This Zug based Swiss Emo Rock band was originated in 2006 by singer Sven Ehmes and guitarist Stephan Kaiser as a means to do some occasional jam sessions, and soon grew out by the band (also comprising bassist/ pianist Jonathan Geiger and drummer/ pianist Silvan Strinimann) fitting out its own studio to record its April 2010 released EP The Progression, which stands as a symbol for the awakening of the musicians involved.
In the Spring of 2011, the line-up suffered a last change, in that Ehmes was ousted, Kaiser also taking over lead vocal duties (along with being the main songwriter). Far from being a studio band, the guys have quite a bit of live action under their belts since the release of their EP, including festival appearances. Among the first live appearances, two sets played at Orlando (FL, USA)'s Florida Music Festival stick out for the band, as it's the only gigs outside of their home country's boundaries so far. Other festival shows were played at Rock Oz Arènes, Open Air Frischluftkultur, Freestyle.ch, and Zug Rockt 02...all in 2010. Since then, the trio has take a slower pace on the live circuit, playing only 2 shows in 2011, and another 2 in 2012.
All of which, in the first place, because the band was being busy experimenting with its sound...secondly, because it was writing and recording its debut album, for which they even traveled to Berlin to record the piano, and to Hamburg and Winterthur to record the drum parts. Third reason for the lack of live activity, is that WTW wasn't just recording 10-12 songs for your usual type of full-length debut, but was in fact going for a double album set including a total of 22 tracks (including an intro and a remix of one of the songs), which also included the participation of additional musicians: cellists Martin Bornhauser and Alfons Künzle; a female choir, gang vocals (among which Sven Ehmes, by the way), and additional duet leads by “Sifecta”.
The end result is a surprising mix of Rock based tracks with nice synergies (occasionally the inclusion of piano play, or strings), and piano-based ballads. A disturbing thing, to me personally (because it means the band has to perform with an elaborate sound backdrop which includes pre-recorded piano and string parts as well as some guitar parts) is that in several songs the band didn't used overdubs on the guitars! Vocally, things are as they should be: clean leads with harmonic backings...the ideal way to invite the listener to go into a sing-along! Lyrically, Be Your Own Hero is about loneliness and lack of orientation...but hold on, for rather than just be melodramatically melancholic and defeatist, the album brings a means to overcome such things with a great deal of courage and will...or just music! Well, as far as I am personally concerned, if this is the new look of Emo Rock bands, write me up for an introduction to more bands in the same style!
For your personal introduction to the band, surf to the music and video sections at (www.) whentheywake.com...quite sufficient material there, to get acquainted with the band's diversity! In order to give this album some promotion, a several gigs (7 so far) have already been played, and morel are already planned, but at the moment nothing is out of Switzerland's boundaries!