For boom.
Charlotte Day Wilson (Vocals, Saxophone, Keys): 22 years old
Gray Rowan (Bass, Keys), 22 years old
Mike Fong (Guitar), 23 years old
George Kingston (Drums, Samples), 23 years old
Formed in Halifax, The WAYO are self-made musicians who recently left school and moved to Toronto to pursue their music careers full-time. We sat down with them when they came to town a couple weeks ago to talk about their music, life in Toronto and what some of their plans for the future are.
Where are each of you from?
Mike: Halifax.
Charlotte: Gray and I are from Toronto.
George: Ottawa.
How did you guys meet?
Charlotte: We did the foundation year programme (In 2010-2011).
Gray: We were all at King’s, but we didn’t really start playing until end of second year.
How did you end up playing in a band together?
George: One of our mutual friends kind of decided, “Oh you guys are all good musicians” and told us to play together.
Charlotte: We had all started separately sort of collaborating with each other and then realized that we could all play together.
Gray: Me and George had a little band together, doing covers, soul tunes mostly. I was singing some stuff, but we really wanted to find like a really strong vocalist, you know? And we already knew that Charlotte had a great voice.
Charlotte: And Mike and I had started playing together.
How did you choose the name ‘The WAYO’ for the band name?
George: It’s a cool word. Gray bought a record called “The Brand New Wayo” that’s Punk/African Disco and Soul from the late 70 early 80s. We were listening to it at the time that we were looking for a band name.
Charlotte: We had the band name before we even started, cuz Nick, the one who hooked us all up – I remember talking to him at the library at Dal, and he was like ‘Yeah you guys should totally start this band and your name should be The WAYO.’ And I was like, ‘OK.’
Gray: And it just sorta stuck.
Mike: The all caps was a part of it too from the very beginning.
How would you guys describe the genre of your music?
George: Softcore pop.
Gray: We made that up. I feel like you have to make up your own thing or else people are just gonna label you. But I mean for the most part I guess it’s sort of like soulful, jazzy pop tunes.
Charlotte: Jazz influenced.
Gray: The craft of songwriting is really important to us. We just try to write good songs. We like experimenting and trying new things, but we always like to keep the songwriting at the core.
Who writes the songs?
Charlotte: We all do.
Gray: I mean it depends. Sometimes Mike will have an idea for a chord progression. Sometimes we’ll just be jamming and a song will just come out of that. So it’s like a bunch of different processes, we don’t really stick to one thing.
Do you have any projects on the go right now?
Gray: We have this remix compilation of our first EP coming out. A bunch of producers reached out to us about doing remixes, from all over the place. There’s a guy from Paris, someone from Austin, Texas, someone from Brooklyn – it’s crazy how the internet kind of allows you to have this community of artists. Everyone’s always sharing music, trying to collaborate. Each one is pretty different, and all the producers have their own sound. We finished recording our second EP in December, so we’ve got that. We’re just trying to find the right time to release it.
Why did you relocate to Toronto?
Gray: Well me and Charlotte are from there, and actually we all have family there or some kind of connection. I don’t know it just seemed like the right move, in terms of trying to, you know, get known throughout Canada. Toronto‘s really coming up and theres so many great artists coming out of there.
Mike: It’s also good to have a change of scene, at least for me.
How does it differ from the Halifax music scene?
Gray: I mean for us Halifax always has the best crowds. People just love it. And I feel like the people here in general are just ready for anything and just want to have a good time. And its less about what the cool band is.
George: Like if a big artist comes here, it’s crazy. Whereas in like Toronto it’s more of a regular thing.
Charlotte: We’ve had really good shows there, though. We almost like sold out The Horseshoe.
Gray: We’re starting to develop a pretty decent following in Toronto.
Mike: There’s more competition there so you just have to hustle a bit more, whereas in Halifax everything’s just more geographically close, so it’s just easier getting people to your shows.
How would you describe your band’s sound?
Gray: I feel like no matter where we go, the way we sound will always kinda set us apart from others. We don’t really fit into a specific scene. People from all over will come by, no matter what they’re into.
Charlotte: It’s music you can play for your drug dealer and for your grandparents.
Can you describe what it’s like self-publishing and not belonging to any label?
Gray: I feel like you kind of have to do things yourself now or else you’ll just kind of get overlooked, and things won’t really take off because you really need to be the one who makes things happen.
Mike: It’s entrepreneurial, as much as it is a creative endeavour.
What tips would you give to a band or musician who is still in school but wants to make it big?
Charlotte: I have advice to lady musicians. Persevere in the male-dominated field!
Mike: Work together.
Charlotte: Create a community rather than competition.
Mike: Exactly. Work together.
Gray: Communities and movements always have a lot more to offer than any individual artist. So if you can find your place in something a little bigger than just you, it’s always good to take that route.
Charlotte: Collaborate with as many people as possible.
Gray: It’s a good thing to just play as many shows as you can. That’s what really gets you tight.
George: Doesn’t matter where, either.
Do you have any habits or routines that help you with your work that you’d like to pass on?
Charlotte: Well we all have several projects on the go, so it’s kind of like aside from The WAYO’s productivity, we’re all constantly making music. I feel like I’m like never taking a break.
George: You have to be prolific.
How does it feel to not have to be in school and to be a full-time musician?
Charlotte: In some ways I feel like a lot of people our age are having the post-university crisis, the crisis of what the fuck to do, and in some ways although being a musician is a completely independent endeavor and there’s no guidelines of how to do it, I do feel somewhat more solidified of where I am in my life compared to my friends.
George: You have a definite purpose. And you can actually tell people what you’re doing.
If each of you could describe your band in one word, what would it be?
George: Smoov.
Charlotte: Consensual.
Mike: Love.
Gray: Sex.