Interview: The Way Down Wanderers scatter from illusions of time

With age comes existential questioning of higher powers and meanings. Upon entering your 20s, a vital decade for anyone on this journey, you begin to challenge the establishment and your role within an ever-evolving world. You have your first real heartbreaks, locked like capsules six-feet under, and new-found wisdom is spliced with jarring realities of time’s fleeting nature, brutally short friendships and how all encounters work together to feed a greater cosmic force-field. Famed English writer Virginia Woolf once wrote in her 1928 novel, Orlando: A Biography, through the narrator’s lens: “I am growing up. I am losing my illusions perhaps to acquire new ones.”

Collin Krause, of Americana troupe The Way Down Wanderers, was forever struck by Woolf’s words as he himself was “attempting to capture the feeling of aging and witnessing the relationships that have been cultivated since childhood grow and evolve,” he says. Alongside Austin Thompson, as well as rag-time musicians John Williams, John Merikoski and Travis Kowalsky, the group harvests pivotal life moments for their latest record, Illusions, which dissects and heartily displays such matters with stunning song-craft and enveloping production work. “Now, I’m staring at the ceiling for souvenirs / Stay golden like our younger years,” the titular cut rings out in iron-wrought echos, permitting them to sink lower into their rumination as a blurry vision in the night. The song, smoldering and bubbly, “attempts to convey the feeling of wanting to return to the simplicity and innocence of childlike friendships. This particular line in the song reflects on searching for unattainable answers and a desire for life to return to how it was in the days of childhood,” continues Krause.

Later, on “Moonglow Carolina,” Thompson clothes-lines the listener with an even riper observation on burgeoning adulthood, overwhelming weariness and the past’s charcoaled edges. “You know, if it’s the last thing I do / I’ll backtrack to you / To show you something true,” he sings. But each frayed, vivid image is as a trinket tucked away in suitcase, to be rediscovered in times such as these. “I packed my dusty, old guitar / And I cancelled all my credit cards / I had to run and change my name,” he frames his quest on the album’s warbling, sea-faring opener. “Principles of Salt” is an enrapturing highway ditty that sets the tone for a transcendent collection of well-plotted soul-seeking. “After traveling for a few years, I think we’ve all gained a bit of perspective on just how beautiful and short life is. Relationships of any sort can disappear in a days time, and to keep something, you must put your all into it,” Thompson writes to B-Sides & Badlands over email, cracking the outer laters of sometimes shimmering arrangements baked inside plainspoken poeticism. “I often think that everyone and everything serves a purpose. It is all perfect timing, and we are all meant to work together.”

With “Frozen Through,” a banjo-wielded fire starter, the frontman marches onward into the whirlwind of dirt and suffering, completely accepting his fate while bruises and lacerations color his skin. “I’m running to the river / I gotta get my head clear before long,” he sings. His measured footsteps soon boom from the speakers in earth-shattering waves, and album pillars like “Crooked Pines” and “Old Ford,” bookending the storybook with a hope-fueled heavenly gaze, further underscore the existential worry and coming to grips with it all. “There are definite themes that touch on how our time here is limited and to do with that all that you can,” affirms Thompson, whose voice is nearly always weighted and striking.

Top-to-bottom, Illusions [produced by David Schiffman (Adele, Johnny Cash, Brandon Flowers)] trims away the fat for lush, earthy and cleanly-pierced compositions. “We wanted this album to push our branches in new direction without losing the roots we’ve sprouted from,” notes Thompson. And that frank direction calls back to their 2016 self-titled debut, a rich and suitable extension which also possesses similar beauty and the audacity to explore and dabble and reinvent.

Below, Austin Thompson and Collin Krause reflect on their journey on- and off-recording, essential lyrics, their 20s and impact of nature.

The word “Lonesome” carries with it a troubled connotation. The song of the same name seems to upend that emotional weight with a toe-tapping, galloping production. Was that a juxtaposition that was intentional?

Thompson: In a way, yes. The song actually was originally written by Collin. It almost had a swing to it and a much slower tempo. We tried the song out for the first record, and after it not making it on, we put a different spin on it. The quick tempo always make it a bit easier to sing a sad story.

“Crooked Pines” has one of the most luscious arrangements, with what feels like a horses hooves hitting the earth in the percussion. It’s a likewise introspective piece that attempts to wrestle with meanings of life. Where were you, mentally, in writing and recording this song?

Krause: “Crooked Pines” is one of the oldest tracks on the album. I wrote this song back in my high school years, a time that was simultaneously exciting and confusing. I was having difficulty accepting the uncertainties we are often faced with in life. I wrote the song in attempt to embrace those uncertainties and become eager for what the future will ultimately hold.

In performing songs with such gravity, do you find they transform and mean even more over time?

Thompson: Songs definitely grow over time. Often times, as a writer moving forward, things in life happen after a piece is finished that you then relate to certain songs or lessons learned. At times, even learning more about myself or a song over time is common.

With “Old Ford,” you deal with losing a friend, and the lyric “I’m saying goodbye ’cause life ain’t long enough” really stands out. When did you learn that lesson?

Thompson: I learned this shortly after finishing a few years at college. One of my childhood best friends and I were on the outs due to me growing in certain fields and me eventually moving to support my music. It’s a bitter thing, but everyone must do what is best for them at some point.

Another one of the album’s finest lyrics comes on “Frozen Through.” “I know that time is just a fleeting thing / So, I lie in the dirt without suffering.” What are you speaking on here?

Krause: The song “Frozen Through” attempts to tackle the anxiety and dread that humans often feel about death. It really is about trying to make the best of the time given, and not getting too caught up on how little time we truly have with one another.

As you are moving through your 20s, what has been your relationship with time, as a force on your life?

Thompson: For us, it has just been to enjoy every bit of it. As we get older, it definitely feels like we are moving faster, so we try to stay on the grind ⏤ knowing tomorrow isn’t promised.

Were there any songs that were tougher to pin down, musically or vocally, than the others?

Thompson: “Heartland” is a song that we put lots of work into for the vocals in the bridge. We worked with Mitchell Hutchings who helped us shape harmonies around Collin’s soaring melody line.

What has been your emotional journey through writing and recording this album, solo and together with the band?

Thompson: Personally, there was a lot of hardship I went through that manifested itself into songs that didn’t make their way onto this record. With that being said, it definitely helped push my writing to the songs that did make the record. As a whole, the band is closer. I think after recording our second full length, our chemistry and connection is stronger than ever.

When did nature first become an influence on your songwriting?

Thompson: Nature became an influence when Collin and myself first started spending time together. I think we realized how alike humankind and nature are to one another. Much of our bonding was spent traveling, hiking and exploring in our teenage years.

Photo Credit: Keith Cotton

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