I first met the guys of Bluewreck at a Paris Monster show in DC, and was impressed by their unique sound and dynamic vocals. “These guys are some of the best musicians in the area,” someone said next to me, and they certainly impressed. I was impressed to also see that in the short time they’ve been playing together as a band, they’ve already recorded two albums – which I suggest you listen to right now on their bandcamp. As advocates for up-and-coming musicians, The Jamwich is always excited to find a young band with the huge potential to blow up–which I think you will find with Bluewreck.
When and how did you guys meet and come to play music together? Did you guys have an a-ha moment where you knew you had to do this more seriously?
We all met in high school playing in various bands around Northern Virginia, but hadn’t played together until around 2017. We originally started out with a different singer, but changed to our current lineup in April of 2018. We all have a strong passion for music and were looking for something more serious around that time. Once we solidified our current lineup, we hit the ground running. We had our first a-ha moment when we went into the studio for the first time and recorded our single off of our record, Out Of Control.
For a band only 3 years, old, you guys already have two albums? That’s pretty incredible. Where were these albums recorded and what are they called? When did you record your first album? How long did it take you to write the songs and then how long did it take for the recording?
We recorded our self titled debut album in our drummer’s basement in December of 2017, which came out in March of 2018. During that recording process, we began the writing for our second full length Out Of Control, which we recorded at Ivakota Studios with Ben Green in Washington D.C. and Omega Recording Studios in Rockville, MD. The whole process took around 9 months from writing, to recording, to release.
How does your songwriting process work? Is there one person or core members that do most of the music or lyrical writing?
Our songwriting process is very collaborative, where one member will bring in an idea. From there, we expand upon the original idea and create the parts for our various instruments. Our lyrics are written primarily by our lead singer, Will Salzmann.
Who do you draw as your musical influences? What is a musical inspiration or favorite band of yours that we might not expect?
Some of our biggest musical influences that we pull from are Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, and Royal Blood. We all come from different musical backgrounds, so sometimes we take influences from Vulfpeck, D’Angelo, My Chemical Romance, and Dr. Dog.
What would you call your genre of music and how did you come to this conclusion?
We like to call ourselves a mix of psychedelic rock, heavy blues, with some jazz influences thrown in. We came to that conclusion over time as we started to solidify our sound and by playing shows in the D.C area.
If a new listener wanted to get the best idea of your current sound and what you’re all about, what song do you suggest they listen to?
We have two sides of our music, one side that is very driven by psychedelic rock and heavy blues, and another side that is more laid back. For the psychedelic rock side, we’d recommend “Attack // Release,” and for our mellow side, we’d recommend “Tired Of Waiting,” both off of Out Of Control.
What are some upcoming tour dates you’re excited about? Any other exciting projects you are working on currently?
We’re really excited about our upcoming show at Rock And Roll Hotel on February 7th. We just played Harrisonburg twice, and just had a show in Norfolk. We have two upcoming dates on February 8th and 9th, both in Richmond. We’re also planning a spring tour in March along the east coast. Right now, we’re working on a new record that is in the process of being written and recorded, and are aiming to release it later this year.
