Recently, I wrestled with the idea of giving up on doing band interviews on This Noise Is Ours, because I never felt that I was that good at coming up with interesting questions and also because of the amount I've sent out to people that have never found their way back to me. Earlier this year I came with idea of doing standard interviews (using the same 10 questions, hence the name!) that will provide readers and music fans with introductions to new bands, while being able to reach more bands and give them more promotion. I've contacted a number of bands already in recent weeks and Wowod is the first band I'm featuring.
1. Who is in the band and where are you from?
Wowod is a quartet from a gloomy, cold but charming city of St. Petersburg (Russia) that cannot but inspire heavy gloomy music. Mikhail plays the drums, Konstantin plays the bass guitar, Gennady plays the guitar, and Anton sings.
2. What is the history of Wowod? When and how did you form?
Our final lineup was formed at the beginning of 2017. Gennady had played in the band until 2013, and when it broke up, he started to search of guys to play with. This search was a long one. It may sound funny, but all new band members wore Plebeian Grandstand T-shirts. It was a sign. Mikhail was the first who joined the band. Gennady found him on VK, and there was a picture of him wearing this T-shirt while playing drums. Konstantin had tried speak to with Gennady earlier, but these efforts were fruitless. However, they moved to a new location, and he was sitting there with his other band in these T-shirts, when Gennady offered him to play together again. Konstantin agreed at once. Then there was a complicated search for a singer when Anton turned up. He was performing in a Plebeian Grandstand T-shirt with his other band. And this is how Wowod was put together.
3. Have any of you played in previous bands and are you any other bands currently?
We all have played in two or three bands of different genres. We’d rather not speak about that. All of us, apart from Mikhail, currently have an additional project or band. Konstantin is playing in Antethic that winning hearts of post-rockers from all around the world, Anton is playing in a post-black band Pechora, and Gennady is working on his project Gena together with a drummer from Antethic.
4. Who write’s the lyrics/music? Is it collective?
We make some final adjustments all together, but the major part of lyrics is brought to us by Anton, and the music is created by Gennady.
5. What subjects do you cover in your lyrics?
We touch upon various eerie supernatural images that can be easily projected to our world. We’ll try to explain what we mean, as it could be quite difficult for non-Russian speakers. For example, the song “V Nas Net Lvbvi” (There is No Love in Us) is a story where human-like half-souls lack such a basic feeling as love, which makes them suffer endlessly, buried in the ground, and they are burning there. The song “Slepaya Vera” (Blind Faith) is about fanaticism when the common sense is sleeping, like a fetus in the womb. It’s also about the moment of awakening when it is all too late to fix anything.
“Chuzoe Nutro” (Stranger's Gut) is a song about something supernatural that appears in you, takes root and totally consumes you at some point, so you remain just an observer in your own body.
6. Are there any bands that have influenced you?
We like the French and Belgian scene very much. At some time, we were influenced by early Plebeian Grandstand and I Pilot Daemon. We were influenced by various bands at different times, but it all probably have started with these two.
7. What are your favourite albums/EPs at the moment?
Our new favourite albums are released by GoGo Penguin, Rolo Tomassi, Шишкин Лес (Cone Forest) and Carpenter Brut.
8. What is your favourite gig/tour story?
Let tour stories stay in tours. Hahaha. We'd share just this one about an angry Russian cop who claimed to have chased us for several kilometers with his beacon light flashing, while we were ignoring him. He then tried to break into our car without even suspecting that all outer door handles were broken apart, except the driver’s, and when he finally got in he said, “Well! А fun tour, we have arrived!” We almost laughed right out loud. After a bit of haggling on the roadside we gave him a little money and moved on.
9. What is your local heavy/punk scene like and who should we check out (band-wise)?
Oh, the St. Petersburg stage is fabulous. We are proud to say that you cannot imagine how many cool bands we have here. If to look at the heavier side, you should check out Euglena, Колчак (Kolchak), Mother, Vranac and Ypres. In Moscow there are Tsygun, Volan and Kulta. They are awesome guys. Believe us, it’s just a handful of bands from a long list.
10. What is your favourite beer (if you drink)?
WE LOVE BEER! Невское Классическое (Nevskoye Classic), it’s a Petersburg classic lager, still unchanged as the years go by, unlike other brands. We also like craft beer, for example, Мохнатый шмель (Mokhnaty Shmel/Shaggy Bumblebee) and Craft Brew Riots products.
Wowod sent across some more band shots, which I've shared below:-
Wowod describe their music as chaotic hardcore with post-metal and they certainly follow in the footsteps of bands like Plebeian Grandstand and the like. If you're a fan of Calligram from the UK, then you should give these guys a listen.
They recently released their debut EP "Nutro" on bandcamp. You can stream and purchase it digitally below:-
Links to Wowod and their other projects are below:-
Antethic - https://www.facebook.com/Antethic/
Pechora - https://pechora.bandcamp.com
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