by Matt Kelchner
“It’s just my very dry humor drowned in the sound of cheap white wine elegance”
In the past two years, Wymond Miles has released two full length albums and an EP. And that’s not counting any of the albums from his band, The Fresh & Onlys. A few weeks ago I was able to catch up with Wymond Miles to talk about his fantastic new record, Cut Yourself Free and avoiding the pressures in the dreaded “sophomore slump” while working at breakneck speeds.
When I ask him about differentiating melodies and riffs between himself and The Fresh & Onlys, he tells me, “That’s never come up once. I used to think of songs and melodies in terms of scarcity, held them as rare possessions, but the more I engaged with their source I realized the tap is pretty unlimited. Just gotta try and be present to let it finds its way out.”
He continues, “In the Onlys, I’m not bringing any core lyrics or chords, that’s Tim or Shayde’s job. I re-arrange and write melodies to give the songs whatever momentum or vibe they may need. So it’s nothing alike.” It’s clear just by listening to the records. Where The Fresh & Onlys have a strong garage rock sound, Miles’ solo efforts see him reaching more into the post-punk realm.
Miles goes on to add, “Like anyone with two different jobs, they are two different animals. I don’t confuse them. Each requires a different set of kids’ gloves. [The Fresh & Onlys] live apart now so we share ideas via email and then round up for a week at a time in the studio, I’ll usually go back in and further define the songs and endure the mixing process. I set aside a few days of healthy 9 to 5 hours to work on whatever needs to be done on my own stuff, but to a fault, it holds my attention for most hours of the day. If I’m not actively working on one of our records I’m most certainly working on it in my head.”
With a work ethic as such, it makes it easier to visualize how someone is able to work at such a vigorous pace, especially when diving into a creative element. “The pace allows the work to come out. When the air is stagnant the weight lies so much heavier than when you’re just riding momentum. I would’ve done more had it been more tangible,” Miles explains.
But despite any pace, there is always pressure that amounts in creating a new album. For every band, especially ones that are coming off of well received debut albums, the bar is set high for a follow up that exceeds it’s predecessor. “I had to trick myself into thinking of the work as a short story rather than a novel if that makes sense. But I needed an inspiration point. I had several tunes kicking around but nothing that felt cohesive and magnetic until I recorded ‘The Ascension”. It was just so ripe with promise, mystery, and anticipation, I knew I could build a record around it,” Miles tells me.
Miles found this element to give him the momentum to fuel the creative process within the songwriting process. “The bonus song, “The Curse”, was basically written to myself to break the spell, or curse, of writers block I had. Lyrics like: ‘you’ve grown superstitious / ritualized the process / but you never get answers / never begin your conquest / save you from the curse? only you can save you from the curse’. It’s just my very dry humor drowned in the sound of cheap white wine elegance.
“The ending album piece is the goal I’m always thinking of while sculpting the sounds. I’ve grown a tired disdain of bloated works, so I’m always trimming the fat, whether that be a verse, the instrumentation, tracks, or entire songs,” Miles continues. With all of this meticulous revisions in his work, it’s amazing to think of his body of work in such a short time frame. Miles adds, “If the music business Gods grant mercy on me, my third record will arrive next winter”. Three albums takes some bands their entire lifetime. Others, there is maybe a one-two year break in between each. For Wymond Miles, they come yearly.
Despite the heavy workload, he somehow manages to find extra time to live life outside of the music world. “Once the tour is over I plan on gorging myself on Thanksgiving leftovers with my kid as my band and I will likely be in Utah brooding at a Country Buffet that day,” he tells me.
But there is always one thing on his mind, “I hope to get started on a new record, its world is starting to come into focus.”
