From Atlanta, GA, The Wild are a bunch of friends who love playing music and sharing in the DIY philosophy of music, art, and politics.
‘We are five friends having a great time playing music together… We all feel the best when we are traveling together and getting to see old friends, making new ones, jumping off of high things into water, and playing music every night. ”
The Wild is having their CD release show for “Dreams Are Maps”, which was produced by Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, at the Drunken Unicorn this Friday July 5th.
We spoke with Witt Wisebram of The Wild about the band’s first gig, their most memorable show and their dream lineup. Check it out!
What’s the first gig you ever attended?
The first band I ever saw play live was the Rolling Stones in 1994 on the Voodoo Lounge tour. I was blown away by the whole experience. There was so much energy and definitely a lot of gimmicky and over the top production stuff, but the way that the band responded to the crowd and the crowd to the band is something I’ll never forget.
What is the best gig that you ever played/performed?
My favorite gig that The Wild has been a part of was on New Year’s Eve 2012. We played for a sold out crowd at the Masquerade in Atlanta opening for one of my favorite bands, Against Me!. We’ve always been a band that prefers playing smaller intimate shows, like small clubs, house shows, and basements. There is a certain energy you get back from the audience in that type of setting, but to experience that energy coming from over a thousand people in a huge packed room is beyond incredible.
What is the best gig you have ever seen?
It’s really hard to choose one show as the best I’ve ever seen. There are so many bands that do totally different things live that blow me away. Seeing Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band at Giant’s Stadium in New Jersey right before they tore it down has to be close to the top though. 60,000 people cheering on their ‘hometown hero’ and clinging to every word and note that the band played was amazing. The Boss took my beanie off my head during ‘Spirit in the Night’ and sang the song with it on and then put it back on my head. That was pretty cool. On the other end of the spectrum, seeing one of my favorite bands, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, playing a patio that was so full people had climbed over the roof from the entrance to the venue and were dangling their legs off the roof while the band was having so much fun, is up there too. That was at The Fest in Gainesville, FL that we’ve played for the last four years. I’ve also seen Phish shows that rank in my top shows. No other band can control the energy of the audience and create a narrative show like them.
Gig you would most like to play?
I think opening for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street band would be pretty hard to beat. They don’t ever have opening acts, because they play for four hours sometimes on their own, so I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for that one.
What would be the lineup for your dream gig?
From headliner to opening act it would be…
The Grateful Dead (1960-70’s lineup)
Phish
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
The Wild
The Who (with Keith Moon)
Andrew WK
Titus Andronicus
Bomb the Music Industry!
Jason Anderson
Get tickets to come out and support the “Dreams Are Maps” album release Friday, July 5th @ the Drunken Unicorn!
