Wunderhorse: the band with the Midas touch

Shedding self-consciousness, Wunderhorse channel frustrations into bullish defiance with their blistering second album ‘Midas’.

Words: Finlay Holden.
Photos: Derek Bremner.

Wunderhorse may have started as a solo project, but to describe it as such now would be a gross misunderstanding of how the group operates. Once a ringleader in the London punk scene, vocalist Jacob Slater exploded out of a disorderly world and into a far calmer alternative, retreating to the coast as whispers of an incoming virus began to arrive in the city. Pensively forming new ideas whilst rekindling an ever-present passion for surfing, it became increasingly evident that walking his creative path alone was no longer an option.

Recruiting a live band from old circles – the live unit have known each other since their teenage years – Jacob was soon joined by Harry Fowler (guitar), Jamie Staples (drums), and Pete Woodin (bass) in the shared mission to manifest his ideas. However, they did remain just his ideas; the resulting product, 2022’s gritty and energetic breakthrough LP ‘Cub’, is a tight exploration of a singular young adulthood that didn’t yet offer room for additional contributors.

“You have to put in the hard yards and play a lot of shows together before you can even think about creating with someone,” Fowler begins. “We were all mates beforehand, so there wasn’t too much ice to break, but it takes time to create a cohesive bond with people, creatively speaking.” As each musician brought along their own storied past in rock bands - which Harry says, “starts with copying a lot of other people until you figure out what you want to do,  and who you are” – the fusion of established personalities could now add up to something greater than the sum of its parts.

“When you do then go into the studio, there’s this chemistry below the surface level that you hadn’t even been aware of, but it can bring forth some good fruit - and it did,” Jacob recalls of the early period which began sporadically generating material for the group’s next endeavour. “We are all creative people, but I was surprised by the potency of the creativity we experienced. We were hugely prolific in a very short space of time, bursting with loads of ideas, and it was a bit of magic that I still don’t quite understand.”