Interview: WÏlderman

Fresh off their tour with post-punk icons IDLES, we chat with WÏlderman's Bobby all about his brand new single, '8 Feet' and his impressive musical upbringing.

Hey how are you?

I’m good thanks! I teach at a music university so I’m taking a break from assessment marking to chat with ya’ll...do I get marked for this? Can you send me a power point presentation of interview do’s and dont’s after??

For our readers: who are WÏlderman?

I am WÏlderman! Like Kubric's Spartacus but with far less people to echo the sentiment. So really its just me. I am wilderman. I'm also Bobby, mainly Bobby and sometimes WÏlderman, and sometimes WÏlderman is me and my friends when we play live, and sometimes not because it's just me. Hope that's cleared that up for you.

Talk to us about the band name – where did it come from?

I'm in another band called 45s my best pal drums for that band (and this one) and he has at stages in his life been a fucking wild man. That used to be his nickname on tour and somehow that evolved into WÏlderman (insert culturally inappropriate germanic accent here). When I started this project I didnt want to call it my name...WÏlderman sounded fun and cool so I went with that.

You come from a family of musical greats – was there any pressure to get into the industry or did it come naturally?

There was zero pressure. my mother raised me to follow my own path. I fell in love with music outside of the influence of my family. Her support has been absolute, but my journey has been my own since the first time I picked up a guitar so there hasn’t been any pressure apart from what I put on myself

Your most recent release is ‘8 Feet’, what can you tell us about it?

'8 Feet' is essentially the shortest autobiography I could write. I’ve struggled with personal relationships and addictions for as long as I can remember. Not all of that has been bleak or morbid, some of my greatest struggles have ended up being quite life-affirming...so I guess 8 feet is a snapshot of that idea.

What does "For dark is the suede that mows like a harvest" mean to you?

Hahaha! What the hell does that mean!? Its simply the single greatest verbal threat any invading alien horde has levelled at this planet ever on film.

What’s the music scene like in Bristol? Are there any bands that should be on our radar?

Bristol is great. If you havent already heard of her Emily Breeze is probably the greatest songwriter our city has produced in decades. Much of her work has inspired the drive behind mine. The city is thick with bands, it feels like home to many. Its a fantastic place to be creative but its also a dangerous place for ambition because it has a hedonistic spirit. I like the balance...but I've never been in a hurry and I have a healthy respect for some of the pitfalls the city throws at you daily.

You’ve recently toured with IDLES, what was that like? Do you have any of your own tour plans in the works?

Touring with IDLES was amazing. Great people, vital band. Their fans were warm to us and we played some incredible venues so we definitely made some lifelong memories. Tour wise I think we’re looking forward to the release of the album and putting together a tour around that so watch this space

What does the rest of 2024 look like for WÏlderman?

Songs songs songs. I’m really enjoying putting out new material as often as possible so I think that's what I’ll continue to do I love the process of conception, realisation and release, I’ve found a strange purpose in it so I’d like that to continue

Sum up WÏlderman in three words

Like a harvest

Lana Williams

@swimdeeplana