Winged Wheel (ft. Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth)

TICKETS

Winged Wheel are the definition of a supergroup, given that the core of the band consists of Cory Plump (Spray Paint, Rider/Horse, Expensive Shit), Fred Thomas (Tyvek, Idle Ray), Whitney Johnson (Matchess, Damiana), Matthew J Rolin (Powers/Rolin), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), and Lonnie Slack (Water Damage).

The project officially came to life in 2022 with the debut album No Island, which was created somewhat by chance and, paradoxically, without its creators ever being in the same room together. During the lockdown, Cory Plump asked Fred Thomas to send over some rawly-recorded drum loops to jam over. Cory tracked rangy guitar and bass parts over these repetitive loops and songs slowly started taking shape. Matthew's guitar layers took these foundations to a whole new level, and Whitney's submerged vocal tracks solidified everything, elevating the project from a soup of partially formed ideas into something intelligible. The entire album was written, recorded, and mixed in remote collaboration, eventually turning into a balancing act of precisely arranging sonic details and maintaining the formless excitement the music began as. The final eight tracks blend improvised kosmische jams with psychedelic ambient, surf rock, shoegaze, and the motorik quality of post-punk—all with ease, skill, and a certain sense of urgency, perhaps reflecting the tenseness of the pandemic era.  

Winged Wheel followed up in 2024 with their sophomore album Big Hotel, created in an expanded line-up, now also including Steve Shelley and Lonnie Slack. This time, they took the opposite approach to recording a record; instead of collaborating remotely, the far-flung party convened in person in Kingston, NY for a long weekend of live studio recording.

At the moment, the band is working on a new record titled Desert So Green. Winged Wheel are taking their third album on tour with a premiere show in Prague set for January 14. ​
 

​„Concepts from contrasting sound worlds that coalesce for something beautifully off-kilter. At its core, it’s psychedelic and rock, but it isn’t psychedelic rock. [...] It’s music that is a celebration for lifers, and while Winged Wheel should be reaching a far wider audience than they are, for those already immersed in this journey, well… consider it a privilege.“ —​ Sun 13

Tickets:
490 CZK in presale
250 CZK for students with ISIC
590 CZK at the door

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