The Eighth Note is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians. A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music. Up next is VHS crypt-keeper and darkwave/EBM musician Wallowitch.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
I’m Wallowitch, an independent muso based in Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara. I delve into the Underworld of electronic music, and orbit around analogue and digital synths, keyboards and DAWS as conduits of sound. Growing up in the halcyon days of the late 80s and 90s, I absorbed spooky degraded VHS tapes of documentaries and lost movies, which instigated my quiet obsession with sampling. I first experimented with this on the Yamaha DJX.
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
In early November I released my debut album ‘Purple Death’. It had been gestating as a concept for a number of years, but the music swirled into place in different phases. The title track ‘Purple Death’ features a soliloquy from Derek Jarman’s 1986 film Caravaggio: gothic, existential, and paced to an EBM heartbeat. I was over the moon to be granted a license for that narration. I shall get cracking on releasing the follow up single from the album: ‘I’ll give you a ride’ also features a ghostly sample therein.
Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
Bandcamp is where I go-to first upon releasing a track. From there, the usual suspects such as YouTube crawl into frame once I’ve edited a corresponding video. Physical copies (Vinyl/CD) of the album ‘Purple Death’ are scattered around stores in Wellington such as Creeps, Recidivist and Covenant, with the intent of distributing copies in other locations around Wellington and New Zealand.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
This is difficult to pin down, because I could get lost in album art as much as the music itself. There are hundreds. When I was in the first phase of breaking in my DJX keyboard, Experience by The Prodigy was on heavy rotation. Jean Michel Jarre’s Équinoxe was melodically world-building, and forever will be. It taught me to dedicate energy to composition, and weave in deep classical elements. Thirdly, Gary Numan’s albums Telekon and The Pleasure Principle, equally. These albums guided me through the wilderness of my disillusioned youth, and gave cold synth comfort in waveforms.
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
BZZRKR is my local favourite, and we have appeared in the same shows! The resonant After The Flesh performed at a show I organized. I would very much like to collaborate with Crone, as I’ve admired their dark releases thus far.
What is your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
Valhalla. I’ll eternally appreciate how they took me under their wing when I was (and still am) a fledgling banshee. It’s communal, encouraging and hearty.
In your songwriting or composing (or the band ís songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
Composing music is ritualistic to me, a wondrous expression. I first started investigating composition on an olde German piano at my Grandparent’s place, and memorised my songs by playing them daily for years. From there I slowly shifted into the digital realm, building up tracks one by one on my DJX and recording them to cassette tape, digitizing them later. By the year 2005 I started using basic DAWS and programming drums and synths on Mac. GarageBand then appeared, and out spun multitudes of songs from my brain. In 2017 I migrated to Logic Pro, using a midi controller for everything. It became my sonic garden, and this is where I feel the most creatively conducive.
Where/when is your next gig?
Gathering Shadows, Valhalla, Jan 19th 2024. My dear friend Duncan Nairn opts in the event lineups, and I’m enthralled to be sharing the stage with Grecco Romank. This show will feature my most danceable tracks, and I encourage those who share a love of the arcane, gothic and industrial to seek out this 3-night spectacle and all the excellent bands involved.