Entering the WIM practice space, it quickly becomes apparent that the bands psychedelic pop sound’s influence extends far beyond their music and stage costumes.
To enter I have to carefully peel back intricate sheets of diaphanous fabric hanging over the door like so many folds of skin.
Singer/songwriter Martin Solomon is as always sporting a feather, a charm he tells me, that helps ward away investment bankers, as he leads me through the instrument littered and harem-esque room filled with pillows and a sweet scent.
The bands origins stemming from songs Martin wrote with a Finnish speed metal guitarist in Paris and songwriter and guitarist Simon Jankelson and drummer Harry Thynne’s klezmer (Jewish folk music) punk fusion band, you might think that WIM’s music would be a schizophrenic mix of outlandish influences and masturbatory musicianship, rather than the infectiously blissful sonic tonic that it is.
“There’s the sense of having fun and playing sweet songs on stage, and that definitely comes through in our camaraderie on stage,” Simon tells me as he draws lazily at his purple fluted hookah, “but you can also see it in terms of musical direction.”
“We came into this project with the express aim of making something that was included and engaged the audience. A lot of indie music out there can be very isolating, I think it makes the audience feel very estranged from the performers, they almost become these “hot people” and your just an audience member, we really try to create the opposite atmosphere to that.”
“I’ve always hated the word gig, I much prefer the word show,” Martin interjects from a hammock hanging above us. “As time goes by, hopefully we’ll be able to achieve it better, but right from the beginning we’ve always talked about putting on more of a spectacle than just standing there and pouting, which I’m afraid I did a little bit too much of at our last gig… show!” he exclaims with a barely audible giggle.
“With Adventure Club then, my intention was to create an extension of that philosophy we try and put out there through the band,” Simon tells me of their upcoming monthly mini-festival at Melt Bar in Kings Cross.
“For instance we’re going to have performance artists coming out into to the crowd and just sort of pulling everyone together so it’s more like a festival, or a celebration as opposed to a bunch of people just being cool and having a show,” he tells me.
“Things like visual and costumes and sets and performance you know just to give the audience more of an experience,” Martin explains from on high.
“We’ve spoken about themes, or like getting the audience to dress up potentially in the future,” a voice, seemingly emerging from nowhere announces.
All of a sudden I realize that whatlooked like a sculpture carved of red stone is in fact bassist Dustin Bookatz, who is reclining like an Adonis covered in some impossible body paint.
Acknowledging my surprise with nothing more than a wink he continues. “At the end of the day music is about sharing and it’s about sharing emotion, and the point of all art is to share. The audience is just as integral to a show, or should be anyway, as the performers themselves.”
Taking the hookah, he looks at me with complete serenity as he exhales. “The end goal is to create something where you as an audience member, you walk into a room and suddenly you’re in a whole new world and your mind is blown.”
WIM play at Adventure Club at Melt Bar on Kellet St Kings Cross Dec 26 with Richard In Your Mind, Cuthbert & The Night Walkers,
Performance art by Justin
Cabaret by Rococco
Maid Marion DJ set
Photo By Diana Carniato
