Eerie Wanda

Marina Tadic leads Eerie Wanda as its vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist, matching her warmly intimate delivery to minimal pop material shaped first by psychedelia on the 2016 debut Hum and then by gentle early-'60s ballads and rockabilly on the 2019 follow-up Pet Town. By Internal Radio in 2022 she was working alone yet still creating haunting work, now leaning more heavily on vintage keys and synths.

Following guitar duties in the Amsterdam band Earth Mk. II, Tadic—who had moved to the Netherlands as a child because of the war in Croatia—began composing original songs inspired by Beat Happening, Young Marble Giants, and Daniel Johnston. Several early demos reached Jacco Gardner’s bassist Jasper Verhulst, who offered to assemble and produce a band for her. Guitarist Bram Vervaet and drummer Nic Niggebrugge joined, and the quartet began rehearsing and tracking their first album. After a few initial shows Eerie Wanda opened European dates for the stylistically aligned Allah-Las. Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records issued Hum in February 2016, blending soft psychedelia with relaxed melodies that recalled early Opal and Mazzy Star.

For the next album the lineup shrank to a trio when keyboardist Jeroen de Heuvel joined Tadic and Verhulst. The songs were written by Tadic alone, after which the three musicians built arrangements separately at home, aiming for a far more stripped-down sound rooted in late-'50s/early-'60s pop rather than psychedelia. Live drums were abandoned in favor of hand claps, finger snaps, bongos, and an old drum machine to heighten the intimate atmosphere. Jasper Geluk mixed the results, and Joyful Noise released Pet Town in early 2019. Between the album’s completion and its release Tadic met Adam Harding of the experimental grunge project Dumb Numbers at the Joyful Noise Christmas party in Indianapolis. The pair recorded seasonal songs together, found strong rapport, and continued as Kidbug; their self-titled album of '90s alternative and grunge material appeared in May 2020. Harding and legendary producer Kramer both contributed to the subsequent Eerie Wanda record. The three worked at Tadic’s home in the Netherlands, keeping the arrangements sparse yet adding Twin Peaks-spooky atmosphere through assorted keyboards and, for the first time, lyrics drawn from an intensely personal viewpoint. Joyful Noise issued Internal Radio in September 2022.