Likewise, when you investigate Wine & Warpaint’s discography, you’ll discover a unique sound that blends big hooks, punk edge, and wall-of-sound energy. This signature style has been crafted to navigate the complexities of the human experience, tackling themes of loss, deconstruction, and depression while maintaining a sense of hope and optimism.
Assuming you’re new to Wine & Warpaint, you might not know that they’ve already received some impressive recognition in the music industry. In fact, they were selected as one of the 26 best unsigned bands in the world by a celebrity panel of music legends and executives as part of the Player Plus Studio Sessions: Powered by Fender.
Recognition from industry experts is a testament to Wine & Warpaint’s hard work and dedication to their craft. As winners of the Player Plus Studio Sessions, they’ve demonstrated their ability to stand out in a crowded music scene. With their upcoming debut full-length album on the horizon, it will be exciting to see how they continue to grow and evolve as artists.
If you’re wondering how Wine & Warpaint’s distinctive sound comes together, it all starts with Brandon O’Neill, the mastermind behind the project. As a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, O’Neill brings his vision to life in the studio, crafting songs that navigate the complexities of loss, depression, and hope.
Working together to bring their energetic live show to life, you’ll find Taylor Bess, Colleen Christman, Hunter Glotz, and Hannah Haupt joining O’Neill on stage. This talented group of musicians comes together to recreate the wall-of-sound energy that defines Wine & Warpaint’s music.
Songwriting is at the heart of Wine & Warpaint’s live performances, with O’Neill’s lyrics and melodies taking center stage. But it’s the collective energy of the band members that brings these songs to life, creating a dynamic and immersive experience for fans. With their live show, Wine & Warpaint invites you to step into their world of hope and optimism, even in the darkest of times.
What draws you to your preferred genre?
I truly believe that rock music and alternative pop punk expresses the human experience in ways no other genre can. I don’t hang around this genre for nostalgia or because I grew up listening to it, I hang around because when I listen to it I feel things no other style of music makes me feel.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
Since everything is so accessible, genres are not as definitive as they used to be. I think everyone listens to everything. I also think it’s harder to make meaningful, top-down holistic connections with a band’s music, since so much of what we consume is single-based and playlist-focused. Albums and discographies aren’t as alluring as they used to be, and I try to fight that in my own listening habits and in how we market our music in Wine & Warpaint.
Do you have any rituals before you hit the stage? If so, what are they?
I have two songs that I try to listen to on the way to the venue: “High Hopes” by Panic at the Disco and “Born for This” by Andy Grammar. They’re not really in our genre, but they help me set my intention before a show–be bold, take advantage of every opportunity, and get rid of imposter syndrome.
What is your current music project about?
The album feels like a timely piece of work in the current cultural landscape. I think culture is designed to disassociate us from ourselves…to distract us with floods of content, trends, addictive social media apps, outrage, and echo chambers. The album explores that whole process, both in ways we disassociate, ways we fight it, and a vision for how to reconnect with ourselves and the world around us.
Are you creative in other disciplines?
Yes! I do all our graphic design and website design, as well as most of our merch designs. I love visual art and try to find opportunities to crossover between disciplines as much as possible…on our recent Midwest tour, we got to play at an art gallery in Milwaukee called VAR Gallery, and being able to offer our art in the same space as so many incredible visual artists was very meaningful to me.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
I’m a big proponent of get to the end as quickly as you can…you don’t have to write something good immediately, that’s what editing is for. My art teacher in high school would always fuss at me because I would focus on little details before I’d even painted a coat on the whole canvas…I still fall into that trap, but I’m much better at trying to get the whole canvas painted in my songwriting before focusing on details.
What kind of recording facilities do you have at home?
I work with some incredible producers (my best friend and bassist Taylor Bess, an incredible Richmond producer Will Beasley, and renowned rock producer Matt Goldman) who use their mixing expertise and gear to get our sound as professional as possible, but I still do most of the engineering and writing in my studio. I’ve got a Mac Studio, an Apollo Twin that I use in aggregate with an X32 when I need more channels, Focal Alpha 80 monitors, and then a variety of mics and plugins. I’ve got two Reverend guitars that I love as well as a Fender Player Plus Precision bass that we won in a worldwide Fender contest, and when our drummer Hunter doesn’t leave his custom Truth drumset at my house I use my PDP Concept Maple Classic kit with some awesome Meinl Byzance cymbals.
What can we expect from you within the next 6 months? Any releases planned? Future gigs?
Our debut full length album “Disassociate” just came out, and we are celebrating that release with a bunch of local shows in the coming months as well as a November tour that will be announced very soon!
If you were a tree, what kind would you be and why?
Every band has weird inside jokes, and for some reason one of ours is that instead of singing “I can see the light” on our song I Can See, we sing “I am a tree” so I had to pick this question.
I grew up surrounded by oak trees so I have a fondness for them…if I could add a stipulation, I’d like to have some low hanging branches so people could climb up really easily.
Do you have a cherished childhood teddy bear or other stuffed animal sitting on your bed at home?
I still have my childhood bedspread which has a St. Louis Rams logo and all my friends know him. His name is Rammy, and he has special powers that affect the outcome of sporting events.
If you could ask your future self-one question, what would it be?
How the f*** did you figure this s*** out?!
Do you have any superstitions?
Only one…I got in a car accident on the highway because someone swerved into my lane and spun me out. I was listening to “Lane Boy” by Twenty One Pilots at the time, which literally has a line that say “they say stay in your lane boy, but we go where we want to”. Now I will not listen to that song while driving, and I insist that any car I’m in change the song whenever it comes on.
If you were talking to a younger version of you, what advice would you give yourself?
Don’t worry so much, you have good friends and family who love you and everything is going to work out <3
Disassociate, the debut full-length from Richmond, VA quintet Wine & Warpaint, is an ambitious, rhapsodic introduction to the band’s characteristic mix of enormous hooks, punk edge, and wall of sound ferocity. The 12 track LP, honed over three EPs and a covid cover album, makes full use of the band’s musical breadth, which led to their recognition in 2021 as winners of the Player Plus Studio Sessions: Powered by Fender, where they were chosen by a celebrity panel of music legends and executives as one of the 26 best unsigned bands in the world.
The forceful opener “The View’s So Good With Your Head in the Ground” with an extended spoken word outro sets the tone for the album’s left-of-center pop punk approach. The if-it-ain’t-broken straight-up rock energy of “Bad Nihilist” gives way to the current emo pop stylings of “Bring Me Back,” which would fit perfectly as a Bring Me the Horizon b-side. The 7/4 time signature change over shouted voices in “Shattered” instantly segueing into the introspective duet “Is It Over” lends validity to the genre-bending symphonic conclusion “Synchrony”, if only by setting the stage for the unexpected.
