The mission of the ingenious and free-spirited WILLE & THE BANDITS is to capture what is truly unique in a flourishing diversity of rock & blues sounds…
If you are a follower of this band, you may know that Andrew Naumann (drums) and Matt Brooks (bass) have taken time out to pursue other interests. This has given front-man Wille Edwards the opportunity to select a new group of musicians “According to a vision [he] had for how the sound could be.” He was able to attract “top class musicians” to be part of the recently renovated project.
The Cornwall, South West England head honcho, vocalist, songwriter and lodestar guitarist has hired-in the local professional bassist Harry Mackaill (formerly Cosmo Jarvis) and star drummer Finn McAuley (Shake The Geek / Stellar Fox) as well as a fourth member: the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Matthew Gallagher for keys, guitars and backing vox.
Wille has moved from a three-piece to a four-piece band project: “Having another melodic instrument in the band frees me up a lot on the guitar. I find I’m not having to have such a big aggressive sound and control all the melodic parts of the songs…” he says.
“Now I can sit back more, rather than driving the sound. With writing it gives me so many more possibilities as there is another melodic instrument to play off, which I think will only make the music more interesting moving forward.”
“The dynamic of the band much bigger, the sound with the organ is huge, but then when you drop it down just to three vocals the contrast is just fantastic.”
WATB release their double A-side single “Keep It On The Downlow” and “Retribution” to coincide with the start of their Spring 2020 UK Tour (dates below)
We had a listen to the radio edits:
“Keep It On The Downlow” is more squishy than a trample across a quagmire wearing a pair of gummy-bear boots. There is also a flock of bewitching beats and low crackerjack chunks of bass that shimmy around a melody that is focused and compelling. This is very effective.
“Retribution” is an altogether sweeter & hairier affair with an exalted main vocal-line and guitars that are rich in altitude. In fact, it’s quite reminiscent of something you might have found on the “Get a Grip” album (Aerosmith) circa 1993.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/willeandthebandits.official/
Check-out Judgement Day while you wait for the singles…
RAW RAMP 