“We are indie as hell and yeah realllyyy indie,” says Whilden Hughes, and it is undeniably one of the defining features of up-and-coming band Double Ewes, opening for Houses this Saturday at The Frequency. Masked under their gentle and foggy devotional indie beats lay the band’s purpose, inspiration, and character in every song.
Double Ewes started as a bedroom project of Hughes, a Janesville native born and raised and remaining to this day. Living alone for a while with no cable or internet, Double Ewes is what Hughes did for fun.
He and bandmates Max Jewer and Jeremy Nealis have an insatiable taste for creating beautiful-uncomplicated music with soft undertones about their life experiences. Here is a transcript of my recent chat with Willie Hughes.
Where do you find your biggest source of inspiration to come from? What bands do you find most influential in your music?
“All of my lyrics come from the stories people tell — small moments of profound truth. I write very little. It comes from strangers on a plane, speeches at a funeral. Things like that really get to me and I hang onto all of it.
“Musically, our biggest influences come from the musicians we have had the privilege to get to know. This includes but is not limited to Pioneer, Control, Group of the Altos, Hello Death, Tiny Riots, SPKRS, Icarus Himself, All Tiny Creatures, Julian Lynch, Golden Donna, The Hussy, Count This Penny, Samantha Glass, and Dietrich Gosser.”
What are your goals as a band? Do your songs have a deeper meaning you try to emote?
We try to just have fun and not overcomplicate things. Our songs have messages but sometimes it’s kinda hard to understand what exactly those are, which I like. We like to wash our vocals heavily into the mix. I feel like it gives an opportunity for the listener to hear what they are thinking, a Rorschach test of sorts.”
What genre do you most identify your collective style as a band to be?
“We are indie as hell and yeah reeeeaally indie.”
What is the significance of the titles of your songs “Caravilla,” “Tears in the Sun,” and “A.I”?
“‘Caravilla’ is the name of the rehabilitation center I lived next to for a while. Everyone thought I was crazy for living next to this place because it kind of has a reputation of being a loony bin or something, but it’s not. It’s full of good people who are just down on their luck and looking for better days. I drew inspiration from them. ‘Tears in the Sun’ is about crying, outside. ‘A.I.’ is a story of lost love and also about this one time I ran over an antler and got a flat tire. It’s about coming home from school and having a piece of paper saying I’m a well-adjusted adult but being in situations where I clearly had lessons to learn. Feeling like as a society we are losing valuable lessons — it’s my way of channeling Thoreau’s idea to live deliberately, etc. etc.”
What is your favorite song that your group has written and why?
“We are working on a new song called ‘Leave the Dance (With The Girl You Brought)’. It’s rootsy and sentimental and it’s our most exciting song yet in my opinion.”