“Good times behind us, better days before us.”
BY ASHTON BENEDETTI
“It’s not just the music we make but it’s the music that makes us,” - Wndwrd
on stage during their opening set at HB Social Club for Ivory City’s Reunion show.
Saturday night on May 6th, WNDWRD took to the stage at the HB Social Club, WND WRD brought the house down with well known covers that ranged from “Circles” by Post Malone to “Footloose” Kenny Loggins. They also showcased their current and new music. Nerves were nowhere to be found for the members of WNDWRD. They performed with confidence and ease for the captivated audience.
WND WRD is composed of Paco Coulson as the lead singer and keys, Onipa’a Gaudia as the lead guitar, and Trevor Ahern as the drummer. Also on stage with them that night was producer and bassist, Tait Ferge, as well as Micah Gamalog on live playback. This group is a melting pot of 80’s synth beats, electric guitar, juicy bass moments and heart-racing drum solos.
Paco said, “Playing together is always a treat. We’ve spent a lot of times behind the scenes solely focusing on the music, which is important, but there’s something so vibrant and encouraging about seeing others sing songs you were convinced no one knew.” The crowd had the time of their lives singing the words to the very songs WNDWRD had poured their hearts into.
There was an unspoken consensus on how WNDWRD’s friendship was the main centerpoint of why they began pursue this dream in the first place. I asked Onipa'a how it felt to be on stage and he said, “… the confidence from Paco, Tait and Trevor made playing our first big show so much more welcoming, especially after almost 4 years of not playing a show. …The crowd was so engaging. It gave me a huge confidence boost! I was super nervous going up.”
Throughout the show, the excited glances and encouraging nods each band member gave each other were clearly seen. There was not one person in the audience or on stage that did not feel the love, support, and passion of WNDWRD. The after show glow was evident on Trevor’s face. We asked what his favorite part of working with his band mates was, and he replied, “I love how everybody brings something unique to our band that makes it work all together. Paco is our confidence— bringing our voice into the world with every word and dance moves that comes with our music. Oni is our energy, always bringing the hype and polish to everything we do. And Tait is our soul— keeping us grounded and always flowing with new ideas and great humor. Our band is a Supreme Pizza— on paper we have a lot of cool ideas that would traditionally not pair together. When you experience it all together, it all comes together as one of the greatest combos you could imagine.”
One of our favorite parts of the night was when WND WRD humbly verbalized their love, gratitude, and support for each other, their team, and for everyone in attendance. We asked Paco what’s next for WNDWRD and he responded with,
“we’re actually at an interesting point in the band's history. Believe it or not, almost every song we’ve written and released was written 4 years ago. And some songs like ‘Years' was written as far back as 2015. So it feels like for the first time in WNDWRD’s history that we’re able to write about things we are currently going through. I particularly want to write about my heritage and the experiences that make up the ‘hapa experience.’ It's a unique lens to view something through, and we’ve seen it explored by so many other wonderful artists already. It’s a very personal experience that I’d like to set a song to.”
Saturday’s show was a night filled with shouting songs, jumping around, dancing with friends, and remembering our youth. To think that this is just the beginning for WND WRD — with good times behind them, and better days before them.
“The best is yet to come.”
Instagram: @wndwrd
Photos by: Matthew Park, Daniel Keating, Alyssa Triffonovitch and Ryan Miyashiro
Written by: Ashton Benedetti
Editor: Sarah Coulson
