When Hudson County-based alternative rockers Wyland got their start two and a half years ago, they first sought to establish themselves in the clubs and cafes of Manhattan. As they have matured, the group has gravitated more and more toward the burgeoning music community in New Jersey, particularly in Asbury Park and Hoboken.
On Saturday, July 18, the alternative-folk-pop outfit will perform in Hoboken for the third time this year, returning to Maxwell’s Tavern to headline a show with The Big Easy, Joni Fatora & I Am Fighting. Their sound has been likened to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin backed by post-rock groovers Explosions in the Sky.
“There’s so much potential here to really thrive.”—Mauricio Salazar
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“I think it’s great that Maxwell’s is reestablishing itself as the epicenter in Hoboken,” said Salazar. “There’s so much potential here to really thrive in terms of the music scene, and the musicians in this area are hungry for that.”
The group returns to Maxwell’s this month on a head of steam. Since Wyland held the release party for its new EP, “You’re in the World, Get off Your Feet,” at the venue in February, they have performed at South by Southwest in Austin, opened for Everclear at the Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival, competed in WNYC’s Battle of the Boroughs, and toured through Nashville, Boston, Baltimore, and Albany.
“Our social lives are pretty non-existent outside of this,” said Salazar.
On the rise
Wyland was born in a bedroom in Kearny in early 2013, when singer-songwriter Ryan Sloan decided to take another shot at working with a band after a period of flying solo. Together with keyboardist Santiago Techera, Sloan began releasing songs as Wyland.
Over the next year, the duo quickly accumulated a catalog of songs and a full backing band.
Salazar was studying music in Montclair and feeling increasingly disillusioned with the strictures of conservatory learning when he answered a Craigslist ad to play guitar in the band.
“I initially sought out Wyland just to subsidize my time with a little bit of music that was more enjoyable to me,” he explained, “and it ended up snowballing into this thing that’s gotten bigger than I could have possibly imagined.”
The band has gone through a number of changes in its lineup, ballooning into a quintet before settling on its current configuration, with Sloan on vocals and guitar, Salazar on lead guitar, and Richard Joyce on drums. With the changes came a new, more focused sound, said Salazar.
“We’re definitely a band that has a lot more battle scars,” said Salazar. “We went literally from one month playing a basement with eight people to then a couple months later playing to 8,000 people opening for Everclear.”
Salazar said the band started to realize they really had something when they won The Break Contest last May, earning the right to open for the Skate and Surf Music Festival in Asbury Park.
Off of their performance at Skate and Surf, Wyland got an invite to perform outside of the Tri-State Area for the first time, at the Center of the Universe Festival in Oklahoma. They’ve been grinding it out ever since.
The highlight of Wyland’s breakout year, at least for Salazar, was playing Gentlemen of the Road, one of a series of “stop-over” festivals organized by alternative-folk rockers Mumford and Sons, in Seaside Heights.
Wyland will perform at Maxwell’s Tavern on Saturday, July 18. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the music begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at maxwellsnj.com. Maxwell’s is located at 1039 Washington St.
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.