More than anything, Stand Still vocalist Gerry Windus loves to create. As he tells it, “I’ve played music my whole life and have always considered myself to be a songwriter at heart. I went to Purchase College for studio composition, it was a pretty hard program to get into and I had to record some of my own songs for the audition process.”
Windus finds enjoyment in the process, and in the diversity that music brings out in us all. With that in mind, he is ready to offer up his new creation to the world: Wink One. And we’re psyched to premiere Wink One’s first song, “Change My Mind.”
Whereas Stand Still reflects his love and passion for hardcore, this project draws much more on lo-fi and electronic music vibes. Interestingly, Wink One came to pass because Windus found himself healing a broken arm and shattered wrist after a motorcycle accident. While on the mend, he decided to act on some of the ideas and influences that were swirling in his head.
“I’ve always been a fan of artists like Aphex Twin and Radiohead, and around that time I started getting into more electronic music than ever before. Four Tet, Caribou, Floating Points, Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, Burial, etc. I wanted to make music like theirs but didn’t know how to, electronic music was always such a mystery to me. I knew that if I learned Logic pretty well, picked up some synths, and worked at it for a while that I would eventually get good enough to make some passible songs,” offers Gerry.
Those influences underpin the ambient catchiness in “Change My Mind.” From the power of the lyrical austerity to the funkified melody in the music, Windus does a great job of acknowledging those influences while also creating a very original song in itself. And “Change My Mind” is more than passable, it’s compelling and catchy.
While “Change My Mind” hardly draws on an overtly punk or hardcore sounds, the lyrics certainly resonate with that ethos. Windus remarks, “‘Change My Mind’ is a commentary on the expectations that people set for you to always like the same things, hate the same things, and never veer from the set of opinions you had when they first met you…With Stand Still I always want to tell stories, which in turn makes my lyrics super dense because I try to be as descriptive as possible. It works for Stand Still, but I think this project warrants itself to much simpler lyrics.”
The repetition of the lyrics in “Change My Mind” give the song more impact, even as they were sung with great melody and precision.
“Change My Mind” is really the beginning for Wink One. Windus does have plans to continue releasing songs and, hopefully, offering a more cohesive release in the future. But for now, he’s taking it one creative step at a time. And that includes preparing for his first live show as Wink One.
“The goal is to have a seamless, dance-y set with a lot of different sounds that you might not hear at a typical DIY show. I want to play a lot of shows with this project, so I’ve made sure that my setup can translate in most venue environments,” says Windus.
That sounds refreshing and original as a live show that will likely start in smaller venues typical to hardcore shows.
Give “Change My Mind” a few listens, and come out to the first Wink One show on August 12th at Amityville Music Hall with Creeks, Grist Mil, and Star Funeral.
Hit the Wink One Linktree to find all of his social media pages.
Tagged: stand still, wink one
