The Wayward
Rock'n'Roll for a new age!
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'Well a Young Man ain't got nothin' in the world these days'
Twelve words - shout 'em loud and sing 'em true. If ever the very existence of The Wayward is to be explained, or justified, then the lyrics of Mose Allison's classic 'Young Man Blues' need only be repeated. Born to be a rock'n'roll band, the birth of The Wayward was never going to be easy, with the original line-up changing significantly within a matter of months to form the current Who/Gallagher/Verve inspired combination which drags itself from rehearsal to rehearsal and gig after gig on a regular basis. Inspiration from, and admiration for, artists ranges not only from the greats mentioned above but also includes such diverse figures as the Small Faces, The Sex Pistols, Stone Roses and Led Zeppelin amongst others.
In the greatest tradition of classic music, The Wayward have spread the net in musical taste in order to learn their music before playing it - resulting in the lyrically inspiring, acoustically moving Rory Gallagher tribute 'Playing For My People' and the sheer force of 'Another Storm', a veritable wall of sound bathed in the swirling windmill strokes of Pete Townshend and the vocal power of an on-form Roger Daltrey. Such variation is not limited to the above songs, though, with the haunting effect of Mark Deasy's delay effect and the acoustic serenity of Burke's rhythm, coupled with Stephen Deasy's rolling bass lines, giving both 'Fireflies & Feelings' and 'The Quiet Man' the indefinable and unique quality which embodies thewayward's sound. This band remains not about making new sounds for the sake of being new, but about learning from a rich heritage, from the Beatles, the Stones, the Who - the classics, and in learning from something old, creating something new.
'The Quiet Man has spoken again'
The formation of the band needs no detailed analysis or sordid tale...quite simply the band exists through a severe love of alcohol and music, with many drunken nights ending in a conversation about getting something organised. Both Deasy brothers and Ciaran Burke were there from the beginning, with front man Stephen Kelch joining shortly afterwards. The original line-up totalled 6 members, all friends, eventually seeing a split into two seperate bands - Mark, Ciaran and Kelch forming The Wayward with Stephen Deasy joining another band, 'Reverb'. Reverb's eventual split saw the return of Deasy senior to the fold, fixing each band members position as they are now - Stephen Kelch on Vocals, Mark Deasy on Lead guitar, Stephen Deasy on Bass, Ciaran Burke strumming away on Rhythm and Drummer Adam Deering joining in April '99, following the demise of his previous band 'Sub-Culture'.
'These are the times we're living for'
The band have come a long way within the past year, discovering to some extent what they are capable of producing and finding a sound which both pays homage to their heroes and provides them with an outlet for the pent up agression which comes with living life in a city like Dublin. Indeed, despite consistent and often drunken protestations that Dublin is 'Shite', The Wayward both seem to enjoy and relish trawling through it's back street hosteleries and smokey venues, whose denizens provide the perfect outlet for the band: a PA, amps and a drunken audience. It is at these moments that the band reaches nirvana, shifting from the power of electric numbers such as 'World Fall Down' to the mid-set delicacies of 'Fireflies & Feelings' and the closing rhythm-absorbed jamming sessions of 'In The Heart' and 'Burn It Down'. It is at these moments, the band firmly believe, that they are at their best, when they come together as a unit playing not as individuals but as a band, uniting under a banner of good music and decent tunes. For The Wayward, there are no harsher critics than themselves, there is nothing else to know other than when a tune works, it works, and when a tune works the people have gotta' hear it.
'No matter where you roam - No matter what is said - Never walk away where others fear to thread'
Onstage a rolling thunder of feedback and raw electric power pulsates forward enveloping the audience in a sound quite often labelled rock'n'roll, a Wall of Sound smashing against all before it with Kelch's voice coming rushing behind singing about how his whole world just fell in on him or how he's playing for his people before he heads off home. There remains about the music a pervading sense of rebellion and anger, a reaction against all around, an enormous Fuck off to a world which seems determined to drag them down from the heady heights they attempt to scale. This is The Wayward at their best, the raw emotion, pumping bass lines and rhythm guitar behind the screaming frustration of Mark Deasy's Gibson and the dual strength and delicacy of Kelch's tortured voice. There is no pretension, no false dawns, just straight-forward rock'n'roll pushing forward and around the ears of those listening. No matter where you roam, no matter what is said, never walk away where others fear to thread - it's a simple philosophy....believe in it.
Ciaran BurkeYour musical influences
The Who, Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Stone Roses, The Verve, OasisAnything else?
The Quiet Man has spoken again.
And here we are - another car, another journey, another early afternoon bathed in the warm glow of early summers sunlight, another day trying to stand up, another day trying to forget the mediocrity of drunken nights before, of early rises, of timecards and smoke-breaks, of repetition and order.
Another day trying to stand apart, another day making music. And as that warm summer sun beats gently down upon us, upon the roads and houses that surround, upon the defeated and the strong there remains a pervading sense of reaction and rebellion, of anger and frustration, a current bubbling quietly beneath the surface threatening to explode before the order of Monday morning comes rushing round again.
We're rolling on, rushing through flashing lights, past adverts filled with gleaming teeth and photogenic smiles, past young and old, past homeless and homely, past narcotic-crazed junkies and old men singing old songs about old ways.
This is the future. Nobody notices though. Nobody even seems to care............Contact
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