Three Music Thingz with Wynona

Great Scott! It's another rendition of Three Music Thingz, the blogseries where I ask musicians for three thingz that are essential to their music-making.

Today we have Wynona! Wynona are an English band who are on quite a roll with single releases in 2024; on last month's "Tell Me What Comes After," already their third single of the year, lead vocalist Natalie Woodward and guitarist Richard Willats paired up for some dreamy '80s-'90s cusp indie pop rock—think "There She Goes"-style arpeggiated picking and a tempo that makes you want to do the thing where you stick your hand out the car window and make wave-like motions.

And the band just put out "Sink Or Swim," which cranks up that lush and nostalgic vibe even further. According to their Instagram, that particular single release might not have been intentional, but regardless, the song is lovely and very much worth a listen if your taste in rock leans toward romantic titans like The Cranberries and The Cure. Wynona have also recently gotten some airplay on BBC Radio 1 Future Artists, as well as BBC Introducing South & West, which is very cool.

Nat and Rich sent me their three thingz, and you should read them, right this moment...

1. Wynona’s Front Room
   For the cover art of our debut EP Split Ends, we had the privilege of collaborating with the incredibly talented Belen Ulargui. Our vision brought us to the idea of a living room set—where the furniture arrangement changed with each single release, weaving together the narrative of a relationship. This miniature world was meticulously staged, constructed, and captured by Belen in her apartment in London. The final artworks looked amazing, and now the miniature set is displayed in our home studio, with the EP cover reassembled.
2. Casiotone MT-65
   Our Casio keyboard has been a faithful companion throughout our years travelling pre-covid. It was portable, yet versatile and became a constant source of inspiration wherever in the world we ended up. When we did eventually settle in a cosy studio apartment in Osaka, Japan for three years, it was the perfect size to tuck under the sofa or the foot of our bed (which were basically the same item of furniture!) Its quirky sounds and preset rhythms became our creative sanctuary and it ended up featuring on the recording of our debut single "Get Back To Myself." We also wrote the whole of our fourth single, "My Mind Is Melting (Cool Like You)" on the Casio.
3. 12-String Guitar & The Spider Family
   During our latest studio session, at the idyllic StudioOwz in the rolling Pembrokeshire hills of Wales, the resident Tanglewood 12-String acoustic guitar made an appearance on most of the six songs we recorded. Most prominently, it can be heard layered with the guitars on "Tell Me What Comes After." 12-strings get a bad rep in the studio, mostly because its a whole six more strings to worry about tuning! When we picked it up from the guitar rack, in the corner of the studio, a converted church, we found it was covered in cobwebs and fifty tiny baby spiders!

Thank you Wynona! Shout out to the guitar spiders, I bet an eight-legged spider might be able to play a 12-string guitar really well. Check out Wynona's link aggregation. And thanks for reading I Enjoy Music. If you like it, tell a friend.