THE WAKE

[ Interview with Troy Payne from The Wake by Diego Centurión. Photographs: BlayloxArts ]

POST-PUNK PIONEERS LOUDLY RE-EMERGE AFTER LENGTHY HIATUS

Yeah, The Wake, that band from the second generation of Gothic Rock, the creators of "Harlot", "Locomotive Age", "Christine" "Control", among many Gothic Rock jewels from the 90's ... are back. They have just released their new album called "Perfumes & Fripperies" and in these crazy months, it becomes great news for lovers of classic Gothic Rock. We have the opportunity to speak with Troy Payne and ask him these questions...

Hi Troy, thanks for allowing us to ask you these questions...

To start and put us in the world today, how are you living this madness called Covid-19?

Hello, I’m glad to have the opportunity to speak to you and your readers.

Yes, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down and inside out. We are living day by day and trying to remain hopeful as well as being realistic about the challenges that still lie ahead. As with many musicians - the pandemic has, and continues to, prevent us from working. We are unable to rehearse - unable to tour. Fortunately we had just finished mixing Perfumes and Fripperies right before the lockdowns began - so 2020 was not a complete loss. Of course it is hard to complain about not being able to rehearse or tour when so many have lost so much. We’ve been hit hard here in the US with more than 9.5 million infected and 234,000 having died as of this writing. We can only hope for better days ahead.

Covering the history of the band in a few questions is a difficult task, but we can try a review of those years when everything flowed naturally and many bands were born within the Gothic Rock scene. What do you remember from those 80's and 90's in the gothic rock scene?

There really wasn't a goth rock scene here in Columbus, Ohio USA in the ‘80s. It was not a popular genre here. The Wake was the only band in the area playing music that you could consider goth. This trend continued into the early ‘90s. For a short time after that, there was a single goth club in the city that would host goth bands and DJs but it only lasted a few years and by then we had stopped playing live in Columbus - our last show having been played here in 1991. Elsewhere, of course, the scene was alive and prosperous. We traveled to other major cities often to play in crowded clubs for several years. Chicago, NYC, LA, and Mexico City all had particularly vibrant goth scenes at this time. The scene was driven largely by the influx of new music and bands of the “Second Wave” era. A lot of those bands (including The Wake) found a home on Cleopatra Records. Being signed to a record label meant something back then. It gave legitimacy to the bands, music, and scene as a whole. Today labels are less important due to the ease and low cost of digital recording and the ability to self distribute and promote via the internet.

Thinking back to those years when there were no internet possibilities that there are today, and talking about assumptions would be useless, but do you think the band would have had much more diffusion?

Would the band have had more worldwide exposure in the early days if the internet would have existed as it does today? Yes, no doubt. It is difficult to guess however, how it would have affected the trajectory of our career. Like most things, the internet is both good and

bad. It allows for a little known band’s music to be shared around the world in an instant - which can be a wonderful thing. But that same ability also creates such a glut of content that it works to devalue music as a whole.

Today the classic Gothic Rock scene has had a new wave of bands that commune with the sound of that second wave of the 80's or 90's. How do you see the scene today?

It may seem strange, but as far as new music goes, I listen mostly to what I consider “goth adjacent” bands as well as completely out of genre stuff these days. I have a wide variety of tastes in music, but almost all of it has a dark theme or edge to it. Starbenders and Bones UK are two of my current favorite “new” bands.

In the early years of the past decade the band has had some activity with the singles, "Emily Closer" and "Rusted", which are both included on this new album , but then there was nothing else. Why haven't you recorded anything until 2020?

“Emily Closer” was released in 2010, and “Rusted” was released in 2014. The versions included on the new record are different from the singles however. There were certainly gaps in our production over the six years in between the singles and the album. We encountered many road blocks and obstacles along the way, but, we did write a lot of material (an additional album worth). With that stockpile of songs - hopefully the interval between Perfumes and Fripperies and the next album will be much shorter.

And since last year you have reissued your two previous albums and you promise the new album, “Perfumes and Fripperies”, what was it that made you record a new album?

Yes both Masked and Nine Ways have been reissued via Cleopatra Records. Vinyl and CD for both, which was also fun and a first.

As I said before, we had been wanting to make a new album for a very long time - things just finally came together in the way of schedules and finances that made it possible. There was also the motivation of finishing the record and getting it released before our European tour dates. This was to avoid the feeling of being a “nostalgia tour” - there would be new songs to play and be excited about .

Listening to the new album, the classic Gothic Rock returns to the sources with much more raw post-punk. What do you think of the sound of the new album?

I have heard the sound described several different ways now since the release. I can tell you that from my perspective - it just sounds like The Wake. We play, and this is the sound that comes out. I do think we now have a better idea of how to get what we want soundwise, and we are just a little better at doing what we do as writers, musicians, and DIY sound engineers. So maybe - hopefully this is reflected in our work.

Matt Hagburg, our mix engineer at VMS and Emily Lazar, mastering engineer at The Lodge NYC undoubtedly also contributed to the overall sound and quality of this record.

To talk about going back to the roots, they have as a guest David “Wolfie” from Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and from what I have read “Everything” had been discarded and then taken up again. What did you see in the song for “Wolfie” to participate?

Yes “Everything” began as an entirely different song. It had potential but we couldn't seem to move it along until Rich came up with a new guitar line that sent the song in a new direction. With the new guitar part sounding somewhat reminiscent of the Lorries, and Rich being a big fan - he got the idea to ask Wolfie to add another guitar layer to the track. The result is what we have today. Their guitar parts compliment each other in a wonderful way.

And it is a very personal song that talks about your father, I have read that it is a cathartic letter. I have also read that when you heard the instrumental, the song closed. In these times of pandemic, did this song take on another intensity?

I have described the lyrics as a kind of cathartic letter to my father who died some time ago. Further, as a way to say and ask things that live in the heart but were never said or asked aloud. Yes, when I heard the instrumental of “Everything” after Rich and Wolfie had recorded their new parts - I knew just what I wanted to do for my part.

As for the last part of your question - I’m not sure, but I can imagine how it definitely could.

I have read that the album has been recorded in various studios and under different circumstances. Tell us, how was the recording process?

Most of the instruments and all of the vocals

were recorded at our home studios. The drums were recorded at three different studios. Typically, either Rich or I recorded a demo version of a song which was then sent to the rest of the band or players. They each recorded their raw parts and returned those tracks to me where I assembled and produced a rough mix. I then sent the rough mixes and all of the stems to Matt at VMS. Matt would work up a rough mix of his own, then Rich and I would come in for the final mix session on each track. This was the process for all of the songs with the exception being “Rusted (Hz Healer Mix feat. Caroline Blind )” where I’m responsible for the final mix.

The result is something that lovers of old school gothic rock and post punk should not miss, "Perfumes and Fripperies" is a dark and deep journey, where the years show what they do best, demonstrate their nobility as one of the legendary bands of glorious years of the dark scene.

Thank you.

In closing and thanking you for the time you have dedicated to me, what message would you like to leave to our readers?

The response to the album has been outstanding. Thank you to everyone for that. We can't wait to make another.

Hope we can rock out live together some day. If not, we are with you in the headphones.

Thanks Troy!

Cheers!