Next up in our Red Light Competition winners’ series are Wynter – a recently formed five-piece whose sound moves between dream-pop, shoegaze and indie, with their newer material increasingly pushing into heavier territory.
Made up of Jen Wynn, Louis Wild, Hari Guy, Laurie Vusolo and Ethan Mockford, the band have quickly evolved from Jen’s solo project into a collaborative five-piece, while still finding their feet and figuring out exactly where they want to take things next.
After being selected as one of three winners from hundreds of entries, Wynter headed to Electric Studios for a professionally filmed live session with Dan Booth, a photoshoot with Emma Ledwith and a Red Light Podcast appearance with us.
We caught up with Jen, Louis and Hari to talk karaoke encounters, the slightly chaotic search for a band name, their evolving sound and studio sessions fuelled by cheese strings and Capri Suns.
Let’s start at the beginning. How did Wynter come together?
Jen: I used to sing and play guitar by myself, but then I met my boyfriend Louis.
Which came first – the relationship or the band?
Jen: Relationship!
And how did the rest of the band come into the picture?
Jen: I’ve known these three from different places. The first time me and Laurie met, we actually did karaoke.
What did you sing?
Jen: Video Games, Lana Del Rey.
And what’s your go-to karaoke song these days?
Jen: I Can’t Make You Love Me, by Bonnie Raitt.
Louis: We actually did a cover of it at our first headline gig.
So when did the band as it exists now properly come together?
Jen: This year, really. Everyone puts in their equal amount, and it just makes so much more sense to be under a band name.
How difficult was it finding one?
Jen: There were a lot of names. It was very unserious. Louis’ last name is Wild, so there was Louis and Wilds for a bit.
Louis: Jen and the Wailers!
Jen: There were some really bad ones. Some very inappropriate ones.
So how did you eventually land on Wynter?
Jen: Laurie came up with it. It was a name that was said right at the start, but we were all just like, let’s just see where else we can go. Then it was getting really silly. I think everybody just said, I like Wynter, in the end.
Hari: It had been going on for weeks.
And what’s the significance of spelling it with a Y?
Jen: My middle name is W-Y-N-N.
How does writing work now that you’ve got the full band involved?
Jen: Me and Louis will write together sometimes, then these guys have their own input as well. It’s really good. Laurie’s pretty much good at everything.
Hari: We just get kind of a core idea together, and then everyone runs with it. When it comes to guitar parts, me and Louis share parts between us, making sure that every guitar line is different and we’re not just doubling up.
It sounds like quite a stress-free way of working.
Hari: It’s really easy-going.
Jen: Especially when someone comes to the rehearsal and they’re like I’ve got a new song, let’s do this. We pretty much all get it straight away.
And lyrically, is that still mainly your department, Jen?
Jen: Most of the songs are, but recently we’re sort of collaborating a bit as well with writing lyrics. There’s some nature kind of stuff. I think a couple of the songs are about the moon. The song about my mum – everyone loves that one, which is nice.
The dreaded question, then: how would you describe Wynter to somebody who hasn’t heard you?
Louis: We’ve been called shoegaze.
Hari: I would say dream-pop. People refer to Cocteau Twins.
Jen: It started off quite folky, quite indie, but now it’s definitely getting a lot heavier. The older songs were pretty folky, and then the newer stuff that we’re writing, we’re going a bit heavier with it.
Hari: Which is fun. It tends to retain that, especially with your part, that Elliott Smith influence.
There were hundreds of applications for this competition and you were one of only three bands selected. How important are opportunities like this for grassroots artists?
Jen: It’s really important. It’s actually the first photoshoot that we’ve done together. We all work a lot as well, so when there’s an opportunity like this…
Louis: It’s also one of the first opportunities we’ve had to capture Wynter properly as the full band.
You’ve currently got one track out, but is there more on the way then?
Louis: Trying to get some studios booked in August. We’ve got one song out, but we want to do an EP, with three more songs we want to do.
Jen: But then we keep coming up with new songs. I keep sending the people we wanna work with the recordings of the new ones, and they’re probably just like, please stop.
How did that recording session go?
Jen: We got one song done in one day, which was pretty cool. It was a long day though, like 11 or 12 hours.
Hari: It was only the second time that I’d done anything with the band and I had to write an entire guitar part.
No pressure then! What keeps Wynter going through an 11 or 12-hour studio session?
Jen: Cheese strings, Capri Suns and Angel Slices!
