Wait And Shackle

This new EP by Wait and Shackle brings forth an onslaught of melodious bliss. Combining together an array of influences like punk, progressive pop, and odd metered psychedelic rock,



"Happy 26th Birthday" delivers an energetic burst of raw passion. Attributed to the chaotic rhythmic punches from hard hitting drums, the pictorial lens unveils the predicament of waking after an all-night banger. Everyone knows that feeling of the momentary confoundment of the in-between realms. The possibility of serpentine like turns in uncharted terrority is powerfully present and rather intimidating.

The band blankets themselves in mystery with superb technical mastery employed from the get go. Being sonically pulled by divergence, one is astonished and hastily surrenders any semblance of comfortable musical familiarity.

Breaking all rules, Wait and Shackle phenomenally engages the listener while it emanates a prodigical affinity for thoughtful narration amongst a chaotic jungle of riffage. Truly original, alien, the hymn to gods of their own making - it pours out fluidity and avoids angular disruptions of groove.

Vaguely drawing out where as to go, the members coelesce together, catching the listener off guard. Just as the listener grows accustomed with the cosmic dance between universes, they are surprised by the process of rendering the gap between each instrument to a pin point. Elegance and layers of meaning plus suggestivity give way to being fully in the moment as one is literally sucked out of contemplation into action. Putting to work melodic and technically sound guitar riffs, the softed spirit slowly simmers beneath the prowess of such a heavy rhythm section. As persistent opaque layers are washed clean by the wave-like ambitions of pop validity, what hides behind the monster is the last thing one would expect. Sheer wondrous liberties into single notes, enabling shivers and palatable intuitive sensations of invitation.



As the ear is seduced deeper and deeper into the emerging sonic medium, the group opens a concrete pathway. The bombardment overlaid against the oceanic textiles are however quite pleasant. In the act of lacing together uniquely twisted melodic lines, the guitar takes over most of the syncopation duties. Protected by an outer metallic shell, the melodies pierce through all boundaries into some soothing aqueous pedal play. As the bubbles surface from the cold dark depth, the other members realign their position and regroup to form a cruising motion ahead. Backyard melodies entice the realms of memory as the protagonist hangs on for the ride. Now accustomed to the ever-changing rhythms within “Halfway to the Fourth Wave," one can enjoy the attitude of metal beside the fragile sensibilities of post-rock intention.

Clocking in at 6 minutes and 30 seconds, this final song, “Halfway to the fourth wave” opens with alarming vigor. Slightly devoid of directional solidity, the intro paints confusion in a dimly-lit musical atmosphere.

While the last track on this EP illustrates the bands virtuous musicianship, the rest of the record finds itself lost in the ecstasy of 3-way vocal harmonies which are akin to a cleaner Algernon Cadwallader.

Wait and Shackle's utilization of a complete color palate in the form of textural variance and focus really aids at creating a movie in the listener’s mind. The outfit seems to take a universal approach, leaving nothing out of their equation all the while delivering spastic ecology-shifts within the music’s emotional tone.
For every moment of noodling guitars occupying the horizons, emotively rich singing is the centerfold page - complete with mysterious stains.

Be sure to check out W&S's bandcamp for more tunes!

https://waitandshackle.bandcamp.com/



-Agent 0 - The Math Rock Times

There are two things we love here on Overblown. One is math rock. The other is lo-fi DIY approaches to music. New York-based emo/math rock quartet Wait and Shackle tick both of these boxes nicely. With that in mind, we are pretty delighted to premire their new track ‘Caps For $ale’. Taken from their upcoming EP Happy 26th Birthday, it is an upbeat, emotional, and melodic blast that perfectly marries technicality with humanity. The track is streaming below. Have a listen, and read what the band have to tell us about the song, the upcoming EP, and their upcoming gig plans.

Overblown: Can you tell us what inspired ‘Caps For $ale’?

Wait and Shackle: lyrically the storyline is a mashup of the children’s book “Caps For Sale” and Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist. In fact, a few lines from the spoken word section are quoted from the book. It takes the later novel and changes the outcome of the story to a much less sensical resolution of becoming a cap salesman. Then the “eleven” section is a reference to the time signature of the outro. Altogether the song is one of our goofier concepts but musically showcases a lot of different styles of our playing and musicianship.

Overblown: It will appear on your upcoming EP ‘Happy 26th Birthday’. Where did that title come from?

Wait and Shackle: Our guitarist had gotten a birthday card from one of our friends last year. I loved the quirkiness of the card and thought it would make a great album cover. I had pitched the idea when I first saw the card and stuck to it. As everyone started considering it more and more we also realized having a “birthday party” would be a great gimmick for live shows, something to change up the typical 4 bands in a bar playing music song and dance you usually get. Who doesn’t love a good birthday party?

Overblown: The intro track for the EP is called ‘Tetraphobia’, which is the fear of the number 4. Are you afraid of the number 4? - Overblown

In this interview, Renier Fee, Director of Marketing at Music & Arts, sat down with Christian Seda, whose band Wait and Shackle won the Music & Arts’ 4th annual Battle of the Bands competition. Most of their music is self recorded and produced at the band’s house, and Christian handles all recording and mixing himself. They have music available on Spotify, iTunes, and Bandcamp, and put on a great show at the Battle of the Bands event. Fun fact: Christian started taking lessons at Music & Arts over a decade ago, and now he works as a Senior Sales Associate for Music & Arts in Lindenhurst, New York. We’re excited to have had you in the family for so long, Christian! Congrats on the win!

Your performance at the Music & Arts 4th annual “Battle of the Bands” was full of tight songs and high energy. It was easy to see why the judges selected your band as the winner. But the other bands were great too. What went through your mind when your band, Wait and Shackle, was announced as the winner?
At first it took me a minute to process. When we stepped on stage to receive the big check it had been a moment where I realized that all the struggle we’ve each individually been through was worth it in the end.

Fender, D’Addario, P. Mauriat, Zildjian, Vic Firth and Flying Dog Brewery hooked you up with tons of prizes and Music & Arts came through with the cash. What are you going to do with your winnings?
Utilize all of the gear in future recordings and also fund new recording gear for us to use. Also time for one of us to learn trumpet!

After having played the Battle of the Bands, what tips do you have for the bands in the 2019 competition?
What I’d say is to just go in it with no expectations and just give every ounce of energy you have into your performance.

Let’s start from the beginning. You told me you took lessons at Music & Arts over a decade ago and that “it was the best decision I ever made.” Why are lessons important to a beginner musician?
Lessons are important because it trains you to be an active listener and that is essential to playing in a group setting. It also hones in on your ear and teaches you how to get around certain problems within composing your music.

Who’s in your band and where did your sound come from?
Dave (guitarist) and I met back in high school when we played in separate bands. He was really into surf/punk music. Quinn(drummer) and Kevin(bassist) are also in a band called Alset Alokin and already had a preexisting chemistry playing Funk/Jazz music. When Wait and Shackle was originally conceived, I was the drummer so the earlier tunes are somewhat more based in the punk realm. I was always into progressive rock and wanted to create a new sound from all of our respective influences. At some point we decided to implement Quinn into the mix and move me onto guitar to play the songs I had composed. As a collective we now have a no idea off limits approach and contribute to the writing as a whole.


You guys played barefoot on stage. Is that a nod to your beach lifestyle?
It essentially is a means of grounding us to our surroundings and getting comfortable within whatever place we are in. But also who doesn’t love the beach?

You call your music “progressive/math rock” but is it fair to call it emo?
There are definitely hints of emo in there with the lyrical content we have going on.

Any of these bands an influence on you: Fall of Troy, At the Drive In, American Football, Into It Over It?
Oh man, The Fall of Troy hands down changed my approach to music and guitar. Thomas Erak inspired a legion of new guitarists with his fast riffing and intense live energy. At the Drive In unmistakably influenced that band as well so they are definitely big inspirations to me. American Football definitely is an influence on our more laid back songs and vocal harmonies.

My friend Shawn Burke has been listening to your music and sent me a question for you: New York and New Jersey has such a great history of being a DIY breeding ground. How do you think the scene compares now vs the early 2000’s when it fed an entire genre of post-hardcore/punk musicians?
I would say that the post hardcore/punk scene is still very much alive. What I’ve noticed prominently though is the amount of math rock bands that are consistently pushing the envelope to take music to new horizons. The sheer talent that comes from this island is very humbling to be a part of.

What gear is your band playing on? Talk to me about your set-up; your guitars, pedals, drum kit, mics, amps, etc.
So my setup consists of a Les Paul Doublecut Plus, A PRS SE Custom 24 that has been modded with Seymour Duncan Pegasus and Sentient pickups, A modded Marshall JCM 2000 DSL, a Line 6 M13 as my main board, an EarthQuaker Devices Palisades for overdrive/distortion and an EarthQuaker Rainbow Machine. Dave plays on a Les Paul Doublecut Plus as well, a Warmoth custom built telecaster with 24 frets, a Traynor amp that had a modded circuit from our good friend/gear tech Jesse Davidson, also a Line 6 M13 as well and the Palisades as well. He also uses a Boss RC-30 for samples and certain loops. Kevin plays on a Fender J Bass with Wylde pickups, an Acoustic head through a Mark Bass 4×10. For Pedals he uses a Boss Tera Echo, Boss EQ, and a Bass Big Muff pedal. Quinn plays on a kit that’s made up of different shells including Pork Pie and Tama. For cymbals he uses mainly his Meinl extra dry hats, ride and crash and has a Zildjian Dark K Crash. For his stack he uses a few Wuhan and Zildjian cymbals.

And you use loopers too, right?
Our main looper unit is the M13. Has lots of cool features and is a great all-in-one device. Further sampling is done using Dave’s RC-30

Wait and Shackle has released three albums: “Get Loaded” in 2015, “The Cantilever” in 2017, and “Happy 26th Birthday” in 2018. Since you handle the recording and mixing, how has your recording process evolved?
I’ve just learned from constant experimentation with recording that environment is everything. The latest record had the drums tracked with James Meslin over at Cove City Sound Studios in Long Island. We did everything else ourselves at home just using Reaper. “Get Loaded” was all done with our good friend Jesse Chason. He runs a production company called Glasswave Productions and has a studio upstate. The Cantilever was my first take on recording ourselves and I was the drummer back then. It’s definitely been a learning process and I’m always trying to learn something new in this digital recording age.

What studio gear do you use to record and mix?
We use FocusRite’s Scarlett 18i20 interface to capture everything. Our primary DAW is Reaper and we also run BIAS AMP software for some tone blending with our real amps.

Where can fans get your albums?
We are on all major platforms such as Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, Youtube, and Amazon.

Thanks Christian. Want to end it with a few shout-outs?
Shout out’s to all of of friends and family for being our support all these years. This band would not have survived without help from all of you. Shout out to Jesse Davidson for always fixing our stuff, Don Scherr for helping us get onto streaming platforms, Waffle Dowila for helping us with merch, Reunite Pangea, It Came From Space, Necter, and Kaelyn McParland for always taking amazing photos of us. - The Vault at Music and Arts

Lindenhurst-based band Wait and Shackle won top honors in Music & Arts' 4th annual Battle of the Bands. Taking home over $20,000 in prizes from brands like Fender, D’Addario, P. Mauriat and Zildjian, the band beat out entrants from across the country.

With a progressive/math rock approach, Wait and Shackle dominated the stage, barefoot and raging with energy.

“Winning this competition felt very surreal and was completely unexpected, “ comments Christian Seda, drummer for Wait and Shackle. “Performing in front of some of the best representatives from some of the biggest brands in music history was exhilarating and I am proud to be able to say I've been a part of Music & Arts history.”

The event also helped to raise money for the Frederick Community Action Agency's food bank. Renier Fee, Music & Arts Marketing Director, shares, “Our company vision is to excite musicians about playing music and that extends to our employees too. I’m grateful that the most respected instrument manufacturers, like Fender, D’Addario, P. Mauriat and Zildjian, share our view.”

Check out Wait and Shackle here:


With three albums under their belt – Get Loaded in 2015, The Cantilever in 2017, and Happy 26th Birthday in 2018 – Wait and Shackle have a fast-forward mindset.Find out more about Wait and Shackle on Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, and Youtube.

-Guitar World Staff - Guitar World

Written by Katie Clayton

Wait and Shackle is a Long Island based math rock band releasing their third album entitled, Happy 26th Birthday this March. The album is roughly 30 minutes of free form, nuanced improvisations by four very practiced musicians that like to play outside the lines of four/four time.

The band released their album The Cantilever just last year. Since then they’ve expanded, taking on a new drummer, Quinn McCormack, and moving Christian Seda to guitar alongside Dave Lundari and bassist Kevinn Rinn. It appears time has been of the essence for these four; having all played together in various bands throughout the years “Happy 26th Birthday” is an upbeat album filled with all the noodling and obscurity that anyone that just wants to get down and dance can enjoy.

Their first song “Caps for Sale” got its name from a children’s story book and a novel, The Alchemist. Taking the light heartedness of a story about a band of mischievous monkeys and an allegory about a shepherd searching for treasure, the song opens with a piano solo and transcends into a series of eight guitar parts that I can only surmise as some of the groups favorite rhythms and measures.

“Halfway to the Fourth Wave” the last song on the album, holds true to their math rock title. The song is calculated yet not too technical where you can’t just break out and let loose. It brings you in and just as quickly lets you go. It’s a type of energy that permeates directly from them, stating that “The stars really aligned for us with that song, its just so natural for us to get through it.”

Prior to the album’s release the band has been putting out a series of video compilations taken throughout their time recording, with the intent of wanting to be able to show not only all that they’ve put into this but that it’s not “all peaches and cream”. And while they have left an element of surprise to some things, like the story behind their album name, they could tell me that they are having four release shows. One being at Gold Sound in Brooklyn on March 21st and another in New Paltz, NY, on March 23rd. If you’re interested in keeping tabs on these guys you can follow them on Facebook and Bandcamp but I wouldn’t be too surprised if you see them rolling through a venue near you! - The Jamwich