2025 IS THE YEAR OF THE WILMAH: A CONVERSATION WITH WILMAH

photo by Alec Ilstrup

Alec: So I'm here with Wilmah, the band. We're at Mercury Lounge right before their first ever

headlining show here [at Mercury Lounge]. Go ahead and introduce yourselves guys.

Matt: I'm Matt.

Will: I'm Will. I've recently changed my name to Wyle.

Alec: Wyle?

Will: W-Y-L. W-Y-L. After coming back home from the South...

A: Okay. Period. Let's talk a little bit about how we got here. Like, you guys have known each

other a long time.

W: Yeah. Well, it's been exactly five years. Not exactly, but it's been five years now since we first

played our first show at Mercury Lounge here.

M: Yeah, like right before COVID happened. And we remember it was like our third show ever in

New York. And it felt like a very big deal to us to be playing such a legit venue.

W: Yeah, now here we are, we're headlining it ourselves so we're trying to show out tonight and

just rock the stage. But, I mean, before that, Matt and I had been friends for... we've been

friends since like fifth and sixth grade playing baseball together. And then one day we both went

to school band rehearsal and we were both in the same practice together. So we started playing

guitar together in sixth to eighth grade. And then we didn't really reconnect until later in high

school when we put together a band.

M: And then we decided in 2018 that we wanted to do it in New York.

W: Yeah.

A: Sick.

W: Gotta make moves. Gotta always make moves. I had people telling me, don't do it, it's gonna

be a waste. I said, I'm not gonna listen to you.

(Laughter)

M: We decided to make money moves and stuff.

W: Yeah. All those people that were telling me not to, they were down and I was up.

A: She broke, we up.

W: Yeah.

A: Well, sick. Over the years, what's been some of the highlight shows?

M: We played Bowery Ballroom last summer, which was definitely a highlight. That was crazy to

play to such a big crowd.

W: Selling out our first show was super cool, too.

M: We've had some really good shows at Baby’s.

W: Yeah. Had some really, really fun shows at Baby’s All Right.

M: Shout out to them.

W: It's just fun to have the opportunity to play in New York.

W: We've had some fun shows on the road, too. We did our first reunion show in Buffalo this

past summer. And we just got a huge crowd to come out and support us. They hadn't heard us

live in like seven or eight years.

M: Yeah, that was incredible.

W: It was such a cool feeling.

M: It was a standout moment for sure, playing in the hometown.

A: Yeah, that's awesome. Talk about this past year, any songs you've released that you’re proud

of?

M: I think the new material overall is our strongest, even stuff that's not out yet. But I think we've

really been honing around the image and the brand and the songs and the look. And

everything's finally coming together after a lot of hard work. And people are finally realizing what

Wilmah is.

W: Yeah, we've been making a lot of moves later this year to finally look more well-rounded, I

guess. But we're super, super hyped about our recent single, Boy for the Night. It sounds super

good. It's a super fun song. We love playing it live, too.

A: How do you guys feel going into the next year? Do you have anything you're cooking up?

W: I feel hyped. I feel fucking hyped. 2025 is the year of the Wilmah.

M: This is the most motivated we've ever been.

W: We know we've got a lot of super cool songs in the bank ready to go. And we've got some

cool show opportunities that we can't really talk about yet that are going to be happening.

M: All we really want to do is make better music and make better songs consistently.

W: Yeah.

M: Because we're already really good.

(Laughter)

M: But imagine if we did that?

(More laughter)

A: Fuck yeah. Talk a little bit about your songwriting process. Who are some of the people

you've collaborated with recently? And how has your process changed from when you first

started?

M: I mean, at first it was just me and Will in a spare bedroom in Buffalo. But the thing that's

stayed the same is that we're inspired by songs, and a lot of the time old songs, and we like to

pull from as many sources as possible. And I think when you pull from a lot and you love a lot of

different types of music, it allows for you to create an interesting product. And it always, no

matter where we pull from, it always feels like Wilmah to us.

W: One thing that's definitely true is we have a very broad range in taste. But even though that

may be all over the place, one thing that remains the same is that we love a classic feeling

song. Like something that's just like a timeless hit. And we can kind of pick that out anywhere

we are. If we hear a song on the radio, we'll be like, wow, that's just a timeless classic. The

melodies, the chorus...Or we'll hear another song of a different genre and be like, I love the

production of this song, and do something kind of similar, but with a classic feel of a song that

we just heard. So it's like a blending of those two things.

M: Yeah, all we want to do is create timeless music. Our manager calls them evergreen songs.

A: That’s a good way to put it. Do you want to talk about the EP? Or is that kind of not

announced yet?

M: Yeah, we haven't announced it yet... We can just say we have an EP coming out this year.

W: We have a body of work coming out this year. And that is going to signify the fact that we are

leveling up.

A: Yeah, any closing statements? Final words?

M: I'd like to thank anyone that cares about us.

W: Yeah, thank you. And if you do care, we can further this by saying come and grab a beer

with us whenever you want. We love to go out and chill and talk. We're just happy to be here.

M: We're men of the people.

W: We’re men of the people.

A: And that's Wilmah.

W: And that's Wilmah.

M: That’s right.