Interview With 'Wax Futures'

Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?

Hello, I'm Kieran! - 1/3 of Mathy, happy-go-lucky, Post-Hardcore outfit Wax Futures. I'm responsible for bass sounds and the occasional vocal. We hail out of the mighty town of Telford, Shropshire and we've been around for roughly 5 years - a long time considering the average life span of a band these days I know. We formed after myself and Simon (drummer) decided we wanted to start a band. Up until this point the only bands I'd played in were extremely heavy, Metal bands so I felt like doing something a bit different. We jammed with a few friends but nothing really clicked. In the meantime I'd just rediscovered Graham's previous work with Decadence In Berlin (https://decadenceinberlin.bandcamp.com), as well as his solo material, which I loved. Long story short - I got in touch with him, we booked our first jam, magic happened and now here we are.

What were you all up too prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?

So I obviously can't speak 100% for the others but I hadn't long finished my university studies at the time. I'd quit all the bands I'd been in before uni so I could concentrate on studying to become a studio engineer. But once university was done I realised that I really missed playing music, rather than being the one sat behind the desk pressing record. Graham's a funny one because he was running a rather successful record label at the time, Distorted Tapes (https://www.facebook.com/distortedtapes/) and promoting some amazing shows across the midlands. He was really a pivotal member of a thriving scene at the time. And then myself and Simon reached out to him, our band took up all of his time and it was all down hill from there hahaha! I often wonder how big Distorted Tapes would've got if he'd never met us. Sorry Graham!

Tell us about your latest Album and why our readers should check it out.

Our new mini-album is entitled "The Museum of Everything" and was recorded with now friend of the band, Ryan Pinson at RML in Wolverhampton

(https://www.facebook.com/theRMLstudios) and mastered by Hippocratic Mastering (http://www.hippocraticmastering.com/) aka Tom Woodhead (ex-Forward, Russia!). Why should you check it out? Well that's because it's a ahem! ..."a rip-rocketing ride through the Math-Rock, Grunge-Pop, Post-Hardcore unknown!" In all seriousness, I think anybody looking for a fun, honest Rock record with some meaty riffs, catchy hooks and moments of reflection will dig it. We've really pushed ourselves to become better songwriters and to push the boundaries with our sound to see where it takes us.

Who would you say is the bands main song writer or is it a group effort and where do you draw your inspiration lyrically and musically from?

In my opinion, and maybe the others will disagree with me here, but the way we write is very much a reflection of how we operate as a band - a little bit slow and a little bit disorganised. There's no set, main songwriter in the band. Sometimes I'll bring a riff in from home, Graham will bring a riff in from home or one of us will just play something in the spur of the moment which the others latch into and we'll go from there.

Sometimes we can literally thrash out a song in the space of an hour (which is what happened with '(My Body is a) Landfill' - ironic because everyone who's heard the new record thus far picks that out as having some of the best songwriting on the record. But then there are other tracks that are works in progress for well over a year. Either one of us has got a riff but we're not sure what to do with it, or sometimes we'll end up scrapping songs because we don't think they are good enough and reusing the good parts somewhere. No wonder it takes us so long to get new music out!

In terms of inspiration, I can't speak much for the lyrics as that's more Graham's fortay but musically I personally take a lot of inspiration from the bands we play with out on the road. Over the last years we've been fortunate enough to play with a wide range of incredible bands, and I think it's only natural that that runs off in you.

As a band what do you believe is your greatest achievement to date and why?

This is a tough one because I don't want to sound really corny... erm... you know what? Sod it because it's true.. I'm going to say the release of "The Museum of Everything". Purely because making the record took a long time, it was written whilst we were going through some very testing times as a band and it's an incredible feeling to share with the world something that you've worked so hard to create.

On a personal level I only have a few goals that I want to achieve through the band. One of which is to create an album I'm extremely proud of. You can argue the toss that "Museum..." isn't strictly an album but to me it meets that requirement. If the band were to finish tomorrow I'd be happy with what we've achieved now.

Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?

I'm not sure about the other guys but sadly I have not. Literally the only thing I can think of is the time that our friend Stuart (who plays in the ever brilliant MATTERS - https://www.facebook.com/Mattersband) saw Robert Plant at a random show he was doing the door for (Stuart, not Robert) in Birmingham so that's pretty cool, right?

Or maybe i've just made that up. I can't remember. What do you enjoy most about touring?

So there are 3 things for me that I enjoy about touring, 2 of which are quite obvious. Getting to meet all different types of bands out on the road is brilliant. Not only is there great comrade amongst everyone but it just helps you get better at your craft. I'm constantly seeing bands do amazing things live and thinking "we need to be as good as that".

It's also great to visit other places. Even if you're only playing up and down the UK it's still nice to meet new people and be in different surroundings.

Last one for me is that touring means lots of playing live and that's what I enjoy the most. Without getting too psycho-analytical performing live is a bit of a transformative experience for me. On stage I'm a far cry away from the shy, quiet, miserable looking person I actually am. I think it takes people by surprise a little bit but there's nothing like spending 30-45mins being someone else. If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?

Energy, sweat, noise and good times. Someone once described us as "leaving a trail of sweat and destruction in our wake" and I think that's very apt. We are very sweaty boys.

If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?

Ooo this is a tough one because there are so many! We're actually really close friends with a band called Ghosts Of Dead Airplanes from Birmingham. They are equally as hard working and should have some new music out very soon. Recently I've been thinking a tour with those guys would be ace. Guys, if you're reading this, lets make it happen!

You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about?

Another tough question but I'd have to go with cliche Cobain because me and Graham are such big Nirvana fans. What would I ask him? Erm.. I'd probably just ask him to play me some songs on his acoustic guitar.

And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?

Of course! Not only that, but it's also the BEST Christmas movie. Welcome to the party pal!

"The Museum of Everything" available now on Bandcamp, iTunes and to stream on Spotify.

Checkout their video for '(My Body As A) Landfill'

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/waxfutures

Twitter - https://twitter.com/waxfuturesuk