WAIT//LESS Don’t Slow Down, They Just Keep Getting Louder
WAIT//LESS. Photo by Shannon Johnston.
WAIT//LESS may be the new west coast punk outfit on the scene, but with members like Becky Buick formerly of The Quivers and familiar faces from Little Destroyer and FRANKIIE, there is a hometown-feel that resonates with people, especially when they find themselves back in Calgary. They are also one-to-watch due to the undeniable energy between each member on stage, as showcased by their ferocity as they led the Sled Island Music Festival kickoff party this past June at Commonwealth alongside local staples Brain Bent, Beta Boys, and more.
As we enter into fall, the band is gearing up to release new music, building on their first booming debut single “Another Year”. We reflected on this year’s festival with the group, as well as the projected future for WAIT//LESS.
REVERIE: We're two days into Sled Island and you guys already have two sets under your belt. How are you feeling off of them?
WAIT//LESS: Well, I think the first show we played at Commonwealth was one of the best sets we played. We were locked in. It felt really good. The stage is super fun. It was packed to the tits, and so it was a good time. You also can't blow your load too soon. Tuesday night, everyone goes, so you get really excited, and then it's like, okay, let's be reasonable. It's a marathon, not a sprint. We've been here for like, what, 72 hours? And I'm wrecked.
LD: Now that your run of shows are done for Sled, what will you get up to this week?
WL: I want to see Thunder queens, those cute little kids rock out. Trevor wants to see Soul Glo. I've never seen Cherry Glazerr.
LD: You played last year. So you're returning to the festival and have some roots here when you come back to Calgary. Are there any rites of passage or like stops that you must make when you come back into Calgary?
WL: Hell yeah, every day. Just ship, all day, every day, literally. Probably go there later. Right after this.
LD: Returning to the festival in this 2024 iteration of it, is there anything that you've kind of noticed or picked up on that may be different from years past?
WL: It's hard to say, because I think we were here in the earlier part of the festival. I feel like we've been really together, focused, and like we can hang out amongst ourselves. We don’t need to be at shows all day, but I think we've just also had things to do. Every Sled is a little bit unique and it’s growing. For example the media lounge shifts from year to year. So being stationed at, I Love You Coffee Shop, this year is a new thing for us, and the artists lounge, being at the Bloxs is new. But yet a lot of the things do stay the same. There's kind of an infusion. Show Me The Body being the curator and how heavy their music is, there's still kind of this really eclectic curation that's happened throughout all of the festival. There's a lot of like, weirder shit, music wise this year. We’re excited for WiFi Gawd - DJ, screw adjacent hip hop - you know, being curated by heavier bands. I think it's just kind of fun. It's all coming together.
LD: Your shows are really energetic. I think it's really apparent that there's a lot of intensity, and the crowd picks up on it. What goes into preparing your bodies and your minds?
WL: We've traveled with the pre-workout in our merch bag, and we all have a little shot of it before, so we get the tingles and freak the fuck out. Michael doesn't take it. Everyone else is, like, spent after the show, and you're gyrating and you're ready to go. I think there’s also something about the four of us coming together and we just, like, hype each other up. We're like, dumb little kids. We get together naturally - our synergy, our energy - we feed off of each other. So when we get on stage, we are bursting.
That doesn't always happen with a band. It's like your best friend in grade seven that you always get in trouble with, and they had to be separated. When we're together, we're like mad people. Pretty fucking mad. Shows are literally, like, ripping a motorcycle as fast as you can, and you're just like, this is way too fast. This is fucking scary. That's kind of what it feels like to me. But then, right after, you're like, ‘that was the best experience ever’!
LD: So you guys get a natural high just from playing music together?
WL: Oh, 100%. Even jamming, even rehearsals, we do. It's the same intensity for rehearsals as well. Well, we don't pre workout for rehearsals, only for shows. I feel like, if I don't play a show for a long time, it affects my mood. Like I'm bummed, or why do I feel like something's missing? It's like, oh, because it is! It's just like, all this kind of pent up words that I wrote is like a story that I play in my head when I'm singing them. So I feel like I'm a little actor, and I get to relive the story every time, but it's also silly and cathartic each time. Yeah, we're obsessed with each other. It’s kind of gross.
LD: It's better than being the opposite. And like, maybe there will be a time where you guys aren’t!
WL: Never, I don't wanna. That's the era when I become, like, a flat earther, and then you guys are having to figure out if you guys can stop and fire me.
LD: The live sets seem pretty dialed in, and people really bought into it. You still just have the one track “Another Year”. So what gives when it comes to that? Are you guys writing, or do you have plans to release something? Do you have a bunch of unreleased material?
WL: We have a lot, but we're trying to understand what we're doing with these songs. How are we gonna release them?We're going to put another single out in the fall and then release a shitty little EP, and then a record. So they'll kind of come hard and fast starting this fall. We rushed the first single because we needed something out for the little tour we did with Skating Polly. But we’re also not in rush overall. We're getting good shows. It seems to be building and we want to let that grow. I think that’s ideal, and then once we choose to, once we feel good about everything, it'll kind of explode.
LD: Back in Vancouver, I mean, people live and die for it here, especially this time of year, but when you're playing kind of routine shows back home, how's that? How's that feel?
WL: Feels fucking sick. Yeah, we've been lucky. We started last spring. We've just got a lot of really good shows. We just recently played with DOA at the Commodore. We played with Pussy Riot earlier in the year for a couple shows. But yeah, the Vancouver scene is what it is.
LD: How does it compare to when you come back to Calgary?
WL: It's different. Like people go out to shows, but they just don't seem to know each other. In Calgary, you run into 100 people, you know. It’s tighter. But I think in terms of just this band, I've noticed we kind of get the same response wherever we've been. People get it and they want to be entertained, so they get with us. We give out that crazy energy and people like to get whipped up into it. There's more consistency in the way audiences respond.
LD: So what's next for you guys,
WL: Tour USA and or the UK. That's the mission. Put out a song or tour and go to New York with a visa and play music with my best friends and have fun. That's just kind of it. Hanging out, watching Home and Garden Television in hotel rooms. Yeah, TV sounds like a natural way to end it.