A few weeks ago I received a bit of a surprise through my letterbox – somebody had sent me Wayter‘s debut album, Feeding Time through the post. I’d like to kiss that person, as I’ve been hooked on it since I first put it on my CD player (yes, I still listen to CDs). I don’t want to go into too much detail, as I’m scheduled to review the album next week, but I can tell you this: I love a noisy band, and London-based Wayter are a welcome return to the grassroots of discordant and experimental grunge that very few artists can pull off without sounding like Seattle clones. I had to talk to these guys, so I did what any self-respecting writer would – I emailed their PR contact – and they actually replied!

Wayter – Twenty by abadgeoffriendship

The members of Wayter are from all over the place. How did you guys meet?

Oscar and Juan were latin lovers way back in the 90s.. then they decided to get some English blood in the band to help with the language barrier and that’s where me [Eddie - guitar and vox] and Dan came in. Now we can talk to almost anyone because Juan speaks six languages.

Your sound is incredibly hard to pigeonhole (which most other bands would kill for). What and who do you think has influenced the band the most, sound wise?

Well the new album Feeding Time is slightly more restrained than the live show has become. One day Dan turned up with a Hot Head pedal and now he mainly just makes noise. Then Juan grew his hair back and Oscar suddenly has a mustache!?. I’m as confused as you are. I just try to join in and sing some lines about how i lost my cat down a squirrel hole. It all happened in the 90′s.

Is there a driving creative force in the band, or are do you use a more collaborative process? Talk us through a typical songwriting session?

I turn up first because I have the keys. Oscar and Dan rock in about 6.30 looking worn out!. Juan turns up late, he’s the boss. We smoke some cigarettes on the roof and drink cheap beer. Then we just hammer it out. Play some new stuff for about 2 hours which is the real deal. Then we spend about 3 weeks turning it into a diluted syrup of a song, and wondering why it never sounds as good as it did the first time.

What do you bring to the stage during a live performance (not literally, obviously – guitars, amps and a kit are always a good idea)?

What don’t we bring!. ?. we got it all baby.. action, adventure, hair, deafening volume, sweat, broken things, like bones, flashy lights, sometimes we even spill a glass of liquid on the stage. My dream is to come on riding an indian elephant doing the Tarzan call. ahh a ahh a ahh

Have you got any plans to tour the album? If so, when and where?

Yes we do!. we’re doing a little jaunt around the south coast at the start of june. We’re still filling in the gaps if anybody wants to book us for a show. We’re playing a few of them with a great band from Sweden called Steel Island who are releasing their first single on June 13th. We do Portsmouth June 2nd, castings 3rd, and London June 5th at the moment.

What next for Wayter?

The album Feeding Time is out on May the 30th. And that’s available on CD digipack and download, and it’ll be available most places. I think Juan wants to learn chinese. Oscar’ll be kept busy trimming the tash. Dan’s going to Croatia to steal some sweet bass ideas of those guys. And I’m gonna practice table tennis until i can really stick it to those french dudes who always come over and just kick my arse. Then when we’re all satisfied, we’ll go back in the studio and bust out another album.

Keep an eye on Wayter’s Myspace page for all your tour and release schedule newsy goodness.