Déja Vu Rockers
Wilt may be a new band, but some of their members may be more familiar than you think. John Joe Worrall talks to them about the release of their first album, Bastinado.
It's only midday but already Wilt are tired, very tired. As I arrive at the Irish Film Center to interrogate them, they are just finishing up one of the many interviews that will take place today, this time with TV3.
Singer/guitarist/main songwriter Cormac Battle and drummer, Daragh Butler gleefully tell me how they will be on 'Entertainment Update' around four or five times over the next few hours. They delight even more in informing bassist Mick Murphy, who has just arrived late, and has missed his chance to smile for the cameras.
The Kilkenny trio are just warming up for a day of record store appearances and radio shows, and then after finally finishing up at two in the morning, heading straight off to Glastonbury. Therethey will soak up the atmosphere and show as their fabulous debut album Bastinado to any festivalgoers who aren't already partied out. However for two members of the band, this cannot strictly be described as their 'debut' to audiences round theses parts. Battle and Butler were once, many moons ago, part of 'Kerbdog', a four piece who were on the very verge of the big time before they decided to call it a day.
Battle takes a deep breath and explains to me the reasons behind the decision: "that (Kerbdog) was split up in a flurry of nightmares. The label had just dropped us and we weren't into it anymore. So we broke up, went our separate ways and wouldn't bother with music again."
The duo both returned to college and for two years and lived a quite normal existence. However the lure of pop glory soon proved far too tempting. As Battle explains: "Darragh and myself decided that the prospect of likfe in a semi-detached house in Lucan was very scary, as was the idea of getting a real job.so we got a few songs together and asked Mick, who was pretty much in the same predicament as us, to join the new group. The we sent some tapes off and Mushroom (Records) signed us up".
A new band meant a new name. "We associated the name Kerbdog with so much pain the we suffered while we were in that band," comments Battle. "This is not the same though! Its been two years since that split and added to that Mick's a fairly mental bastard!"
The name Wilt comes from Battle's brother, who suggested it in association with the famed Wiltshire pig (I kid ye not). So armed with a new bass player, new name and a new record deal they set about making the mini-masterpiece that is their first album.
Bastinado may well be "formulaic pop", as Battle describes it, but its fabulously formulaic in that despite its live sound and low production level (it was made for £2500) there are still potential classics in there. 'It's All Over Now' and 'Open Arms' have been tow of the best singles all year and 'Goodnight' is simply beautiful.
Lyrically Battle says things have improved since his early efforts. "When I was younger I didn't care what I said I just wanted it to rhyme," he recalls. "Now I have something to write about, rather than just good sound-bites for the radio."
One of those more meaningful efforts at song writing comes in the shape of an album track named 'Peroxatine', named after an anti-depressant drug that Battle took for three years while suffering from panic attacks and chronic anxiety.
"It was fine," he explains, "it made me function again. I had a bit of a wobble during the last days of Kerbdog. I started getting very tense and anxious and I had to address it, and that's what the song is all about".
Overall though, how do the lads rate the album themselves? Butler if of the opinion that #"this will probably be the truest album that we'll ever make. When you get too much money and you're trying too much to make it perfect then you just take all the energy out of it. As well as that if you ask a lot of bands they'll say that the demos for their albums were better than the actual album itself."
However the question on many die hard fans lips will be if Wilt will last longer than its self-imploding predecessor. Butler once again takes on the question, stating quite diplomatically: "If things aren't going right then we'll do the honourable thing and split up like the last time. We're definitely doing another album anyway, which will be different because that's the way we are."
In short, Wilt rock. Bastinado is an album that against all the odds is the one of the most startlingly affecting this year. Its is 11 songs that prove once and for all that well written guitar pop music is still very much alive and kicking. For this reason alone it should wing its way into any self respecting music collection as soon as possible.

Wilt To Bloom
If success was guaranteed to those who show extreme bouts of persistence, perseverance and a never say die attitude in the face of extreme adversity, then Kilkenny combo Wilt would surely be sitting at the high table of Irish achievers right now.
Before the formation of Wilt Cormac Battle and Darragh Butler who comprise two thirds of the band spent most of the nineties chasing the breaks with Kerbdog, genuinely rated as one of the most acclaimed Irish bands of the last decade. In August 1994 Kerbdog’s third single ‘Dummy Crusher’ taken from their eponymous titled debut album reached the U.K Top 40. Singer Cormac Battle recalls that time "We felt like rock stars, but for one week only." While Darragh Butler, drummer chips in "That was the best week of those six years with Kerbdog".
Their second album ‘On the Turn’, recorded in Los Angeles in 1995 and released in the spring of 97 was described "as the best rock album since Nirvana’s Nevermind". From the outside things looked promising for the band to achieve commercial success. The real story however was vastly different. Their record company repeatedly held up the release of the album thus losing momentum and refused to release it in America, a market where Kerbdog’s sound was readymade. "Our label began to lose interest pretty quickly and wouldn’t even turn up at our gigs any more," Darragh recalls. Eventually the band and Mercury Records parted company leaving a legacy of what might have been and shattered hopes for all concerned. "That whole period was soul destroying and we were definitely damaged by the whole experience and that time is quite painful looking back on it now" announces Cormac, a sentiment that is echoed by Darragh, the hurt clearly visible across their faces.
A lot has been written about Cormac Battle in the UK music press who consistently drawing parallels between his surname and his insistent refusal to turn his back on music.
"Darragh and myself decided to regroup as we simply liked doing music and we remembered all the good times about it." Darragh’s reasoning for starting over again is a little subtler. "After working in a 9-5 job for a few minutes we quickly began to miss music." In early 1998 Battle and Butler recruited old school-friend Mick Murphy for bass duties in the band. "Mick’s attitude and enthusiasm far outweighs anything else and he also owns an Alfa Romeo 164 which comes in handy for carrying the gear around," states Darragh mindful to get in the compliment first.
The lads’ wariness of the music industry is obvious and highly understandable. "It was a bit scary getting into it all over again, though at this stage we are armed against disappointment," says Battle cautiously. After recording some early demos the band quickly signed to Australian label Mushroom, though they were not as excited about gaining a record deal second time around. Darragh takes up the story. "We had a lot of interest but Mushroom were a lot more approachable. There was a gradual build-up and at this stage everyone is happy about the way things are developing."
Wilt are about to release their debut album Bastinado (Spanish for torture) in April. The album was recorded mainly in Sun Studios, Dublin with Ronan McHugh who was involved in the early Kerbdog demos producing. "Ronan will be hot property", Battle predicts. The songs on Bastinado reflect the difference between the two bands. The sweeping melodies remain, the pace is fast but the grunge leanings have been reduced to simple but effective punchy power pop and songs like ‘No Worries’, ‘Expedestrians’ and ‘Peroxatine’ invade your brain until you have to play them repeatedly to satisfy your desire.
Lyrically Cormac Battle has begun to open up more and he explains this new phenomenon. "It’s a natural development because I’m getting older now. Some profound things have happened to me that are worth talking about and you can write with conviction from your experiences which makes it that much easier."
When quizzed on the ongoing success of Irish teen acts, Battle replies "It’s a manufactured product. I don’t see any difference between Ronan Keating and Bruce Forsyth. Certainly they have the same age partners. They’re like the cheap high street stores, they sell by the bucket load but it’s really a load of crap and everyone knows that including the artistes themselves."
At this stage things are bang on course for Wilt to succeed where their previous incarnation failed. The UK music press are raving about their live performances. Their first single taken from Bastinado, ‘It’s All Over Now’ spread their name further and their second single ‘Radio Disco’ is to be released at the beginning of March has already been given the thumbs up. February will also see the airing of the influential BBC Radio 1 Steve Lamacq sessions, followed by the release of Bastinado, after which thoughts will turn to America where their first single there should be released in the Autumn possibly through Warner.
Darragh Butler proffers, "While it’s great to get all these positive reviews, I guess you could say we are hopefully sceptical. We’re purposely being sceptical so we won’t be disappointed as it hurts too much". Wise words indeed from one of Ireland’s most respected and most travelled stickmen. If Wilt fail to make their expected mark this year then Cormac Battle is already planning a side career. The bespectacled Wilt man already DJ’s for Dublin Alternative station Phantom FM but his long term aim is to open an Evangelist Christian Station, "There’s not enough religion these days", he states in trademark Battle comedian fashion. Don’t go running down to your local betting shop just yet to put your last hard earned tenner on the Wilt lead singer to be the owner of the new Dublin Christian music radio license! Instead you could do worse than back Wilt to be one of the real winners of the coming years.

Wilt - Gig on the 20th June in the TempleBar Music Center!
I was at the Wilt gig in the TempleBar Music Center, Dublin, on the 30th June... It was the best gig I've ever been at! They said that they didn't expect such a crowed... Before they went on stage, there was two other bands... the first band (can't remember the name) where good, but the next band (Placebo sound alike) where annoying! But when Wilt came on, myself and my friend when up to the crowed on the front of the stage (at the back of the moshing pit, on the bassist side)... the sound was great! That has sold their Album to me! I'll going to any of their gigs in Ireland so lets hope I see you there!
I think I also got into one of their videos, they were video-ing some of this gigs songs... my legs are now VERY sore for jumping around :) One of the best Irish bands today, even better than that Corrs shite...

Date: June 2000
From: Amazon.co.uk

Wilt - Bastinado
Bastinado, for those who might not know, is a punishment inflicted by beating the soles of the feet. A similar effect can be achieved, and even enjoyed, simply by dancing the night away, which is exactly what listening to Wilt encourages. Not the mannered, predetermined shapes thrown by disco posers, but the kind of unselfconscious semi-crazed gyrations that take over when a sensitive soul is gripped by a combination of ferocious rock rhythms, soaring tunes and rattling drums. The band has risen from the ashes of Kerbdog, the early 1990s Kilkenny grunge trio rightly described by Melody Maker as "the pop band Nirvana could never allow themselves to be". As Wilt, they're even poppier, but in a Fountains-of-Wayne kind of way, with crisp and crunchy guitars to the fore, unreasonably catchy choruses cropping up on a regular basis and tight vocal harmonies that the Beach Boys wouldn't be ashamed of. Lyrically, frontman Cormac Battle does seem alarmingly obsessed with misery, pain and anti-anxiety pills, but the irresistibly uplifting surge of the music makes it sound like he's singing about candy floss, technicolour sunshine and bodacious babes, so that's all right then. --Johnny Black

Introducing Wilt
"I've been there before, so i'm not going to start screaming and shouting about anything." cormac battle, once of Irish power trio kerbdog is taking a new relaxed, if not cautious approach to the news that his new band wilt have already got the thumbs up from the hammer posse. One can't blame him after the near criminal treatment of the engaging former band at the hands of their record company resulting in the band's demise after just two albums (the abrasive 'Kerbdog' and the excellent 'On The Turn'). "Whatever we tried to do it seemed to go in the wrong direction", sighs Battle, recalling their final days. "The stuff wasn't really what i had in my head either. We'd get pushed around in the studio and come out with something different than we intended. We started off when we were 18 and what most people do at that age is pretty bad. As the band went on we felt that even if we'd released the 'Sgt. Pepper's' for our time, no-one would have noticed." Former kerbdog bassist Colin Fennelly returned to college as did Battle after Kerbdog split, but the memories of this time still clearly haunt the guitarist. "After the 'dog broke up it was a very sad couple of years", he says. "It was a rather disturbing thing at the end. Whatever we wanted to do always seemed to elude us. I just thought 'that's it, i've finished with bands'. I couldn't give a shit about all that crap anymore. After a time you get that feeling of 'am i going to stick with a 9-5 and watch coronation street every night? and i though, 'nah, there has to be something more'. So i got another band together." joining Battle in Wilt are bassist Mick Murphy and Kerbdog drummer Darragh Butler. "We did a bit of practicing and i had a few songs", Battle says of his re-emergence. "Mushroom were interested in putting out a limited edition low key single about a year ago and it did quite well. I was in college and the boys were working and we played a few gigs. We've only done about five since we started a year and a half ago. Anyway, we've made an album and it's really a case of seeing how it goes from here." The album 'Bastinado' is a splendid set of extremely catchy punk pop, released in January on mushroom records (Where they got that is mind twisting!). The kind of thing Kerbdog were leaning towards before their split. "We made the album for about 50 pence in Dublin and i'd stand by it more that anything else i've done before", he enthuses. "It cost a ridiculously small amount of money to do. I dunno, we have a different ethos to music from when we were young kids, as you can probably hear."
Jerry Ewing...

Wilt - No Worries.....
It was a shame that few tears were shed when Kerbdog threw in their Guinness soaked towel in early 98, so hurrah for Wilt, featuring former 'Dog frontman Cormac Battle and drummer Darragh Butler, along with a bassist called Mick. Skipping through the same pasture as Kerbdog, Wilt are perhaps a little more upbeat than than them, and thankfully Battle's songwriting pen hasn't packed its bags, as we still have chunky guitars and huge melodies, occasionally sounding a wee bit Foo Fighter-y, as on 'Working For The Man'. Welcome back.

Wilt
It's All Over Now/Working For The Man (Discordant) Good urgent Dublin powerpop with well-done harmonies and straight-talking unpretentious lyrics on both tracks of this double-A. ***

Wilt - It's All Over Now/Working For The Man
Dublin based Wilt's new single is a double A-side. Frontman Cormac Battle (nice name) is on a quest to bring substance and meaning back into music. And for saying that, I would love slate him for contradicting himself by releasing 2 shitty songs. But I can't cos they're actaully pretty good. It's likeable pop with an edge. First song is "a tale of two friends faced with a possible pregnancy and the overwhelming relief of false alarm". Heavy stuff eh? "Working For The Man" features heavier guitars but is basically the same catchy pop formula. So they've got the tunes, but what about that dodgy band name? "We wanted something that transcends any preconceived ideas about how we should sound as as a band". Hmmmmm. This is the same man who said "Music should be less about pretension and more about substance", but we'll let him off cos the songs are decent. 7/10

Wilt - It's All Over Now/Working for the Man (Mushroon)
A double A side-single, if such a thing is possible in a CD format. The first concerns two friends and a thankful false alarm on that old chestnut, pregnancy. The second, as frontman Cormac Battle puts it, is about 'one of life's necessary evils.' And Wilt manage to put a cheerful refrain to both subjects: jingly-jangly pop-punk guitar married to some light and exuberant drumming, overlayed with an upbeat lilt from Battle. Still, they're young. Time will change all that. They're due to play an acoustic set for XFM, which just goes to show what they mean by alternative.

"WILT (Mean Fiddler, Dublin),
EXACTLY A year ago Kerbdog, the forerunner of Wilt, bid their considerable army of fans adieu from this very stage. While most Irish acts who have gone through the major label mill become disillusioned and bitter, the artists formerly known as Kerbdog show that there is a lot of spunk left in them yet.
You can hear old shadows lurking in the wings, but these musicians have grown out of their scuffed Doc Martins and embraced a new manic pop thrill. Most of the songs are untitled, but that is not to say that this is purely transitional material. The quality of some numbers, especially the final encore, suggests a new found pop sensibility. They are beginning to develop the dynamics that makes the music which is bare, blistering and brilliant.
Wilt have thankfully shed the monotonous grinding vocals that always turned me off Kerbdog. Now the range is broader, deeper and far more affecting. This is great summery power pop in a Foo Fightery way, but with a distinct Kilkenny-flavoured hard edge that I could easily live with.
- Eamonn Sweeney"