Howling is the accidentally beautiful birth-child of Australian-bred, bohemian folk artist/singer/producer Ry X and the solo project one half of Âme live, electronic producer and Innervisions label runner Frank Wiedemann. Their collaboration Howling first came to prominence when Dixon closed his Boiler Room mix with the astoundingly gorgeous eponymous track and a bajillion Soundcloud comments later, the EP Howling was finally released. Their debut album ‘Sacred Grounds’ was released at the beginning of May and their first single ‘Signs’ has already honed a successful wide-spread response including airtime on Gilles Peterson’s show. Ry X’s hauntingly seductive and distinctive vocals make the most mesmerising miasma of sound, complemented by the simplistic yet melodious piano, deep drums and enticing electronic tones of Frank. Although the two are drawn from different backgrounds, the pair perfectly align here to create something magical through their music.
We caught up with Frank and Ry ahead of Sunday to chat over Organs, Surfing, Driving and Yoga…
For those who don’t know, please tell the Subbie readers who you are and what you do?
We are HOWLING. We are RY X+ Frank Wiedemann (ÂME).
We make music and art things.
Some online coverage refers to this collaboration as “Accidental” how did it come about, and where did the name Howling come from?
‘Howling’ as a name came from our first release together. We didn’t consolidate the project at first in a name form because it really was a collaboration based on a track that came out before we had even played a show, its been a feeling out process…but we are here now, and thankful to be here.
You’re rooted in fairly different musical backgrounds, did things click straight away? What went down at the first studio session?
‘Howling’ was the first ‘studio session’ but we weren’t in the same studio, or timezone, or country.. or continent. So it began as both of us contributing in our own sense of safety and with our own characteristics. We have melded since then, but thats how it began.
Did you guys pull the live band together yourselves? Ry, do you write most of the vocals yourself?
Yah… we brought in a dear friend and wonderful musician, Jens Kuross, and made sure we had the flexibility and ability to do everything live and create and flow in new directions outside of computer screens. Thats been important to us.
Live sets are a massive selling point now for club shows, this one is dynamic and very rare for a night club, What was your first ever experiences of live music?
We didn’t have much to follow in this way… because not many people were doing it yet.. now its a more common ground for live/electronic acts to meld it all together, but even 3 years ago it was a DIY place to figure out how to play it all live for clubs/venues/festivals. We each have different first live experiences.. mine was Sting actually.
Who would be your most obvious musical influences?
They differ between us, but some artists we both love..
Arthur Russel
Jeff Buckley
Radiohead
Fela Kuti
Bjork
Massive Attack
Nirvana / Pearl Jam
Steve Reich
Obviously there are still some some electronic, analogue activities driving this show, Are there any new music production technologies out there that you’re excited about right now??
Yah we are playing around with new programs that let you sync computers to live playing. Its a long process learning what fits best for us. We use LIVE in flexible ways on stage and in our production, but yah we always aim to use analog gear and push that as much as we can as its what we both love.
Frank, Whats your favourite cheapest piece of gear in your studio?
Organs! Organs are cheap – as long as you don’t need to maintain them, and they have their pure analog raw sound. You can do a lot with organs and a lot have been used on our album.
The debut album was release earlier this month, and there has been some excellent feedback so far. Is there any unexpected fans out there? Anyone in particular?
We are really excited/humbled to share this record, in a simple way, us to people. We don’t have huge expectations at all, but have been really thankful for the love from critics and our friends. I guess I’m always a bit surprised when someone from a completely different world comes up to me/us and starts sharing how much they dig the album.. that means a lot.
Prior to attending music festivals as an artist, were you ever one for attending as a punter?
Of course, we love music and have done our whole lives. Shirtless and mashing through teens…
We don’t like to put music in genres to be honest, but for talkings sake lets call this style , amazing alternative ambient. Are you happy to share some of your personal home listening vibes with us?
ha…well its wide. We listen to a lot of ambient and soundscape stuff too.. Steve Reich, John Adams, Yoshi Wada etc.. and more contemporary stuff, Nils Frahm and Chilly Gonzalez, but then we put on Jeff Mills then its The Police, then its jazz, then its some heavy techno…we really span a lot in our listening.
Frank, you’ve played the Sub Club many times over the years. What’s your expectations of playing as Howling live?
Well, I think it’s going to be tight! And of course I hope that we can create the same intense and close atmosphere with Howling as I always have when I play there solo.
What would you consider to be the perfect warm-up to your live set?
Musically? something beautiful and wide scoping.. Frank has made some playlists for us that go in a few directions. Something that holds tension is key. As far as a warm up in life, I would always love a surf, or some Yoga, then some good local food with friends.
As performing artists, where are your favourite locations and why?
We tour a lot, so we see hotels and venues for most of the time. When we get time we love to go out of the cities into the forests, or coasts and take some time with the land there.. its beautiful to get to experience a new country, new landscape, new sea.. although it doesn’t happen as much as we would like. I dig some shows in Bali ;)
The tour bus looks like a lot of fun, You’ve been on it for more than a week now. What do you like / dislike most about travelling to gigs this way? Who smells the best and who smells the worst?
No comment ;)
Picture this… We are driving through the wilds of the Australian outback, just between Balladonia and Caiguna on Highway One which runs arrow straight for 146.6 mind-numbing kilometers (longest straight road in Oz) What 5 tracks would you play on repeat ;) for our journey?
Theres a 40 minute drone by Yoshi Wada called ‘earth horn with electronic drone’ which could work really well… E2 E4 is an ambient beast changing + evolving over its our long piece, maybe throw in music for 18 musicians by Steve Reich, a little ‘nova’ by burial/four tet, a raga by Hariprasad Chaurasia (indian flute player).. and your already there and back.. (146.6km in australia is a short drive)
We are always interested to hear what other music artists are listening to at the moment. Any tracks or producers that stand out for you recently?
Matthew Herbert has an interesting new record we have been listening to a bit..
Any final comments ahead of Sunday? What can we expect?
We are excited to bring something raw and of the heart to a special long standing club space.. something new for us both in that way perhaps. Intimacy and deep approaches at once. we really look forward to it.
Tickets on sale HERE or from RA. Doors open at 22:30 and it’s 4AM Finish.