It’s 2009 in the U.K., Man U look to defend their back-to-back-to-back championships – spoiler alert, they don’t. The MP’s expenses scandal has blown wide open. But in Sowerby Bridge, Halifax, a band is formed. In a region that is known for its eclectic approach to music, Wot Gorilla? teeters in the realm of post hardcore meets math rock. Loosely labelled as unconventional, the music doesn’t commit to any real song structure. In his first overseas interview, vocalist/guitarist Matt Haigh thinks some would say it’s a bit of a mess.
“In my head, it all makes sense,” he laughs. “It’s experimental and progressive, but I hope there’s some hooks in there that can keep people invested in it, despite it being a bit overwhelming. I think you need to give it time, definitely. If you don’t put the effort in, you’re probably not going to get a lot of our stuff.”
Now, the quartet is back and with a vengeance, presenting Stay Home, their first album since Kebnekaise in 2012, almost 15 years ago. The album was self-produced and recorded by the band, with mastering by Joe Gibb for digital and Peter Maher for vinyl. Originally, they wrote so many songs that the run time was an hour and ten minutes, and the label didn’t want to put out a double LP, so they had to trim. What was left was the perfect little nugget of gold they were searching for along the way.
“It’s amazing,” exclaims Haigh. “At this point, where we are now with the album, to have any amount of interest is amazing, really.”
While Haigh still has the same formula for writing songs as he did when he was 15, he has grown up a lot in the last 17 years. Not just evolving musically, but having a kid, which forced him to grow up a little quicker than before. He believes this record is the sound of them reconnecting, reminding them of why they started the band in the first place.
“Things get in the way, don’t they? I’ve said this before. How is me playing in a band helping people in the house I live in with my partner and my daughter? Why am I doing it? You question it when you get older, but it’s the enjoyment. The recording process was just such a fun time. It felt like it took us back to when we first started in 2009, and we were a lot younger, and it was just fun.”
The foundations of the album, however, were being set a long time ago. Some of the riffs were written on a crappy guitar Haigh bought while traveling in Thailand in 2014 or so, while others materialized in 2018 and beyond. Once the band got back in the practice room together in 2021, it all started to come together. The whole process took about three years, with time split between guitarist/vocalist Grant Beeden’s house and their normal rehearsal space. Throw in a couple of weeks of click-track mapping and tempo-change planning, with two days of recording drums at the Hope Mill Studio in Manchester, and the finishing touches were made.
“Someone might look at it and think we spent too long on it,” Haigh explains. “We spent just the right amount of time, as we feel. We just took our time with it and enjoyed it. You don’t have the studio time hanging over you, so it just made it more relaxed. We weren’t in a rush.”
This more relaxed attitude allowed Haigh to open himself up to motifs living in the real world, but also in his heart and mind. Songs touch on themes such as climate change in “Clowns,” playing in a band, and being a little older. It wasn’t until the final stages of the entire process that he got the lyrics down, wrapping a bow on a job well done, a long time coming.
“Before this album, lyrically, it kind of just came out, whatever it was, to fit the song. With the album, I had things to say. I was way more calculated with things this time around. It’s been interesting. It’s been different, and that’s where my growth comes from. I’ve made a bit more effort with the lyrics.”
Wot Gorilla? has come a long way since the first album, but the evolution was worth it. In a career like this, there’s always going to be ups and downs. Haigh struggled with online reviews and posts, mostly stemming from bad experiences with people dragging him for his appearance and the way he used his tongue during performances, unbeknownst to him. The moral is to let it wash away, because there are far better things out there that you can stumble upon if you just keep the right mindset.
“I think we’re a bit of a Marmite band; you either love it or you hate it. That’s how I feel about us. So far, people seem to have gotten it. There’s only been the odd thing I’ve read, but mostly positive stuff. It can go to your head, and I don’t want that for sure, but sometimes it’s nice to hear, like we had a really great review yesterday, video podcasting between these two guys in Scotland. It was nice to listen to their thoughts on it all. It was really interesting; I’m glad I watched it.”
Photo Credit: George North
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