On Repeat: Wake the Wild // 'Ritual'
If you’re new to Wake the Wild, we’d like to introduce you to the kings of making dance music that you can (+ will want to) listen to all. the. time. The LA-based electro-pop trio returns today with their new single Ritual, and we can’t get enough of their dancey synths, smooth feel-good vocals + refreshing take on their signature retro sound. The band, composed of Zach Sorgen (vocals, synths), Chase Jackson (bass, guitar + malletkat), and Forrest Mitchel (drums, triggers), has been spending lots of time evolving their sound + has a ton of new music up their sleeves for the rest of the year. We chatted with them all about Ritual + what’s next, and you’ll definitely want to keep an eye on them—trust us.
photo by Leo Deveney
Asymmetric Magazine: Congrats on the new track! Can you tell us all about Ritual?
Forrest Mitchell: Ritual is about dusting off negativity and finding balance through the different cycles of life. Everyday we come home from a long day's work and find an escape in music—that’s our ritual. This is the first of four singles solidifying the next chapter of our sound which fuses funky house, catchy melodies and danceable grooves. It's been a minute since we've released new music, and since then we've been writing, producing, writing some more, and producing some more. Now we have a sound that feels more like what we envisioned for Wake the Wild.
AM: How would you describe your new sound?
FM: Ritual is a great balance of some of the new influences that we've been vibing off of as of late. We love some of the dynamic and catchy bass lines of artists like Disclosure and fused them with sounds and synth elements from artists like Pomo. We've also been on a huge Oliver kick, so you can hear a lot of them in our newer stuff.
AM: You also announced you have some more tracks coming out this year. What can we expect to hear?
FM: Yes! We've got at least three more dropping this year that will really show the range of our sound. You will hear some more funky dance jams, as well as a some more chill vibes, and even an urban influenced track, as well. There may or may not be some dope collabs in the works, too.
AM: Are there any consistent themes you guys are pursuing in your new work?
FM: We are a dance band, so we are all about making music that translates well live and gets a dance party started. We still love some of our older songs, but man, are they tough to play live. Our newer stuff is more band oriented, more organic, and much more retro/80's influenced. We've been taking elements from some of our favorite artists of previous decades such as Prince, Janet, Chaka Khan, etc. and fusing them with contemporary artists like NAO, SG Lewis, Moon Boots, etc. We also want to project an energy that is fun and light. There's so much heavy shit going on in the world right now, and we want to create a space where people can come together and let loose. We also have come to terms with the fact that we are three extreme music nerds and have been just having way more fun with the music making process. In the middle of 2018, we found ourselves restricting our own creative process by trying to fit ourselves into preexisting boxes. Once you stop taking yourself too seriously, the magic starts to happen.
There's so much heavy shit going on in the world right now, and we want to create a space where people can come together and let loose.
AM: You've been playing some live shows recently, too—do you have a favorite track to play live?
FM: Honestly, we have an unspoken rule where if a song is boring to play, it gets cut from the set. But if we had to choose, it would either be Second Nature because it goes hard and we use it as a closer, or an unreleased track called Girlfriend, which has a fun dance section.
AM:What's next for the band?
FM: Releasing more music! We've been slacking hard getting stuff out. We've been releasing music at the speed of an adolescent snail. We've locked ourselves away for over a year making new music and evolving our sound, and now it's time to share it with you all. Coupled with playing a whole lot more shows, we want to build as much momentum as possible into 2020. So, we will release three to four new songs this year, and then have a ton more in the pipeline for next year. Our goal is to have something come out basically every month for the foreseeable future. As the wise, old baboon Rafiki once put it, ‘It is time!’.
