Mixing alternative rock, shoegaze and power pop, Wynona Bleach are a 5-piece from Belfast, NI. 2021 saw them sign to legendary indie label Fierce Panda (Coldplay, Placebo, Death Cab For Cutie); in early 2022 the band’s debut album Moonsoake was unleashed, unveiling an exciting and energetically passionate body of work, screaming battered hearts and fractured emotions.
The band’s latest single is the sassy and dreamily lush Swim In The Bay – available from all download and streaming platforms. We had a chat with guitarist Jonny Woods from the band about music, life, their new single and everything in between.
Which artists (musical and otherwise) influence your sound?
We love Placebo, The Joy Formidable, The Smashing Pumpkins, Curve, and Veruca Salt
Although your music is absolutely rockin – it also feels like you have a Shoegaze quality to it – would you agree ?
We get compared a lot to shoe gaze stuff because of the amount of layered guitars we tend to do, but honestly we think we are more Alt Rock! We’ve been called Crunchy Bubblegrungers and we think that’s probably the best description of what we do!! We love having punchy vocals and bending genres.
We love the DIY nature of the Swim In The Bay video! Is a hands-on approach important to your musical output?
Honestly, it’s a budget thing. Swims video was shot on a budget of about £14! The creativity has to be kicked up a notch to be able to make it work cohesively and still look interesting.
What we did was borrow a square drum riser from a friend who hires them out, put it on wheels, and spun it around our rehearsal space (which happens to be in a very 80’s looking ballroom) – We then put the camera on the riser so that the background seemed to spin. We also then got a big tub from Ikea, put bin bags in the bottom of it and filled it with salty coffee-water (the salt helps it reflect more) and then set a TV up and filmed the reflection on the surface of the water! We then edited that in, to give a real analog watery effect!
Tell us a bit about what your live show is like…
We are a laser beam focused, intense and loud show with lots of guitar slinging and fun to be had!
Any funny or cool tour stories to relate?
We love 10-pin bowling on our days off, and our long-suffering sound engineer is the reigning champ. Also, a few years before the Ukraine war, we toured Russia. One time deep in Siberia we played a show in an Irish bar/club called “Harats”.
After the show the promoter wanted us to go to a party, which our tour manager allowed. He took us to an underground club called The Cloud Rooms which was a vape club/bar. We got totally hammered and at the end when we tried to pay, they wouldn’t allow it! It was a special free booze club for invite only, run by two wealthy Russian computer programmers. It was amazing.
What is the music scene like in Belfast? Where would you take us for a rocking night out?
There are amazing venues in Belfast depending on what you’re after. There’s sweaty loud and rowdy basement shows in McHugh’s Bar, big halls like the Ulster hall and newly completed Mandela Hall. One of our favourite venues is the Oh Yeah Music Centre, a venue, music exhibition space and home to many studios and music industry professionals in our city. It’s named after the massive Ash song.
What has the rest of 2024 have in store for you?
We are completing our new Album in March/April 2024, and will be announcing two tours this year, one in Ireland and one in UK, to coincide with the album release which we hope to be later this year!!
Interview by Jason Ritchie
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Latest session: Sunday 14 April
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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 7 April 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 2 April 2024.
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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024
ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
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