Mixing alternative rock, shoegaze and power pop, Wynona Bleach are a 5-piece from Belfast, NI. 2021 saw them sign to legendary indie label Fierce Panda and in early 2022 the band’s debut album 'Moonsoake' was unleashed, unveiling an exciting and energetically passionate body of work, screaming battered hearts and fractured emotions. The band’s latest single is the sassy and dreamily lush 'Swim In The Bay' is available from all download and streaming platforms. We caught up with the band for a chat about all things crunchy bubblegrunge.
Hey how are you doing today? Where about in the world do we find you?
Melyssa: Hello! We are writing to you live from our rehearsal space in Belfast!
What was the reason you chose to call yourselves Wynona Bleach?
Jonny: We were always obsessed with Winona Ryder and Nirvanas Bleach Album. Made sense at the time.
You are from Belfast. Tell us about the current music scene there and what you like about it.
James: The scene is absolutely great in Belfast, we have some amazing music coming out of Belfast and Northern Ireland in general. I think the culture and history of the city has given bands a lot of material and inspiration to work from; from punk to shoe gaze and everything in between
Your latest single is “Swim In the Bay” – we hear it’s a bit racy! Can you explain to us what it’s about?
Carl: Well its about going down… I’ll let you read between the lines, but its about an act we should all do.
We're told your music is very much shoegazey rock – is that how you would describe your music?
Melyssa: We’ll take it! However, our favourite genre we’ve ever been classed as is ‘crunchy bubblegrunge’ :) Jonny: I don’t really class us as shoegaze too much at all, we barely use effects pedals and we like hearing the big vocal!
Your debut album was “Moonsoake” – are you happy with the reaction to it?
James: We sold out of the first pressing of the album when we released it back in 2022, and had been asked LOADS about a second pressing. It made sense to do it in style with some splatter vinyl and our label Fierce Panda went ahead and did it - mainly to help us raise funds for Album 2!
If you had to choose just band or artist to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
Jonny: I would love to work with Jai Paul - an incredible producer based in London who made some impeccable tracks that were released on XL recordings about 10 years ago. I love everything he and his brother AK Paul produce. It would be a really unlikely pairing but it would yield mad results I think.
Which leads us nicely onto 'Fantasy Dinner Party': Who past and present, alive or not, would you invite to a dinner party at your house and why?
Carl: Tommy Lee, he’d be a nightmare but I’m ok with that. Jonny: I’d love to have dinner with Rob Dickinson to chat shit about Porsches and how he should get Catherine Wheel back together.
Tell us about touring with legends Ash and Alice in Chains.
Melyssa: Supporting Alice in Chains was just insane. We had a pep-talk from Sean Kinney before we went on in Dublin, and he told us; “get out there and be great tonight! But not too great because we’re all getting old so don’t make us look bad!” AS IF WE EVER COULD!!
Ash are absolute legends, and made us feel so welcome on the tour. So many highlights it’s hard to pick but Tim Wheeler asking me and Jonny on stage to play Wham!s ‘Last Christmas’ at the final show of the tour in the Ulster Hall, Belfast was pretty damn cool!
What are your plans for 2024?
James : Write and record album two, tour as much as we can, and hopefully let a bigger audience hear our music. Jonny: Yeah getting our sophomore album finished. We’ll be working with the undeniably magnificent Andy Bradfield and Avril Mackintosh on it, in an old ballroom above a working man’s club in Belfast (same place we recorded “Swim in the Bay”) - We’ll mix it with them in London and hopefully get it out by the end of the year. We want to tour the new tunes loads too!
What is your creative vision for the next 2 to 3 years?
Jonny: We hope to make our second album undeniably great, and follow it up with as much touring as we can do. We hope to return to the US in 2025 to see the great new pals we made at the SXSW day parties in 2023. This time with the album from HELL to back it up.
'Moonshake' is out now.
Melyssa: Hello! We are writing to you live from our rehearsal space in Belfast!
What was the reason you chose to call yourselves Wynona Bleach?
Jonny: We were always obsessed with Winona Ryder and Nirvanas Bleach Album. Made sense at the time.
You are from Belfast. Tell us about the current music scene there and what you like about it.
James: The scene is absolutely great in Belfast, we have some amazing music coming out of Belfast and Northern Ireland in general. I think the culture and history of the city has given bands a lot of material and inspiration to work from; from punk to shoe gaze and everything in between
Your latest single is “Swim In the Bay” – we hear it’s a bit racy! Can you explain to us what it’s about?
Carl: Well its about going down… I’ll let you read between the lines, but its about an act we should all do.
We're told your music is very much shoegazey rock – is that how you would describe your music?
Melyssa: We’ll take it! However, our favourite genre we’ve ever been classed as is ‘crunchy bubblegrunge’ :) Jonny: I don’t really class us as shoegaze too much at all, we barely use effects pedals and we like hearing the big vocal!
Your debut album was “Moonsoake” – are you happy with the reaction to it?
James: We sold out of the first pressing of the album when we released it back in 2022, and had been asked LOADS about a second pressing. It made sense to do it in style with some splatter vinyl and our label Fierce Panda went ahead and did it - mainly to help us raise funds for Album 2!
If you had to choose just band or artist to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
Jonny: I would love to work with Jai Paul - an incredible producer based in London who made some impeccable tracks that were released on XL recordings about 10 years ago. I love everything he and his brother AK Paul produce. It would be a really unlikely pairing but it would yield mad results I think.
Which leads us nicely onto 'Fantasy Dinner Party': Who past and present, alive or not, would you invite to a dinner party at your house and why?
Carl: Tommy Lee, he’d be a nightmare but I’m ok with that. Jonny: I’d love to have dinner with Rob Dickinson to chat shit about Porsches and how he should get Catherine Wheel back together.
Tell us about touring with legends Ash and Alice in Chains.
Melyssa: Supporting Alice in Chains was just insane. We had a pep-talk from Sean Kinney before we went on in Dublin, and he told us; “get out there and be great tonight! But not too great because we’re all getting old so don’t make us look bad!” AS IF WE EVER COULD!!
Ash are absolute legends, and made us feel so welcome on the tour. So many highlights it’s hard to pick but Tim Wheeler asking me and Jonny on stage to play Wham!s ‘Last Christmas’ at the final show of the tour in the Ulster Hall, Belfast was pretty damn cool!
What are your plans for 2024?
James : Write and record album two, tour as much as we can, and hopefully let a bigger audience hear our music. Jonny: Yeah getting our sophomore album finished. We’ll be working with the undeniably magnificent Andy Bradfield and Avril Mackintosh on it, in an old ballroom above a working man’s club in Belfast (same place we recorded “Swim in the Bay”) - We’ll mix it with them in London and hopefully get it out by the end of the year. We want to tour the new tunes loads too!
What is your creative vision for the next 2 to 3 years?
Jonny: We hope to make our second album undeniably great, and follow it up with as much touring as we can do. We hope to return to the US in 2025 to see the great new pals we made at the SXSW day parties in 2023. This time with the album from HELL to back it up.
'Moonshake' is out now.
