Pop punk rockers THE WILD HAZE have released several EPs, with all new music, an album with 12 songs expected out someday. But the band does into talks about their song writing, lyrical context, history, and the plans for the future.
1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or did it come out just like that?
The idea for the band name came from the band Beach Slang. At the time, their album The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us had just been released.
There’s a song on the album called “Ride the Wild Haze.” We really identified with the lyrics, and the instrumental part reminded us a lot of ourselves as a band. The song was playing as we were on our way to our rehearsal space, which was very secluded on a farm at the time, and it was very foggy—that’s when I (Stephanie) came up with the idea for The Wild Haze.
2. Why did you want to play this genre?
I think all of us listened to pop punk and punk rock as teenagers. We grew up with it in the ’90s and 2000s.
I, Stephanie, used to listen to the soundtrack from the movie American Pie back then and got to know a lot of bands, and my first concert at 14 was Green Day in Zurich. But we all listen to different genres too, ranging from metal/hardcore punk to stoner/sludge, Swedish rock punk bands, rock ’n’ roll, indie, and even country. We’re very open-minded as long as it’s good, honest music.
3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?
Lars, the guitarist, and I, Stephanie, already knew each other. We were part of the same scene and hung out in the same places. We met Sascha through an online post when we were looking for a drummer. But he didn’t join us until years later and served as our substitute drummer for the first few years. We met Jake at a song contest in early 2017, where he was playing with his band Killjoy at the time. We also met our first drummer (Sascha) and our first guitarist, Remo, through online ads. Phil was our session guitarist on and off over the years, but he was also a permanent member of the band, and we knew each other from the same scene even before the band was formed.
4. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We don't live in the same place. Sascha is from Basel. Jake and Phil are from Zurich, and Lars and Stephanie live in Baden, a suburb of Zurich, where we now have our rehearsal space. Before that, it was in Lucerne and Zurich. Switzerland is small, and we all live just a half-hour to an hour’s drive from each other.
The scene in Zurich is a bit bigger, and there are good bands like Nofnog, My Name Was Claire, Kabuki Joe, Desert Lily, and Back East. As friends and talented musicians, we highly recommend them.
5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?
Stephanie writes the lyrics to the songs. So, in the early days, I’d definitely say Green Day, Avril Lavigne, Blink-182, Sum 41, and Social Distortion. But as a teenager, I also listened to a lot of country music, like Johnny Cash. Lars, who writes the riffs and melodies for us, had earlier inspirations like Pennywise, Good Riddance, Sum 41, Catch 22 and The Hellacopters.
6. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
Our songs are about life with all its ups and downs, about not giving up, pursuing your dreams, about love and pain, and feeling like an outsider—as well as all the difficult but also good things in the world.
7. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Yes, we write all our songs ourselves. Either Stephanie comes up with the lyrics and a melody first, and Lars adds the guitar part. Then we bring the idea to the rest of the band, where the other members contribute their ideas. Or Lars has written a riff or a melody, and then we adapt it to the lyrics and work it out with the band.
8. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
We've released four EPs so far. Our first EP is on Bandcamp. Back then, it still had lyrics in both English and German. The subsequent releases—Stupid Girl, Strikes and Gutters, and Crash and Burn—have been released on all platforms, including Tidal, Spotify, Apple Music, and more. We make honest music with heart and a passion for music. So far, it’s all DIY. We make music because we enjoy it and because we’re passionate about it, and we hope people feel that too.
9. Do you have any new music in the works?
Yes, over the past year we’ve written an album with 12 songs or more. Unfortunately, Stephanie was—and still is—on sick leave, so we wrote new songs whenever we could. Since gigs haven’t been possible since the middle of the year for these reasons, Jake, our guitarist, has studied audio engineering, and we’re currently recording demos in our living room/rehearsal space. You definitely have something to look forward to. It’s our best work yet. We’ve put in many months of work, and people can look forward to something new as well as the familiar, improved The Wild Haze sound—a good mix of dark and punk, as you know it, with plenty of variety and a willingness to experiment.
10. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
We’ve planned two shows so far. Whether they go ahead depends on how quickly our singer recovers. We hope it will be soon, but in the meantime, we’ll be working on new music. You can look forward to it.
11. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
We envision our future as a band filled with lots of shows, meeting great people and bands, and more tours in Europe, the U.S., and Asia. We’ve already gotten some inquiries, haha, but that’s still a ways off :) We’ll keep playing and writing good, honest music. This is just the beginning.
12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can listen to our music on all major platforms. We’ve ordered more CDs and T-shirts and will be announcing them on our social media channels. We’ll have a website soon, but until then, you can definitely reach out to us via DM on our channels and at our shows.
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