Released a couple of weeks ago, this new album absolutely kills! We thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up with the bass player, Pete, about all things music
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Where are you all from and how did you all meet?
We’re from various places around Manchester. That’s our home city, where we grew up and where we’ve stayed close to, but we’ve moved around a lot – we call it “being in orbit”. We live in the countryside now, and we have links to London too. Mike and me met when we were kids and we were in a band together in the late 90’s; Grant was a
drummer who I knew from “the scene” who became a good mate. The three of us got together and started WinterGreen in 2013/2014.
If you had to sum up each band member in one word, what would you say?
Mike (singer/guitarist) Ginger
Grant (drummer) Rocker
Me (bass player) Dancer!
What is one thing that makes you stand out from all the others?
No other band anywhere in the world has got us three in it.
You recently released your new album, Framed. What does this album mean to you, as a band?
It’s really satisfying. We’ve been a band for 6 or 7 years and it’s our 4th album, which is pretty good going. We are quite productive. We always work REALLY hard on the songs, getting them as good as they can be, and we feel we’ve gone up a notch with each album we’ve made – especially this one. It’s our best one yet. We’re really proud of it and we haven’t finished – we can’t wait to hear the next one!
What tracks stand out as favourites, both to play and listen back to?
It’s hard to point to one track, or a handful of tracks. We’ve lived with them for 8 or 9 months writing & recording the album. They become ingrained within you. It’d be like trying to decide which are your favourite fingers or toes – they’re just “there”! It’s like having several kids – they are all different and you love them all differently, but equally!
Who produced Framed? Have you worked with them before? How was it working with them?
A guy called Peter EJ Lee produced it. Peter has had hits in the past under the name “Love to Infinity” and he’s produced or remixed Grace Jones, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, Coldplay…… loads of acts. Mike was working with him on a film soundtrack and got him interested in us. He was a godsend to be honest. We couldn’t record together because of Covid Lockdown and travel restrictions, so we had to play our parts individually at home and send them to Pete. Our previous albums have all been played live in the studio as a band, then mixed/over-dubbed etc. but this was a completely different way of making a record. Pete brough the whole lot together and sprinkled it with gold-dust!
What were some of the sources for inspiration?
We just love songs and songwriting. Anything that’s a great song, well constructed, well recorded….. that’ll do us. And we like to try and do the same, write great songs. Inspiration comes from loving music, loving loads of artists and wanting to emulate what they achieved whilst not copying them as such. All three of us have different influences – Mike is probably more of a classic guitar strumming songsmith; Grant likes to rock-out and bash his drums like a proper Rockstar drummer, while I’m more sort of robotic-dance orientated – well defined rhythms & bass….. it’s quite a mix that gives us what we think is a sound that’s familiar and can perhaps be referenced to other bands and artists, but ultimately sounds like us.
How does Framed differ from your previous three LPs?
Well, as per the answer above it’s massively different due to the way it’s been recorded in Lockdown. Also, it’s a progression from the other three (and each one has been a progression from the previous one). We don’t want to stand still. We don’t want to do the same thing over & over. We want to try different things, keep learning new ways of doing it. We’re always looking for new sounds, new ideas we can introduce to keep it fresh and keep it moving forward. We want to evolve, always.
Are there plans to play live, when it is safe to do so?
Yes definitely – We took a year off gigs…. Then when we were ready to go back to it, the pandemic hit us and we’ve lost another year! We can’t WAIT to get back on stage, as soon as it’s safe to do so. We’re already talking to venues and promoters, so we’ll hopefully start lining up some dates soon…….
What is next for Wintergreen?
Well, Mike is making a film in Mexico at the moment – he’s been there nearly two months but is due home in the next week or so. When he gets back we’ll get rehearsing (as soon as we can) and get out playing live. In the meantime we’ve been pushing the album all over the place and we’ll keep doing that. The feedback has been great, and we wanna build on it.
Where can we find out more about you?
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/wintergreenband
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzm5bxhA5cSVdkv_uE8xW_g
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5fRXQLqXHwyBeiEkxi8Emx?si=fNtWNNDPT3SaAQxQFvKLGQ
Bandcamp: https://wintergreen73.bandcamp.com/
Twitter: @Wintergreenband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wintergreenband/
Anything else you would like to tell us?
Sure – there’s a song on the album entitled “Sad Strings” that will be in a forthcoming mod/road movie called “The Pebble and The Boy” Directed by Chris Green. It stars Patsy Kensit, Jesse Birdsall, Sacha Parkinson, Stuart Wolfenden, and Mani!!! (amongst many others, and a load of scooters!)
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