‘Arrival’ is almost here! Q&A with Wheels North, Album release show November 30th

Cassie Wright, Bluegrass Chicago:  Tell us more about your new album! Is this your first full-length studio album? Are the tunes all original or are there some covers mixed in there as well?

Mark Frystak, Wheels North: This is Wheels North’s first full-length studio album, and we’re super stoked about it! The album features 12 original songs and there aren’t any covers for this debut. Each band member’s songwriting muse takes a unique shape, reflecting their individual musical journeys. For this album, we ended up with five songs by Mark, three by Hayley (including the ethereal “Time Stands Still”), three by Jesse (featuring the arrangement-laden “New Love”), and one co-written by Mark and Chris (“Friend”). Chris has a plethora of wacky-schmaky ideas up his sleeveless flannels, and we’re really happy we could include one on this first album with his co-write with Mark. We’re proud of all the music and thrilled we were able to woodshed it all in a relatively short period of time.

BC: Where did you record? What was a favorite aspect of the recording process? 

WN: We recorded ‘Arrival’ at Populist Studios in the west suburbs of Chicago with the fantastic James Scott. Sometimes we wonder how growth occurs and how we can catalyze it, but in the studio, we could feel it happening naturally. As we mixed tracks in the booth with James, tweaking vocals and instruments to our current tastes, new directions and preferences emerged. While we couldn’t always apply these new ideas to the album itself, each studio session invigorated us with new visions of our sound, which we carried into subsequent practices and shows. It’s interesting to listen back to the album and hear how we’ve changed since those moments, even though they weren’t that long ago. It’s exciting to be in these growth phases.

BC:  Seeing you share that you are a ‘progressive new grass band,’ what does that mean to you?

WN: Labeling ourselves has always been a struggle, both then and now. Perhaps all artists struggle with this? We want a concise label that quickly explains our sound to new listeners while remaining true to our identity. “Progressive” is a tough term, a blanket term for our openness to ideas from multiple genres. We feel like bluegrass is the ultimate colander. Anything you put into it, it will inevitably catch and leave you with some kind of delicious product. Can we combine Frank Zappa, J.S. Bach, Doc Watson, and Miles Davis into the stew and make something tasty? With bluegrass as the canvas, we certainly give it a try. To put it simply, “progressive” to us means we’re not shying away from any influence when writing music or choosing cover tunes. We’ll try anything and sometimes mix it all together in a single song. It doesn’t always work, but it’s always fun.

BC: How did you all meet/form the band? 

WN: Hayley and I (Mark) have been playing together since around 2017, and Jesse joined the trio in 2022. Chris joined the group in 2023, so this current lineup is about two years old. While Hayley and I laid a foundation for the sound, our current quartet feels very fresh and new. Jesse became available after a long-term touring gig with River Valley Rangers, and we snagged him right away. As for Chris? We believe he materialized from the ether like a ghostly phantasm. That’s how he still arrives and departs gigs to this day.

BC: What are your plans following album release? What are you looking forward to in 2025?

WN: When I mentioned the growth process earlier, we realized that almost as soon as we finished recording ‘Arrival’ (or perhaps even during the process), we were already thinking about the next album. Not in a relentless, nose-to-the-grindstone way, but rather, we already feel that our sound and musical ideas have evolved since creating this album, and we’re eager to capture this new sound on record. Jesse has been experimenting with electric bass (moving away from the upright), jams and improvisational sections have become more prominent in our sound, and Chris’s classical and jazz background is increasingly evident in every practice. Hayley’s singer-songwriter strengths are being honored, and Mark continues to incorporate his signature Merle Travis-style alternating bassline into everything he writes. Essentially, we’re all embracing our individual and collective idenitites, doing so with more confidence and collaboration as we continue to evolve. So, what are the plans? To quote Chris, we’re going to “Gas it Chicky Baby!”

Thank you to Mark Frystak and Wheels North for sharing their fresh new sound and Q&A!

Don’t miss the Wheels North album release show 11.30 at Werk Force Brewing

To purchase a copy of the new album (available on CD and vinyl) as well as Wheels North merch can be found at wheelsnorthmusic.com