands/singers that have influenced your careers?
So many!..The Cure, Death cab for cutie, The beach boys, Metric, among others!
What will you do the day ‘From the Wreckage’ hits the stores?
Celebrate. We are soooo ready for it to come out. we can’t wait for everyone to hear it
Finish the sentence, ‘You will love ‘From the Wreckage’ because…’
Because its a record made from the heart by two friends for themselves. No thoughts of hits or industry or even anyone hearing it but us. So its about as honest of a record as you will get.
Thank you very much for your time, guys! Best of luck with the new single and album. Any last thing you would like to share with our readers at Direct Lyrics?
Thanks for having us. I hope your readers enjoy the lyrics to this record as much as we do. It's all truth and very real. See you on the road!