BGS 5+5: The Way Down Wanderers

Artist: The Way Down Wanderers
Hometown: Peoria, Illinois
Latest album: illusions

All replies by Austin Krause-Thompson and Collin Krause

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

As a band, we’ve had some amazing opportunities to perform at venues all across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Needless to say, we’ve cultivated some unforgettable moments together on stage. One of the best feelings a musician can have is looking out an audience and seeing people singing all of the lyrics. It is moments like these where we are inspired and encouraged to keep touring and writing as much as possible. At our live show, one of our favorite ways to end a high energy set is to get off the stage and join the audience for a final unplugged song. These usually turn into a giant sing-along/dance circle.

At one particular acoustic encore, we were playing for a large crowd in a tight space and Austin accidentally hit Collin in the face with his guitar peg. Collin got a pretty rough-looking black eye, but this certainly turned into a bonding experience for the two of them and the band looks back at this memory with amusement. Whether it’s a show that ends with an accidental black eye, or a group sing-along, we try to make the most of every song we play. We cherish every second we get to share with our listeners and with one another on stage.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

This isn’t a technique that we have used too often, but it is used once on the album illusions. “Old Ford” is a song where the writer is hiding behind “you” when it’s actually “me.” It’s a song that tells the story of a broken friendship, and the feelings of guilt, remorse, and bitterness. As a writer, using this technique is challenging. It calls for self-actualization and putting yourself in another’s place. Doing this can open so many doors of possibility. Writing from a single perspective can also become very challenging over time. It’s easy to fall into writer’s block, or become stagnant. We try to push our writing techniques as well as keep listeners on their toes.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

Having the opportunity to totally immerse oneself in nature can be such a valuable thing for emotional health and creativity. That peaceful break from the fast-paced, hustling city environment was channeled multiple times on different songs in our new album illusions.

When I started writing “Crooked Pines,” I remember being specifically inspired by a location in nature. I began working on the song after Austin and I started spending more time together around my sophomore year of high school. Austin introduced me to a then-secret hiking trail in our hometown of Peoria, Illinois, called Rocky Glen. After a short drive you reach a Buddhist temple. Behind the temple, there is a small clearing where, if you explore, you’ll discover a narrow, overgrown hiking path sown with thorns and stinging nettle. The winding path continues for about a mile and spits you out at a steep slope. After descending a ridge, you’re greeted by a deep quarry filled with massive stones and a small waterfall.

Austin and I would explore Rocky Glen at least a few times a week that summer. At our visits to the Glen, I felt as though I was visiting a location that fulfilled my human spirit and recharged me spiritually. In writing the song “Crooked Pines.” I tried to express the feeling I had when I visited Rocky Glen and how nature itself is a powerful force that doesn’t want the change of mankind.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

Before studio sessions and live shows we have the ritual of vocal warm-ups. Warming up is a crucial part of executing a good performance for us. Over the last year we’ve worked with a great vocal coach, Mitchell Hutchings, to prepare for the recording of illusions. We were taught some warm-ups that are as helpful as they are hysterical. For example; singing “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH” through arpeggios in various keys. As well as things like “Frank will thank the bank!” We have fun taking these out of context and singing them at random times on the road.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

We love making music because it is constantly informed by other art forms. Movement is something that is commonly informed by music, but oftentimes, we can refer to in which ways we want to move or dance to inform the feeling of a song. The music video for “All My Words” shows different forms of expression through dance and American Sign Language. This helps convey the message of one having a lack of expression.

Literature and poetry are other art forms that inspired the title track of illusions. The concept for the song is directly influenced by a Virginia Woolf quote: “Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.” This statement about childhood, and how one’s perspective and emotions can change over time, sparked the notion that life is really a series of illusions; it’s up to us how we respond to them.