When it comes to achievements there is very little that Canadian hard rock band The Wild! haven’t achieved. From playing at festivals such as Wacken Open Air and Sweden Rock through to touring alongside Godsmack, Steel Panther, Rose Tattoo and Airbourne the band have done it all.
At the same time they have also been recording some of the most infectious and catchy hard rock tunes that you are ever likely to hear. Now they are back with a brand new album called Still Believe In Rock & Roll and I recently had the pleasure of being able to catch up with frontman Dylan Villain to chat all about it.
“With this record I think a lot of what people are hearing opposed to the other ones is the attention to detail when it comes to the lyrics and melodies,” Dylan says as we begin to talk about the album in depth. “I really put a lot of pressure on myself, I really did feel a lot of pressure from all the people around me – from the team, from the fans – but also from myself to make a record that was better than good.”
“The last album we toured with for three years and it took us all over the world,” he says continuing. “We were incredibly thankful for that but as a result of that because of the momentum and gaining that fan base internationally I think created a lot of pressure to make something that was not only better than the last album but something that was great as a whole. We wanted something that would stand the test of time and get into people’s ears and would really make an impact.”
Setting themselves such a task gave The Wild! the opportunity to go out and try to do things a little differently. “We really didn’t leave any stone unturned,” explains Dylan. “We really explored ideas, lyrics and melodies – things like that. That did result in a lot of stress and almost obsession in making something great. I had very little sleep, I think I was getting about three hours sleep a night for about three months, but I just wanted it to be great, man, and I wanted to give everybody something great and I wanted to give ourselves a real shake at making an impact with something great. Like I was saying a lot of people just write some songs, throw them together and say ‘well there is your record, let’s head out on the road that will be good enough.’ But for us that wasn’t going to be the case because I really wanted to make something that was a cut above and I think we really did ourselves that justice and have put out a great record.”
Aside from the pressure that Dylan put on himself and the band to really go above and beyond with this album he also admits that with fans right across the world now the band also felt pressure to get something out there for them. “I think that was all part of the part and parcel of the final product,” he says as we talk about the pressure from fans. “I like to pay attention to what is working with our songs especially when it comes to our live show and things like that. I think the result of that is you pay attention to what is working, gaining fans and gaining momentum you are going to end up feeling that pressure from fans and your fan base. You know in a way you are winning these people over and once you’ve got them you’ve got them but if you don’t deliver you are really letting them down.”
“Ultimately I just wrote what I think is just an honest record,” he says happily. “I just went straight ahead and I did a truthful record full of conviction because all this stuff I sing and talk about is all true, I’ve lived it and it is all real to us as people and the guys that we are in this world. We are not creating trends or writing songs that are the flavour of the week we just do this because this is who we are and we are lucky enough to have enough people that believe in us to give us a job. Yes there will be pressure and you can do either of two things. You can buckle and let that fear take you or you can push straight ahead and let it take you as far as you can go.”
Still Believe In Rock & Roll is out now.
