For Garrett Sale, the man behind the William Wild moniker, writing usually fills the morning hours between 8 and 10.
Songwriting is something he is very invested in. Especially now, with a full-length album and a recently released EP under his belt.
“I think I didn’t know exactly what it meant to be a songwriter,” Sale explained. “Because before, I had always been inspired by the music. I think production and stuff like that came first for me, for the first album … But I realized once you get a really strong song together, producing it is just so much easier because the song is just always going to be the most important part.”
Steady Now, released on March 4, 2016, followed the full-length album released by William Wild in 2014. Sale explained that this EP is definitely more song-centric than the album.
Playing the songs from the first album helped him to decide that he wanted to create music that wasn’t held captive to any specific form — he wanted to create music that would sound just as good with a band as it would during a solo-performance.
“That was kind of the criteria going into the new album: to create moments and songs that spoke for themselves instead of having to be some massive arrangement,” Sale said.
Although things only recently heated up for William Wild in 2014, you have to go back even further to see the foreshadowing of Sale’s affinity for music.
His dad bought him his first guitar when he was very young. Though it didn’t necessarily mean much at the time, he thinks he would not have ended up being a musician if it were not for this gift.
From here Sales would dabble in music for a while, but he didn’t take it too seriously. He eventually joined a synth-pop band during his sophomore year at UT, but it wasn’t long before he realized this wasn’t a good fit; it was time to begin something new.
“Being in that band and playing shows kind of opened up a new side of me, and so right after leaving that group is when I started working on what would become the first (William Wild) LP,” Sale said.
He didn’t want to name his new venture after himself due to the band-style music he envisioned. Thus, William Wild was born.
“After the name presented itself, (I) just really liked it because you don’t know if it’s a person or a band; it’s just kind of interesting,” Sale said.
William Wild is mainly composed of Sale and drummer Aaron Hill, who worked with Sale on the 2014 album. The result of the pair’s work has given way to the smooth and melodic sounds that comprise much William Wild’s music.
“It’s really easy to say folk-rock or something,” said Sale in reference to their sound. “But I think, for me, what sets it apart are the tones and textures — not necessarily the genre or chord structures. So, I don’t know, more atmospheric indie-rock.”
What becomes clear in listening to the music, and certainly in listening to Sale speak about the creation process, is that a great deal of thought and intentionality lies behind everything you hear. Things like the aforementioned tones and textures, along with the frequency range of the music, are all things that Sale concerns himself with during the production process.
“In the recording process I like to use a lot of vintage equipment that smooths out the top end,” Sale said. “A lot of modern music is really bright, and so I like to smooth everything out and kind of create a warm atmosphere around the music.”
This warm atmosphere is something that Sale hopes extends beyond the sounds of his music and into things such as his stage presence as well. An extensive summer tour with plans for even further expansion will give Sale to opportunity to take his music to new audiences and holistically hone his craft.
Since he’ll be doing most of the shows as a solo-act, Sale says he’s going to be on a bit of a quest.
“I get intimidated about playing a show by myself,” Sale confessed. “I kind of like to hide behind the band. I’m scared and excited to be alone and to have to put my songs on display like that. I hope I come out on the other end much better and more able to put on a really engaging show that’s worth buying a ticket for, just as one man.”
In terms of inspiration, Sale says he’s a pretty massive and diverse music consumer and that he listens to different artists for different reasons.
“I think I’m both left brain and right brain, both analytical and creative,” Sale explained. “So I tend to hear music and be inspired by it but also, analytically, dissect what it is that I actually like … Kind of swim through the emotional part of what’s going on when I hear something inspiring and dial-in to try to put my finger on what it actually is about, what they’re doing to make me feel that way.”
Ultimately, Sale said this whole venture is, for him, about community, and he just wants to keep doing the things that he loves.
“I produced my first album pretty isolated, and I don’t feel like I ever want to do that again,” Sale said. “So I’m always trying to incorporate other people in the process.”
Along with incorporating more artists into production, Sale hopes to incorporate more fans into the audience.
“I just plan on writing songs and making records for a long time, and hopefully releasing them to bigger and bigger groups of people,” Sale said. “Not for the fame and success, but because it makes writing a song that much better when there’s a bunch of people who like to listen to it.”
UT grad, Garrett Sale, plans to write as many songs as he can and take his music to new places through the next year.
