Longtime readers of So Young will recall that somewhere between the full length interviews inside the print magazine you’d find a section called ‘Who Are You?’. Between 2017 and 2019 this feature introduced the likes of Fontaines D.C., Squid, Dry Cleaning and plenty more. Quite often for their first ever print feature. Earlier this year we decided to bring it back. Print readers, you’ll know this already.
Who Are You? introduces you to the brand new bands/artists who we feel should be on your radar, the ones currently playing tiny rooms but not for long. Southeast London’s wing! has recently shared his debut EP via trusted source Memorials of Distinction (you may have caught him at our We Are So Young event back May) and we thought the time was right to ask the basics.
Introducing…wing!
Hello there, could you tell us who you are, where you’re from and the music you make?
My name is Adam Swan and I go by the producer name, wing!. I’m from Bexleyheath and I make instrumental hip hop that brings in a whole bunch of elements from all the music that I love, such as Jazz/Ambient/Post Rock/Trip Hop etc! Although it’s a solo project, live we play as a trio consisting of Joe Killick on drums and Kai Charlton on bass.
What led you to start writing and performing songs?
I always knew I wanted to get into producing, but knew absolutely nothing about any of it or where to even begin. Around 2020-2022, I was learning guitar and started compiling a list of songs that I wanted to sample whenever I got a laptop or something. My good friend Manny got me started with using Logic and Serato Sample and ever since then it’s been a love affair.
I was very inspired by a lot of bands and artists that merged laptop/sample based music with the dynamics and looseness of a live band (NK-OK from Blue Lab Beats, Butch Kassidy, Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid to name a few) and knew that I wanted to play the music I was making in a band setting.
Who Are You? inside Issue Fifty-Six of So Young. Order a copy here.
My friend Anders (also in Butch Kassidy and PUNCHBAG) recommended that I send my stuff to Joe who he knew from playing in another band called Speedial, and luckily he liked it! His playing blew me away instantly and just brings together all of the elements in the music in such a seamless way, as well as us just getting on so well. We played quite a few shows without any bass initially and then Joe invited Kai to a rehearsal, who he knew from going to BIMM. He brought his SP404 to plug his bass into and I saw he had the Liquid Swords cover on the back of his phone, so that pretty much sealed it for me.
Could you tell us the story behind most recent single or a notable song from the set?
I don’t know how interesting this is but the majority of the songs are just made on my lunch break at my work haha, in the basement. I remember ‘Pack It In’ was made just as a loop initially, with the drum break and the vocal sample. I’d kind of gone on a year long tangent with just exploring ambient textures and build ups and making music to drums again was like this huge pay off haha. I remember that song being the first example of the years I spent trying to emulate Madlib or The Alchemist begin to merge with some of the other techniques I had been experimenting with and felt closer to me and more personal than anything I had made up until that point. It was really exciting to feel my instincts starting to change and felt that I had kind of unlocked a new path to explore!
Could you tell us something you really love?
A good ride cymbal!!
Could you tell us something you really hate?
That I can’t really seem to stay up past 9pm.
The most welcome and unwelcome comparison you’ve ever had?
Bit of a cop out answer haha but I’m not really that fussed either way. I think especially with this music it pulls from so many different genres and it’s kinda the whole point to be a big collage of different things. Any comparison I’ve gotten is usually from someone I admire a lot or something that I haven’t heard of, but really enjoyed once I checked it out. I think it’s cool cause I’m so young that so much of what I love and the DNA of my music exists in stuff I’ve never even heard before. So I’m pretty open to anything!
Stage or Studio?
Man, that’s such a hard question. Personally, I try to view the two as separate processes and think it’s fun to lean into the differences between the two and what you can get away with. Especially for music made on a laptop. I’d say for me it’s the studio side of it and making the music, as for the live stuff it’s really about me taking a back seat and letting Joe and Kai cook haha. But performing is probably the most fun thing in the world, I love it way more than I expected to. I usually bring the tracks to Joe and Kai already done and then they write all their parts to it and rearrange it for live, so if a song has made it to the set that means I’ve made something I’m really proud of. Which can take a lot of time and patience. Then on top of that getting to hear Joe and Kai’s playing over it and the parts they write just gives me that feeling where I’m smiling and can’t smile any harder hahaha.
What can we be excited for from you in the next 12 months?
I think just overall obsession in whatever it is that I and the band are doing. I can only keep my head down and continue making stuff. I’m feeling pretty good about it though!
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