If The Lonely Wild sounds like a movie title rather than a rock band, it could be because the Los Angeles quintet’s founder, Andrew Carroll, is as fascinated with film as he is with melodies.
The prestigious magazine American Songwriter wrote of the band’s sound that it is “An anthemic sound … somewhere between Bruce Springsteen and Ennio Morricone
” …
And since Morricone is widely known for his “spaghetti Western” film scores that graced several Clint Eastwood movies, the comparison resonates pleasantly with Carroll, as do other comparisons with such bands as Calexico, Band of Horses and The Walkmen.
“Being from the California, I suppose being a film fan would be a natural direction for a kid to take,” Carroll says from a stop on the road. “I started playing guitar at age 11, and from the get-go, rock ’n’ roll was what I wanted to do. I went off to college because I wanted better chops and started studying classical guitar, along with writing and film.
“That was where I met two of my band mates, multi-instrumentalist Ryan [Ross] and lead guitarist Andrew [Schneider], at Loyola Marymount,” Carroll says. “It was just three years ago we put the band together, adding drummer Dave Farina and another multi-instrumentalist [and singer], Jessi Williams.She provides the element of our female/male vocal interplay.”
The band released its debut CD, The Sun As It Comes, in early April and headed out on the road to promote the disc. Before the album came out, the band had released videos for some of its songs that reveal its cinematic tendencies, even to honoring some of their home state’s historical film sites. One such place, the Iverson Movie Ranch, was the setting for some of the videos.
“It’s a place where there were a lot of Western movies and TV shows filmed,” Carroll says, “so we went there to Chatsworth, in L.A. county,and climbed up some rocks at about 4:30 in the morning to get the light just right. We love the aesthetic of the desert and rocks. It seems to work well with our songs.”
The new CD’s title cut, “The Sun As It Comes,” was inspired by the Arab Spring, Carroll says, “but not all that overtly, and another song, ‘Banks and Ballrooms,’ came together after I read Matt Taibi’s book, The Griftopia, about how the financial crisis of 2008 came about. I wouldn’t say we’re a political band, but rather a band inspired by what happens around us. We want our music to be universal, not of the times in which it was created.”
The Lonely Wild has opened shows for John Doe (of the band X), Damien Rice, Laura Marling and Lord Huron. The band has done one national tour prior to this one, and played in and around Austin, Texas, when the group participated in the South by Southwest festival the past two years.
“This will be our largest and biggest tour, going out for five weeks,” Carroll says. “Our goal is to just get our music in front of as many people as possible and travel the country to do so. We only do original songs, except for one ‘mash-up’ of Depeche Mode’s ‘Personal Jesus’ with Pink Floyd’s ‘Money.’”The Lonely Wild
Opening act: To be announced
9 p.m. Wednesday, Stickyz
Rock ’n’ Roll Chicken
Shack, 107 River Market
Ave., Little Rock
Admission: $7
(501) 372-7707
stickyz.com
Style, Pages 34 on 04/30/2013