What should you do when the famous muse has kissed you with a keen sense of songwriting, but the sheer number of songs is then simply too much for just one project?
Matthias Schwettmann, head of the Hamburg band Palila, who have a new album on the way with “Mind My Mind” in May, thought similarly and simply started a solo project, which he gave the name WOULD, which leaves quite a lot of room for interpretation, and now intends to let off steam accordingly. Of course, there are parallels to the main band, as he is also the main songwriter there, but for time and musical reasons WOULD is by far the more open project, sometimes breaking boundaries.
Schwettmann explains as follows:
“Would contains songs from different stations in my life, whose lyrics can partly be read like diary entries. They are about fear of loss, one’s own place in life, separations, other good/bad memories from the past, but also current (future) worries. Occasionally lyrics are also written by or in collaboration with Christoph Kirchner (bassist with Palila), because these songs were initially intended for Palila, but then sorted out due to their “softness”.”
If Palila see their influences more in indie rock icons like Built To Spill, Dinosaur Jr. and the Pixies, WOULD are rather more calm and melancholic contemporaries like Elliott Smith, Jason Molina, Ben Gibbard, Jeff Tweedy, Robert Pollard, John Frusciante and Neil Young. How the whole thing will be presented live, remains, like many things, a bit open, but of course the solo variant offers itself here first, because that offers again completely different experiences and possibilities, which often stand in the way of a band context, such as small cafes, supports or even the integration into readings.
WOULD could perhaps best be described as Palila’s little introverted brother.
Before it goes into full swing with an “EP trilogy” until spring 2024, there is a first harbinger with the single ‘Remember` in early May.