The ever-reliable Manchester scene has restarted its music factories, putting its artists back at the coalface once more. Acts like Westside Cowboy and Pyncher have already attracted well-deserved attention for their innovative and timely output. Among the many acts emerging from the city right now are TTSSFU and Wyatt.
Wyatt are an alternative country-influenced outfit whose members draw from a deep well of musical experience. Singer and guitarist Harvey O’Toole, also a member of Pyncher, is expanding his work as a songwriter and performer by splitting his time between the two projects. Alongside him are his brother Evan O’Toole on bass and backing vocals, Joe Ward on drums, and Emily Mason on trumpet, with the band currently accompanying TTSSFU on a UK tour. IINAG caught up with Harvey, Evan and Joe to talk about the band’s origins, influences and what comes next
IINAG: Let’s start with the origin story. I believe you and Evan were in a family band before Wyatt?
Harvey: Me, my brother and dad are in a covers band alongside a drummer and a guitar player we aren’t related to. We still play together and are called the Fleegulls because of the 70s TV show Banana Splits, where there was a band that had a member called Fleegull.
IINAG: How have you taken a covers band and turned it into a project that’s supporting TTSSFU?
H: We’ve been playing since we were around 14, me and Evan. It’s a special thing to play with family, a special feeling. We met Joe when he was in another band, and I was playing only with Pyncher. I wanted to play my own music, so we met up. We needed a bass player, and Evan was an easy choice- I didn’t know anyone better. He’s really good at what he does.
Since Emily joined too, my favourite thing about Wyatt is that I don’t have to communicate what I want. They are so good at what they do that it takes shape naturally. I don’t direct much; they just get it.
IINAG: How did Emily come to join?
H: Well, it had been a while since I started a new band. There was a time when we were only playing Manchester, and it felt like we needed to do something different.
IINAG: Why?
H: My impatience. In Manchester, there’s a high bar as there are so many great artists. I thought it would be a good idea to bring Emily with us as a special add-on at the end of a gig. She quickly became a part of the band. It’s been us four as the permanent line-up since August or September. It happened organically.
IINAG: How organic is it playing in a band as brothers?
H: I think it’s natural. What about you, Evan?
Evan: Yeah, it definitely works for me. We are on a similar wavelength.
H: We don’t think about it too much; that’s the key.
IINAG: Your songs, Harvey, are quite personal. Is it hard to be vulnerable like that around your family?
H: A part of me dissociates from what I’m saying anyway. Some of it is rambling, and I attach meaning to it later. Sometimes I sit in my bedroom, and things spill out. I record things on my phone, listen back and pick out things I’ve said by accident or on purpose and piece it together.
At Christmas, we went home and were around our grandparents. My Grandad said something like, “Are you OK? Have you gone through something?” Thanks for looking out for me, Grandad. I’m fine. You reach a point where you stop thinking about it as a personal thing and see it as a piece of art.
I’ve never been a fan of explaining songs. If I write something and 30 different people find 30 different meanings, it’s not mine anymore. It’s a song I’ve given to the world.
IINAG: Joe, your other projects include a band called Dek and Factory Floor. I know you play drums in Dek. What do you do in Factory Floor?
Joe: They’ve been going for quite a while already. I basically play electronic samples and percussion, which complements their live sound and is a very different project for me.
IINAG: What about Emily’s past projects?
H: She’s been around the Manchester music scene for a while. She’s also a music student, and it’s nice to have someone around who knows what they’re talking about.
IINAG: You all have such a diverse background musically. How do you fuse? Is it possible to qualify that?
H: We are all just capable musicians. We let each other do what we need to do. It’s quite relaxed. We all have music we can share and talk about, and we also play different music. We are all interested in tapping in to our experiences of listening to and playing music.
Me and Evan have the most in common as we grew up with the same mum and dad. Someone asked me about this recently. I can’t play drums like Joe or bass like Evan or be as musically minded as Emily is, but I don’t mind being different in that way. Sometimes I feel I want something, but I’m certainly not in a position to tell people how to play their instruments.
J: I’d seen Pyncher before, and I knew Harvey wasn’t someone who messes about. He told me that his brother is the best bass player from Warrington.
H: I can confirm that I said that!
IINAG: Your project seems focused. I think you can hear the vision in what’s been released so far. You have different musical backgrounds but are physically based in different locations. Where are you all at the moment?
H: Me and Emily are in Manchester, Joe is in Macclesfield, and Evan is at university in Sheffield.
IINAG: Do you find being physically separated difficult? Is it hard to collaborate over the internet, or do you find yourselves meeting up more often than expected?
H: We actually rehearse together quite regularly. Evan travels over often, too. We wouldn’t do that if we didn’t feel so passionately about the project. Songs largely come together for us in person. I do record things on my phone, and demos are done in bedrooms, but we work best when we are in the same room.
IINAG: I guessed you would be more of a digital project, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case. On the topic of the digital world, Wyatt has no presence on Spotify, but you do on Bandcamp. Is it a deliberate decision not to be on Spotify?
H: Bandcamp is just so good. There’s less pressure when putting things on Bandcamp. Putting something on Spotify feels more permanent. That’s where you build an image. Our Bandcamp has live recordings and demos, which don’t necessarily have a place on Spotify. We want to have a clearer direction before we move there.
IINAG: Would you say you haven’t reached a point where you know who you are as a group?
H: I go back and forth on this. I like coming up with new ideas, and there’s always room to improve, but there will come a point where we have to take a step back and say this is us. We are getting there, but recording it is a whole other thing. We have done some recording and have given away CDs at gigs.
E: When it comes to releasing things officially, we will know when the right time is. There’s no need to rush it. We aren’t well-known at this point. It could help us to go to Spotify, but there’s no urgency.
H: Or industry assistance!
J: I’m a bit older than the others, but we have all been in a variety of bands. These things can take time. As the boys say, it will come when it’s ready. We need to maximise the impact of our first output. Bandcamp is great, and growth on that platform is organic. It’s refreshing too.
H: There’s a chance we never feel like we have fully found our sound. We just want to record something one day that captures the moment we are in. I will always look to write new stuff and improve. I believe we will improve.
IINAG: Let’s move on to influences. I can hear MJ Lenderman and Jason Molina. Who else have we got?
J: The War on Drugs. There’s a lot of that. The drumming is not progressive, but there’s a lot of emotion. It’s either very loud or very quiet. It’s a bit like being on a bike. I feel like an Americana workhorse.
H: There’s your headline!
J: It’s traditional drumming. There are no paradiddles or jazz swings. We aren’t hiding anything. Or maybe we are…
E: Whenever anyone asks me this question, I always think of Wilco first.
H: Me and E both love Wilco because of our dad.
IINAG: We’ve mentioned your dad a few times. Is there, in a way, more than two O’Tooles in the band?
E: He’s always one of the first people we go to.
H: Our parents have been to more Wyatt gigs than they haven’t. It’s nice to have that shared reference point. Our mum is great, she’s so supportive, but she would never tell us if we were bad. Dad probably would, though.
The other side of that is that when he says something is good, he means it. We were lucky to have been brought up with the influence of our parents. I would say huge inspirations for this band are definitely Wilco and our parents. Wilco were a band that ignited my passion for music without any pop hooks. I could tell even at the age of 12 that they were innovative and different.
I’m massively into Songs: Ohia, too. In our early work, it felt like we were copying Molina, but now we have our own space. After doing it for a year, we have moved away from that feeling.
IINAG: Does being a UK-based, country-influenced band make a difference?
H: I think so. I love Americana, but I don’t want people to hear our band and think we are American. The UK and Manchester music scenes are heavily American-influenced anyway, but they retain their own artistic space.
IINAG: Is there a Manchester scene at the moment? I’m thinking of artists like TTSSFU and Catbandcat.
H: Manchester feels stronger at the moment than at any point in the last five or six years. I think there was a post-punk phase that has stopped now. TTSSFU does shoegaze, for example, and is doing amazingly. Bands like Westside Cowboy have come out with alt-country music that also sounds great.
No Band Is An Island is also very influential. We have been involved with that, and it brought so many amazing bands together.
IINAG: On TTSSFU, her rise has been so fast. I remember seeing Pyncher and TTSSFU play at Withington Public Hall for a Christmas gig some years ago.
H: That gig was actually the first time all four members of Wyatt were in the same room together. I had met Joe for the first time two weeks before, and Emily was there playing with another act.
I remember seeing Tasmin (TTSSFU) play after knowing her for a long time. She was in a band called Duvet. Her stuff is just great. She’s an amazing writer, and the songs stand out. I’m excited to support her on her tour.
IINAG: Any new music in the pipeline?
H: There will be some new songs played live at the TTSSFU shows, and we want to get more stuff on Bandcamp. We have been in the studio and are trying to play in London as much as possible. We will see where it goes from there. We also have some shows we will be announcing soon.
Get tickets to see Wyatt supporting TTSSFU here.
Listen to Wyatt here.
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