Music

Building the Whale House

experimental electro-rock band sports new lineup, EP

Lindsey Matysik, photos by Zachary Oliphant |

MAN, THOSE GUYS CAN REALLY WHALE. Above: Whale House’s CD release show at Menomonie’s Acoustic Café on October 8. Right: The cover of their new EP, From the Traps, screenprinted by Ambient Inks.
 
MAN, THOSE GUYS CAN REALLY WHALE. Above: Whale House’s CD release show at Menomonie’s Acoustic Café on October 8.

Local experimental indie rock band Whale House is back with a brand new drummer and a renewed vigor. The band, comprised of original members Clayton Brice and Caleb Price, acquired Bryant Bohachek after months of waiting. With a new drummer in place and plans for playing plenty of fall shows, the band dropped their second EP on Oct. 8.

The cover of their new EP, From the Traps, screenprinted by Ambient Inks.
 
The cover of their new EP, From the Traps,
screenprinted by Ambient Inks.

Called From the Traps, the new album was mostly recorded in a dilapidated bowling alley under the Acoustic Café in Menomonie late last year and has five brand new tracks. When asked about their songwriting process for this album, Caleb Price answered, “We entertained all options. We gave every whim that enters our head the chance to make its case. Each song has a life of its own.” 

Using this unique approach to songwriting, along with a few electro-musical odds and ends, the band had no problem recording the album with a do-it-yourself spirit in a building that didn’t even have proper plumbing. The run-down building even helped provide subtle organic sounds in the album like pipes dripping or floorboards creaking. 

One stand out track on the new record is called Time’s Sloping Surface, and as Price explains, “the lyrics are amazing in that they take you to another place. They seem very reminiscent of a past life or traveling to another planet.” With the new tracks and the stellar drumming addition of Bohachek, it seems that everything is falling into place for Whale House. Their new full live set, new record, and excited spirit will be filling their shows with more energy than ever before during this fall and winter in the Chippewa Valley. 

Catch Whale House’s upcoming shows with We Are the Willows on Nov. 11 & 12 at Acoustic Café in Menomonie and The Cabin at UWEC, respectively.