The making of wilt’s self-titled debut EP did not follow the conventional process. Here was an experimental assemblage of five songs written and produced as stand-alone singles, that when initially laid out in front of lead singer Chelsea Rifkin, guitarists Aaron Liebman and Andrew Perrea, bassist Jake Shpiner and drummer Dan Bermudez, lacked a single flowing trajectory. Though following its release in early April, it has instead become a benchmark of sorts that represents the band’s first major step into the music landscape and embodies their slowly evolving sound.
It makes sense that this “diverse offering of songs,” as described by Perrea, would bear the band’s name; the EP is the sound of a particular musical project as much as it’s a reverberation of wilt as a whole.
Having dabbled within the genres of bedroom pop, shoegaze and grunge in the last two years — with the single “gwen” in 2022, along with four consecutive releases in 2023, each showcasing a range of lyrical emotions — wilt has come to embrace the ground-up process of honing in their practice.
“For my journey with wilt’s music, it’s been less growth and actually more narrowing down,” Perrea said. “I think when we started, stuff happened really fast for us once we began releasing music, and internally we hadn’t quite figured out our sonic palette yet.”
Two years later, as their first EP was taking shape, they chose to fuse indie and alternative rock and run with it. It has since taken on a life of its own, much like the band’s name “wilt” has, inspired by the lyrics of Hole’s song “Celebrity Skin.” The term is now thrown around in its many forms by bandmates (“that’s wilted,” “we’re wilting”) and fans (“wilters”) alike.
Though the band does not seem to be wilting, and instead blooming as they prepare for their fall She Wants Me tour. Gracing the stage of venues across California and Arizona, they will conclude in San Luis Obispo on Sept. 21, performing at The Aviary alongside Central Coast bands Couch Dog and The Framers.
With a taste of the band’s fiery stage presence and sonic chemistry, fans can walk away knowing that wilt is, in fact, only just getting started.
The fusion of wilt and their fanbase
Wilt’s emergence as a DIY, LA-based band was catalyzed by their presence on Instagram and TikTok — platforms that proved capable of boosting their name and garnering a follower base.
Before music was recorded or produced, and long before they stepped onstage in front of an audience with instruments in hand, wilt took to regularly posting short “personality videos,” as coined by guitarist Liebman.
“That was a key part of our success because I feel like had we had an EP or some singles out, we would be trying to promote those songs,” Liebman said. “Instead, we were just making videos that made us laugh,” which looked like short clips and guitar memes that soon amassed millions of likes.
It was with this newfound following that the band, having released a few singles thereafter in late 2022, continued to engage online by morphing funny videos and highlights from their gigs into music promotion. What has come of it all: a fan base comprised of skilled musicians and energetic concert-goers highly devoted to wilt’s sound, band dynamic and most of all, approachability.
“People aren’t scared of us,” Rifkin said. “And I think that’s because of our personalities being shown on social media. It’s something that you can’t really get a lot, like a relationship with your favorite artist, because usually they are so unreachable and untouchable.”
With years of musical theater under her belt, Rifkin is able to incorporate her energetic composure and strong vocal capabilities, melding them seamlessly with the band and the far-ranging music scene they’ve stepped into. Having toured in states across the country as openers for English indie rock band Lovejoy and more recently with the brothers of Remo Drive, wilt has mastered their own unique stage presence.
“We want our live performance to be the reason people love wilt,” she said.
The band built on this desire from the beginning, acknowledging that by nurturing a connection with their audience onstage so freely and organically, the music could blend everyone in the venue into a single, melodic entity.
Any barriers between wilt and their audience dissipate the minute they step onstage. We don’t have to look far for proof, as their debut performance as a band exemplifies this.
As Rifkin recalled, Liebman, unaware that the venue host was about to introduce them, began playing a 30-second instrumental riff his nervous hands knew from muscle memory. This awkward moment, captured on tape and shared on TikTok, led eager fans to anticipate the arrival of this “song” that was yet to be born.
The band’s followers took to posting videos of themselves covering the catchy riff on guitar while wilt rushed to morph it into a fully-fledged piece of music and release it to fans on streaming platforms. To kick off their first headline show in Los Angeles last November, they created a contest for fans willing to play their new song, aptly titled “the riff,” onstage — the winner, Dom, now a close friend with the band, flying in from Seattle for his big moment.
Continuing this wilt tradition, fans will play with the band on the road during their fall tour which began Sept. 13.
Onstage synergy
The five-piece band may be comprised of distinctly different musicians, however onstage their synergy comes alive. There is a piece of each member in their music, which when performed, draws them closer together like a thread until they are rhythmically reading each other’s minds.
Pulling inspiration from musicians like Mannequin Pussy — with vocalist and guitarist Marisa Dabice’s captivating stage presence — the group has pushed to maintain space onstage for their harmonious, musical conversations to take place.
It is within those “band moments,” that wilt experiences these exchanges: the instances when all else dissolves and an intimate dialogue occurs between singer and guitarist or drummer and bassist. It might be a nod after hitting the perfect beat, or the rush of executing a seamless transition between songs that amps up the spirit and simply leaves no time for dawdling about the crowd.
This onstage dynamic wilt has come to perfect is rooted in the group’s diverse amalgamation of talents.
Liebman, Bermudez and Perrea’s background in professional music production has brought studio knowledge to the table, while bassist Shpiner, selected from hundreds of applicants, has grown to fill the remaining piece of wilt. Thrown in the mix is Rifkin’s lyrical inclination and burning inspiration from ’90s grunge songwriting, along with her keen eye regarding how songs are presented live versus during band rehearsals at Bermudez’s studio in Van Nuys.
“Between all of us, we have had a lot of things to grab from, a lot of knowledge of what worked and what didn’t in the past,” drummer Bermudez said. “But now we just have bigger stages to do it on.”
Inspired by the vitality and spirit of bands such as Slow Pulp, Weezer and The Beaches, it is songs like “you’re the one to blame” or “bite my tongue” off the EP — that having become staple hits for sweet, slow hangouts or drives — are now leading fans in flocks to various cities to get swept up in them once again, this time live.
The track “she wants me to,” written in Perrea’s bedroom, is as Rifkin describes it, a song that is akin to the “glimmer of hope and rose-tinted lens that you see the world in when you’re in love with someone that loves you back.”
For the making of “more than this,” Rifkin and Perrea merged their experiences of dejection and dissatisfaction into a cathartic result; a melodic haven for both them as songwriters and for listeners drawing parallels to it with their own pasts.
Traces of Radiohead reside in the climactic sections of “bite my tongue,” where high guitar solos follow a chorus with mellow chords and closed hi-hat beats.
“This song really simmers in the chorus and then only explodes at the very end,” Liebman said.
It is fitting as the EP’s final track, which finishes with a bang and initially garnered the highest streams.
In recent months, each song has taken turns on top; a testament to the well-rounded nature of the EP and each track’s unique appeal as a stand alone piece. And this is exactly what wilt hoped for; to not see a singular project soar above the rest, or as Liebman puts it, “floating above their catalog.”
“For us, people tend to listen to our body of work instead of just a song, which is definitely something I appreciate,” he said.
Maybe it’s because, to fans, wilt is more than a one-hit wonder. They are, as they’ve attempted to describe themselves…
“The band next door,” Liebman said. “We were all friends before this even started.”
“wilt is…cringe,” Perrea said.
“Wait, I love that,” Liebman said. “Yeah, you can mark that down.”
“I would say,” Rifkin chipped in, “wilt is everything.”
And to see for yourself, tickets to wilt’s tour are available here.
