Winyah (Right Before They Blew Up)
Winyah had 3 songs.
Then they got the call to play Bonnaroo.
No album.
Just a deadline.
So they did what most people won’t:
They locked in.
Slept on couches.
Finished an entire record in weeks.
Fast forward—
They’re opening High Water Festival in Charleston…
stepping on stage in front of 15,000..
And here’s what surprised me most:
They’re playing the long game.
→ Eating clean on tour
→ Running between shows
→ Thinking about how they’ll still perform at 50
Because they’ve seen how this story ends for bands that don’t.
And then this moment hit:
One of them even walked away from big corporate finance job...
to do this.
“This is a lot more fun.”
That’s the tradeoff.
Security vs. story.
Comfort vs. calling.
So—
If the call came for you…
would you be ready?
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:You're about to hear what it sounds like right before a band takes off.
Speaker B:This is Americana, curious, raw.
Speaker B:And once you hear this, you're going to understand what I mean by that.
Speaker B:I'm your host, Ben Fanning.
Speaker B:My co host, Zach Schultz, couldn't make this one, but I caught up with the band Winyard right after they walked off the stage at High Water in Charleston, South Carolina.
Speaker B:They are still fired up, still buzzing, and the band's literally standing all around me.
Speaker A:The band, Winya, they opened up the entire festival today, and let me tell you, I haven't seen anything like this in quite a while.
Speaker A:So my first question goes to Thomas here.
Speaker A:So, Thomas, y' all sound checked.
Speaker A:You came out.
Speaker A:There's literally nobody here.
Speaker A:And then you walk out and to a festival of 15,000 people.
Speaker A:What is the difference, like, from that silence of the soundtrack to walking out with all these screaming fans today?
Speaker C:Yeah, man.
Speaker C:I mean, I think it's a wave.
Speaker C:When we're sound checking, I think that's when the nerves start to kick in.
Speaker C:And then when we finally walk out and see all those people out there, it's kind of like the release.
Speaker C:Almost all of that adrenaline is pimped up and boiling up inside of us before we go on stage.
Speaker C:And then whenever we come out and see everybody out there, it just feels like.
Speaker C:I don't know, it's like the weirdest, best feeling ever.
Speaker C:It's like the most crazy adrenaline nervous in the best way kind of scenario.
Speaker C:And it always really fires us up.
Speaker A:Well, most of us will never have that experience that y' all had today.
Speaker A:Do you recommend it?
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:A 10 out of 10 would recommend again and again.
Speaker A:Do you.
Speaker A:Do you adjust your set to sort of handle that energy?
Speaker A:Because you come out like it's.
Speaker A:Maybe there's some nerves.
Speaker A:Everyone's screaming their face off today at you.
Speaker A:Are you thinking about this strategically, or do you just jump off and pull a rip cord?
Speaker C:It's a.
Speaker C:It's a balance for sure.
Speaker C:There's definitely a little bit of strategy that goes into planning our sets, especially for a festival, since there's time constraints.
Speaker C:But I'd say, you know, in terms of.
Speaker C:Of coming out and.
Speaker C:And letting it rip.
Speaker C:We played our usual intro, and that, for us, I feel like, is a chance just to kind of get all those nerves out and.
Speaker C:And just let it fly.
Speaker C:And then by the end of that, I feel like we're all in it and ready to roll.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Incredible, man.
Speaker A:Really special.
Speaker A:I'm gonna open this up.
Speaker A:You can raise Your hand if you want to tackle this bad boy question.
Speaker A:You have been on tour for 60 days straight, playing three or four nights a week.
Speaker A:This is your final stop for at least a little while.
Speaker A:How do you maintain your ability for that long and then finish with so much energy?
Speaker A:Who wants this?
Speaker D:This is raw starter and someone else can finish it.
Speaker D:But as Thomas said the other day in the van, it's like this tour, we have been eating so much healthier, and I feel like that's a game.
Speaker E:Changer on describe eating for me to.
Speaker D:Say this because I am the most unhealthy eater.
Speaker D:Like, we haven't ate McDonald's or chick fil A. I've door dashed both of them three times separately.
Speaker D:But, like, it definitely is a game changer to eat good food.
Speaker D:Like, last tour before this, we ate McDonald's, like, more than it's come, more than we would be comfortable sharing.
Speaker A:So you're playing the long game.
Speaker E:Here we are.
Speaker A:Who.
Speaker A:Who inspires you to play the long game?
Speaker A:Because people in your situation, like, you can go to any VH1 behind the music, old school, and you see these bands who party too hard, who had too good a time, and then guess what happened, right?
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:They petered out.
Speaker A:Who inspires you to kind of make this change and eat healthy?
Speaker F:I'll say Thomas definitely leads the charge in terms of he started a run club and shit where he'll be running every.
Speaker F:Every other morning that we're on the road.
Speaker F:So that's an inspiration.
Speaker F:Sometimes I see that and I think to myself, damn, all right, maybe I will walk down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
Speaker F:And I'm not running, but I will take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Speaker F:And I think that's encouraged me to be a little better this time, you.
Speaker A:Know, all right, I was with Jake, the drummer.
Speaker A:He has to stay extra.
Speaker A:Hope he has a physical world.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker G:I think the another thing too to mention as well is like, the past bands that have been before us, especially, you know, growing up with, you know, dads, that we've all collectively had music come towards us throughout our life.
Speaker G:Like, you see all these bands, especially in the 80s, that they all have great times and like now I shouldn't say all of them are in poor health, but like, we want.
Speaker G:We want to have as much energy as we can on stage, and every bit of that is cost effective of what we do outside of that.
Speaker G:And I think, you know, seeing anyone else, especially in their 50s, like, if I want to do this as much, as long as I can.
Speaker G:So if we can, you know, balance that.
Speaker G:Obviously it's the goal of everyone else's, but, like, I think, you know, seeing Vince Neil struggle on, on very basic songs, it's like, I don't want to.
Speaker G:I don't want to do, you know, have that moment of like, I, you know, I can't play the set because, you know, it's just not happening.
Speaker A:So everybody, you have got to see them because, like I said, they can go 60 days and play what they just played.
Speaker A:They're, they're, you're like, they're never going to have an off night, man.
Speaker A:They're going to see this thing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right, so question here for my friend Stephen.
Speaker A:Was it worth leaving corporate finance to get on stage with 15,000 people?
Speaker F:Uh, yes.
Speaker A:You were like, behind a computer and a cubicle on your computer doing finance, and now you're playing for 15,000 people.
Speaker F:That's right.
Speaker F:Yeah, that's about right.
Speaker F:It was, it was, it was a switch up.
Speaker F:I'm still, you know, I'll still spend some time on the computer.
Speaker F:You know, I crunch the numbers every once in a while for the band.
Speaker F:I was on a path and it was fun, but this is a lot more fun, I'll say that.
Speaker A:What do you miss about corporate finance?
Speaker F:Oh, man, if I could write that list down.
Speaker A:Butters, are you still pursuing professional surfing or have you hung up the surfboard or are you somewhere in between?
Speaker E:Yeah, the surfboard will never be hung up, but the professional career has died and it will never be revived ever again.
Speaker A:All right, well, do you.
Speaker A:How do you bring the surf vibe to your guitar playing?
Speaker A:Because if you think, like, there's a whole guitar, like, surf scene.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Of the old surf videos, dude.
Speaker A:Did that inspire you early on?
Speaker A:When you see this, it's just like a wave, man.
Speaker E:You just gotta ride it, you know?
Speaker A:So good.
Speaker A:Thomas, get over here.
Speaker A:No, this guy gets on and he starts.
Speaker A:He's got a growl.
Speaker A:He's got a growl.
Speaker A:A good, A great rock growl that I would put up against anybody's Rye grill.
Speaker A:Describe the moment you discovered you could do that.
Speaker A:It was a.
Speaker A:By accident or are you just pushing yourself in a song?
Speaker C:Yeah, I think it's.
Speaker C:It's been a learning experience with this band.
Speaker C:They've pushed me a lot as a vocalist out of my comfort zone, and I think they really.
Speaker C:The first song or the first album, those songs really were a stretch for me vocally and I kind of had to grow into that.
Speaker F:You ever seen Whiplash?
Speaker F:Yeah, it's a lot like that part in Whiplash.
Speaker F:Luke was kind of sitting there.
Speaker E:More, more, more.
Speaker F:You can't.
Speaker F:They.
Speaker F:They can't see my hands.
Speaker C:But no.
Speaker C:And the.
Speaker C:The first album was definitely a learning experience for me as a vocalist, and I'd never really been in this indie rock space or the rock space at all.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And I think that I had a lot of learning to do and I've since learned to be able to control when I really, really push my voice and when I don't, thanks to some coaching and.
Speaker C:And thanks to healthy habits like eating healthy on the road and.
Speaker C:And drinking a bunch of water with maybe a couple beers in there, but sleeping a ton too.
Speaker C:But I think it's really just been like the last year and a half of playing shows, non stops and playing.
Speaker C:Playing these.
Speaker C:These songs that has allowed me to kind of level up as a vocalist.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:One thing I did not notice during your set that I wanted to bring up.
Speaker A:No one was texting.
Speaker A:No one was looking at their phone that I saw.
Speaker A:And there were a lot of people there and I'm really tall and I could really look around.
Speaker A:You guys are really holding their attention.
Speaker A:What is something, though, you would like people to start doing during a.
Speaker A:When you show.
Speaker A:When they.
Speaker A:When they show up?
Speaker C:Dancing, jumping around, being crazy, letting loose.
Speaker A:Anybody else want to tackle that?
Speaker G:I think that's best for everyone, you know.
Speaker A:Last question on this.
Speaker A:There is lore.
Speaker A:There's one of your lore about the.
Speaker A:You somebody getting a phone call for Bonnaroo and you guys had three songs.
Speaker G:Yeah.
Speaker A:What that is.
Speaker A:That is true.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C: So it was spring of: Speaker C:I was in Nashville.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker C:The rest of the guys hadn't moved there yet.
Speaker C:I was actually walking to go and meet with a booking agent for the first time.
Speaker C:So I was already pretty scared about that.
Speaker C:And I got a call from my friend Jenna Love, who, excuse me, actually works with C3 and.
Speaker C:And hangs out at a lot of these festivals.
Speaker C:We get to see her all the time.
Speaker C: on the who stage at Bonnaroo: Speaker C:She had confirmed us for that and asked us if we wanted to go to Bonnaroo.
Speaker C:And I. I really couldn't believe it at first.
Speaker C:And I called all the guys and they couldn't believe it.
Speaker C:And then it was really.
Speaker C:That was where the.
Speaker C:The rubber hit the road for us.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We only had three or four songs out at the time and had to pretty Much.
Speaker C:Write the whole first album or finish writing the whole first album and get it ready to play in like a month and a half.
Speaker C:And we all slept on Rob's paternity house couches for like a month and a half.
Speaker C:And it was the most fun and grueling time ever.
Speaker C:But really that.
Speaker C:That call from Jenna changed all of our lives.
Speaker C:That was when.
Speaker C:When things got real.
Speaker A:Then when you started winning big.
Speaker A:And here we go.
Speaker A:I said it was the last question, but I got one more.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What do you feel about.
Speaker A:You're kind of representing the low country out there, right?
Speaker A:It's like you and Darius Rucker.
Speaker A:I mean, but you know, you're really like the up and coming bad luck country and definitely out of Pauly's.
Speaker A:Absolutely right out of that neck of the woods.
Speaker C:Biggest thing come from poly since Morton.
Speaker A:And so what does it feel like having a homecoming here?
Speaker C:It's surreal.
Speaker C:It's something that we, we definitely don't take for granted.
Speaker C:I think that all of us are very, very rooted in this place and where we've grown up and you know, to be able to come home and play the last set of this long run is one thing, but, you know, any chance that we get to come home and play for the people that we love and where we started is really special.
Speaker C:We do.
Speaker C:We take the representation of where we're from very, very seriously.
Speaker C:And we want to try to be a good representation of where we're from and also, you know, be representative of all the amazing people here because this place is truly one of the best places in the world.
Speaker C:And, and I think that it's, you know, because of obviously the landscape is beautiful, but.
Speaker C:But more so because of the people and the hospitality that you find here.
Speaker C:I think that we all really, really feel blessed to be from this area.
Speaker C:And so regardless of if we're here in Charleston or we're across the country in Seattle or la, we, we always hold that close and you know, we always bring it with us with our name.
Speaker C:So yeah, man, we're always, always trying to, to represent where we're from in the best way possible.
Speaker A:You heard it all when ya.
Speaker A:They're hilarious.
Speaker A:They are extremely fun to watch and you can hear that there's a thread of inspiration.
Speaker E:These are the best questions we've ever got.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker F:Thank you.
Speaker A:Wait, say that again.
Speaker E:These are the best questions we've ever got, so thank you.
Speaker G:That's amazing.
Speaker A:Does everybody agree how awesome this interview was?
Speaker F:Thank you for this.
Speaker F:This has been one of the most fun this is awesome.
Speaker F:Appreciate the questions a lot.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Well, thank you.
Speaker A:I'm blushing, actually.
Speaker D:Those were the best, like, expressions we ever got.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right, well, thanks.
Speaker A:Thanks, fellas.
Speaker A:Well, I'm hoping y' all will be up for a round two of interviews.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And we'll get you on video.
Speaker A:And y' all watch out.
Speaker A:I mean, look, follow them on Instagram, right?
Speaker A:TikTok.
Speaker A:And check these guys out so you can follow because when the new tour is announced.
Speaker F:Yep.
Speaker A:We're gonna be right there.
Speaker A:And you're instructed to jump, jump a whole lot.
Speaker E:It's a safe space.
Speaker D:Go crazy.
Speaker G:New music on the way, too.
Speaker H:Thanks for joining Zach and I for this episode of Americana Curious.
Speaker H:Subscribe where you listen to your podcast so you are notified when a new episode is released.
Speaker H:I'm Ben Fanning, and it's been great sharing these artists and music with you.
Speaker H:Until next time, stay Americana Curious.
