Wallows

Words Mike Vinti

November 27, 2018December 4, 2018

We spend some time with Hollywood heart-throbs Wallows on their first trip to London for this week's Internet Crush.

Social media has changed the way we interact with our favourite artists. More than just musicians, they’re now personalities, people we can interact with on the daily. Now more than ever we’re aware that musicians are pretty normal people, they just have a weird job. Every week we get to know one of our favourite SoundCloud heroes, internet dating style, in our new column, Internet Crush.

Wallows are keeping California’s indie dream alive. Ten years into their career as a band but barely in their twenties, the trio is a product of Hollywood, conceived as a project to keep Braeden and Dylan busy between acting gigs. Completed by drummer Cole, the group specialise in an amalgamation of everyone’s favourite indie bands from the last two decades, inspired by everything from the Strokes to St Vincent with some Frank Ocean thrown in for good measure.

When not fronting Wallows, Dylan also stars in Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. However, all three members of teh group are keen to avoid the ‘actor turned musician’ tag, focusing on Wallows full time at the moment. We caught them for a drink on their first trip to London for this week’s Internet Crush.

What’s it like breaking out ten years into your career as a band?

Cole: It’s cool, I think we all know each other so well that it feels like there’s all of this cool stuff happening and when you take yourself out of the situation it’s like ‘this is what all of our favourite bands did growing up’. We’re kind of living that right now, but since we’ve been doing it for so long, it doesn’t feel like we’re doing anything different.

What’s your favourite thing about Spring, both the season and the EP?

Dylan: I feel like spring is the season that will feel great anywhere you are, like the weather, will be nice wherever you are. Summer, it can be too hot some places and winter can be too cold. Spring is the perfect middle ground.

For our EP, for me personally, I think a goal of this EP was to make it a taste tester of sorts with the songs and I feel like we achieved that the way we wanted to. I feel like we accomplished what we wanted to on it.

Braeden: I would add that soring is very nice for scenic purposes. It’s my third favourite season; I think it’s fall, winter, spring, summer.

Can you give us thirteen reasons why we should listen to your band?

Dylan: We honestly probably couldn’t… I don’t know if I can do that. We’re not the people to ask; we’re also our biggest critics, we could probably do thirteen reasons not to listen to us.

If you could only act or play music which would you pick and why?

Dylan: I’ve been acting for about twelve years, music is something we’ve always wanted to do and take seriously so if I had to focus on one I’d pick music.

Cole: The deepest I ever got into acting was Romeo and Juliet and high school, so I think I’m going to choose acting.

Braeden: I’d say music, but acting has its perks as well.

Who do you hang out with when you’re not making music?

Braeden: I wanna shout out Soces, what’s good? All my best buds. I wanna shout out Terrence, Portland street what’s good?

Dylan: I feel like in terms of Wallows we’ve been on the road and make more friends with musicians, and we’ve enjoyed hanging out with Gus Dapperton and Field Medic, Hazel English, Beach Fossils….

Describe your sound in one sentence:

Braeden: The funny one… not to compare ourselves to these artists… If Johnny Marr was in Arcade Fire covering Frank Ocean at a Tame Impala concert with Car Seat Headrest playing on a speaker in the background, with St Vincent drinking tea… it goes on and on and on.

Cole: That’s not how we think our music sounds, that’s how we aspire for it to sound.

Collectively, what’s your favourite colour?

Braeden: Collectively? Oh damn…

Cole: I was gonna say like dark green or orange, not neon orange though like a fall time orange.

What’s your favourite movie as a band?

Dylan: We all saw Jumanji right?

Braeden: I’m down for Jumanji to be the favourite, anything with Dwayne Johnson.

Star signs:

Cole: Libra.

Braeden: Aquarius.

Dylan: Capricorn.

Have you ever been in love?

Cole: Yes.

Dylan: Yes.

Braeden: Yes.

Have you ever had your heart broken?

Braeden: Yes.

Cole: Yes.

Dylan: No… I’ve never been heartbroken.

How do you deal with a broken heart?

Braeden: You ride it out. Honestly, a lot of the songs were inspired by some kind of heartbreak so I guess that as well.

Cole: Live your best life and go platinum.

Last book you read:

Dylan: Oh my god I haven’t read in so long… I started reading the Harry Potter books and made it two books deep so it’s Chapter Three of Prisoner of Azkaban.

Braeden: I just read Ready Player One but I haven’t seen the movie yet. I loved the book.

Cole: I read Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari.

First album you ever bought:

Dylan: Abbey Road by the Beatles.

Braeden: Funeral by Arcade Fire.

Cole: Honestly for me it was… I think it was Sam’s Town by the Killers.

First act you ever saw live?

Cole: I saw Joe Cocker open for Steve Miller Band.

Dylan: I saw N*SYNC, fully saw N*SYNC in Chigaco, they floated over the crowd.

Braeden: James Taylor Hollywood Bowl.

Earliest memory:

Braeden: My earliest memory is a dream I had when I was five years old. I’m swimming in like a bank awash with water and a huge great white shark comes out of the water and just before it got to me, I woke up.

Cole: I remember being bit by a dog and my mum’s friends’ house, I have a little scar on my hand.

Are you morning or evening people?

Braeden: Evening for sure, I like the morning more potentially but I’m an evening person because I tend to wake up late and I usually go to bed around three or four in the morning these days.

Dylan: I think I’m a morning person, having to wake up sucks but once you’re past the fatigue and it’s only noon and you’ve accomplished stuff it’s great.

First song you ever wrote:

Dylan: The first song Braeden and I wrote collectively was called ‘Margherita Taco’, I was 11.

Braeden: My first song was called ‘Birds in The Air’, it was acapella and I wrote it for my mum on mother’s day when I was five years old. It goes ‘birds in the air, trees in the air, sun in the air, flowers on the ground, I love you with all my heart’.

Favourite song of your own?

Dylan: It’s hard to say because it’s always the ones that we’re working on. But in terms of songs that are out, right now I’d say ‘Ground’.

Cole: I like ‘Let the Sun in’

Braeden: I’d say the same.

Favourite lyric:

Braeden: “You’re rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock and those other girls are just post-mix lemonade.”

Dylan: “If a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.”

Cole: “Hey your old man should know, if you see a shadow, there’s something there.”