Pete Townshend has co-produced Afterglow, a new concept album by UK rock band The Wild Things, which was released on 13th September!
Afterglow is the bands second album, and was recorded at Pete’s Upper Woody Studio near his home in the country, and Grand Cru Studio in London. Pete not only helped record and produce it, but also plays various instruments such as 12-string guitar and keyboards to help fill out the sound, and provides backing vocals. On their recent single “Drunk Again” Pete plays his vintage Lowrey Berkshire Deluxe TBO-1 organ that appears on “Baba O’Riley”, which he generously gifted to the band at the end of the sessions.
The Wild Things feature Sydney Rae White (vocals), Rob Kendrick (guitar), Cameron White (bass) and Pete Wheeler (drums). The band formed after Sydney and Rob both performed roles in the 2009 UK stage production of Quadrophenia, where they developed a romantic relationship and later got married. Sydney began writing music with her brother Cameron, who also co-produced the album, and they decided to put together a band. Pete became an early supporter and mentor for them.
Pete Townshend said, “I loved working with The Wild Things on the music that became Afterglow. The songs are rocking, but also full of nuances and witty cleverness. They are a fireball of energy and creativity and having supported The Who a few times I know they are spectacular live. Every one of them is so talented. Syd is a sort of rock star triumph. She is a great singer and actress. I’ve known her since before she was kicking off the band with her brother. She played the part of Jimmy's love object in my touring production of Quadrophenia. Rob, her husband, also in The Wild Things, was also in Quadrophenia UK tour. And he and Syd fell in love. So I am not only their record producer I am also their CUPID.”
The Wild Things said, “Afterglow is the culmination of years of evolution of the band. We couldn’t have ever dreamt that we’d be able to create this expansive project as we truly envisioned, but with the help of some incredible mentors, a lot of determination and belief in each other…here we are!”
According to the press release, Afterglow tells the story of the residents of the fictional town of Valentine amidst a paranormal phenomenon. Inspired by both their rock heroes (The Who, Springsteen, etc) and the heartfelt campiness of classic 80s adventure films like Back To The Future, Afterglow’s unique format allows listeners to program their own listening experience. With this album, the given tracklist is simply a suggested roadmap to the town of Valentine, and listeners are encouraged to adjust the song list to unlock deeper nuances of the storyline. It’s a thrilling update to the almost century-old album format, and showcases the unique storytelling ambitions of this fledgling unit. The album is accompanied by a retro-style choose-your-path text game that brings to life the narrative of the album and will tickle the nostalgia of 80s/90s gaming fans.
The Wild Things have done a few concerts since the release of their first single from the album, Only Attraction, which came out in January 2022. They opened for The Who at the Teenage Cancer Trust show at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2022, and then again at the Madison Square Garden show in New York in May 2022.
To promote the release of Afterglow, The Wild Things will be doing a series of 3 shows in the UK this week. Check them out if they are performing near you!
London - Sep 19 - The Camden Assembly
Manchester - Sep 20 - The Deaf Institute
Glasgow - Sep 21 - The Garage (Attic Bar)
For links to their music and tickets, please visit https://linktr.ee/thewildthingsband.
Congratulations to the Wild Things and Pete Townshend for this wonderful release! Afterglow sounds fantastic!
We reached out to Sydney Rae White for an article we posted back in 2022 to find out more about The Wild Things and their work with Pete, and she was kind enough to answer a few questions for us. Here's a repost of that interview.
Can you tell us a bit about The Wild Things? Did your work in the 2009 UK stage production of Quadrophenia inspire you to form a band?
The Wild Things was formed mostly by accident - myself (Syds) and my brother Cam were writing music together but sort of got stuck creatively. We roped Rob in for a giggle and the rest writes itself (our drummer Pete joined a little later). Quadrophenia helped bring us together musically, but the band was its own formed beast.
How did you come to work with Pete Townshend on this project?
Honestly, we were just cheeky and bold - we thought ‘fuck it’ and sent our music to him hoping he’d like it. He did, obviously. We just wanted a thumbs up from a rock God really, but when he offered to take us into the studio with him, we jumped at the opportunity. What a legend.
What was it like to record in Pete’s studios? Did you learn any new recording techniques from him?
It was as insane and mind blowing as you can imagine. We’ve all worked in many studios for years, but to work and live in this environment completely moved us outside of our creative comfort zones, something that we hadn’t realised we’d needed. Cam is a producer so working alongside Pete in that field was invaluable for him.
The instrumentation, vocals and production sound amazing on 'Only Attraction'. How much creative collaboration was there with Pete during the recording sessions? Did he provide much input to help shape the sound?
We had entered the studio with what we thought were a few totally finished songs, but quickly Pete broke them down with us to their bare bones, helping us find sounds and make changes we didn't even know we were after. It’s fascinating to listen to the demos vs the final tracks now.
What instruments did Pete play on this track, and others that were recorded during these sessions? Did he do any backup vocals?
Pete added some instruments that really filled out the sound, and we did some vocals together. Duetting with him was probably my personal highlight. On 'Only Attraction', Pete definitely recorded Hammond organ and 12 string - the rest was us.
How many sessions did you do with him? Is your work with Pete complete, or are future sessions planned?
During our first session we stayed at his studio for around a week, but there have been others since. And there will be more in the future - I can’t imagine our work with Pete ever being ‘done’ in the conventional sense.
How many tracks did Pete produce? Are you planning to record a whole album with him?
We were lucky enough to do our whole album with him!
