The Spectre Collective
Words by Liam Stretch and Java Katzur. Images taken by Dan Harris, Trent Williams, and Sevrin Noakes.
With summer now rolling, we sit down with The Spectre Collective – part of the Welcome to Nowhere line-up. We muse over their sound, Kiwi music, and of course, what we can expect to see from their set at the upcoming festival.
Hailing from the Coolest Little Capital in the World, Wellington, the band can trace its beginnings back to 2018 – when times were oh so simpler. Comprising Will Agnew, Lochie Noble, and Jonathan Shirley, this is a trio that is not here to screw about, with rough jams quickly polishing into a gorgeous album just two months after the inception of The Spectre Collective.
“[We] kinda decided, ‘fuck it, go hard or go home’. [Their first album] ended up becoming Paleofuture, which is rough around the edges and a bit loose, but it captures the wild, chaotic and naive energy we were channelling at the time. Without it, we wouldn’t have gotten the confidence and the addictive urge to keep going and improve with each album.”
Unique characters each one of them, the three boys bring their own flair, weirdness and skills to the table.
“There’s a Spectre vibe and a Spectre way of doing shit, and I don’t think any of us are really in control of it. It’s awake now, and it wants to feed.”
Currently, these boys are cooking up a new album which they hope to release early this year. Still writing and recording it, it’s ever-evolving, but a good chunk of it was born from the limitations of lockdown – which seems to be the story of many artists in the chaos of 2020. Describing their sound as electric, they want to instil the feeling that there’s always something otherworldly lurking in the shadows, even if the song is light and bubbly.
Fitting into the psych genre, they draw inspiration from all sorts of local bands such as Linen, Earth Tongue, ONONO, The All-Seeing Hand, Motte, Red Sky Blues, Orchestra of Spheres, and Prison Choir.
Like many bands in the psychedelic sphere, their process is self-described as “pretty haphazard”. Usually, an album will start with a concept – whether that’s a vibe, a genre, a piece of artwork or even just a cool sounding name. This means the eventual project organically reveals itself.
“We already know what the next three are roughly going to be. It’s just a matter of making the time to do it, but also to do it well and not rush for the sake of it.”
In 2019, they released their album Cosmosis. It’s a collaboration with many artists, some of which will also be playing at Welcome to Nowhere.
“We collaborated with Gussie Larkin (Mermaidens, Earth Tongue), Anita Clark (Motte), Emerald Rose (Linen), Bailey Smith (Sheep, Dog & Wolf live band) and Jordan Edwards (Mothers Dearest). That was a lot of fun and came about very casually from asking mates or people we admired if they were keen to contribute. We got a front-row seat to their process, which was really inspiring.”
The fourth stop of the Yo Vocal Tour is Welcome to Nowhere festival; the team is excited to see these boys live. The Spectre Collective can comfortably say they have been part of the Eyegum story. With Jono and Will kicking around during the early days of the Wellington-based music collective – which presents the new festival – back when it was a bunch of ruckus house parties.
Welcome to Nowhere has a special place in their hearts, and their set will be one to watch; promising to keep it fresh and exciting. When discussing their 2020 album Delirium Imperium, the boys were asked if any of the songs will feature in their set at Welcome to Nowhere.
“We don’t even know what we’re playing three weeks from now, let alone three months from now. Swamp Fling is kind of the crowd favourite, and Thermal Underground is a nice tangy tune for the taste buds.”
“While we’ve clocked a solid setlist, we’re gradually leaning away from the classic song-by-song set that we’ve grown used to. We’re really interested in creating a mood and atmosphere – letting things take their time, building and instilling emotions in people. We’ve been experimenting lately with cinematic soundscapes and using sample pads.”
Who knows what they will do? We will just await it fervently. Welcome to Nowhere will be serenading folks from 6 February in mighty Whanganui.