Wim

An indie rock outfit based in Sydney, Australia, Wim crafts lushly orchestrated pop songs driven by intensely emotional vocals. Toward the close of 2007 the group was assembled by songwriters Martin Solomon, who supplies lead vocals, and Simon Jankelson, who also plays guitar. The musicians brought disparate prior experience to the project: Jankelson and drummer Harry Thynne had first worked together in a klezmer-punk ensemble, while Jankelson, guitarist Saul Woodak, and bassist Dustin Bookatz had earlier played in an electronic-oriented band alongside Daniel Stricker, who subsequently formed the Midnight Juggernauts. Once united, Wim embraced an expanded set of influences ranging from 1960s classic pop and folk-rock to progressive rock and present-day independent music. Intent on making their concerts as singular as their recordings, the band began hosting their own club nights that incorporated unusual stage designs, dramatic lighting, and performance artists, lending a theatrical quality to evenings shared with kindred bands and DJs. Their singular sound and presentation quickly generated a formidable following within the Australian underground, culminating in a 2010 signing with Modular Recordings, one of the country’s most respected imprints. For their self-titled debut album Wim traveled to Los Angeles, California, to work with producer Tony Buchen; legendary American producer Bob Clearmountain handled mixing, and Bob Ludwig mastered the sessions. The album appeared in mid-2011, after which the band made its American debut at the South by Southwest Music Conference in March 2012.