If you’re active on the indie music side of TikTok, then you’re already most likely familiar with the indie alt/pop band, The Collection. They’ve had a few go viral, as they should! If the clock app isn’t your thing, we’ve got you covered. We got the chance to chat with The Collection’s frontman, David Wimbish, and we learned more about the seven-piece band’s creative processes, their new single, and their upcoming album! There are so many questions we’ve been dying to know the answer to, so let’s get right into it!
We know you’re an indie/alt pop band, but what would you say your music and band as a whole represent?
The first time music really became my own was in my teenage years, when I also first noticed my depression. I felt so isolated from my family and peers, and the music I gravitated towards made me feel seen and heard. How did some human I’d never met feel the same way as me? The openness about struggle and isolation in others’ songs made me feel less alone. I think this band and my music has always been oriented towards that same feeling – hoping, by trying to be honest and vulnerable, I can help others feel and actually BE less alone by building community with each other.
You released your first EP in 2011. What advice would you give to 2011 The Collection?
It’s about depth, not scale. Back then, I always thought we were one song away from having a giant, sustainable career. Instead, it’s been a long and slow process. But, with each slow bit of growth, we’ve found such a depth of connection – regularly hearing personal stories from our listeners about what’s going on in their lives, their struggles, their disappointments, and how the music has connected with them. I’m still blown away by it and don’t take it for granted. The longer we do this thing, the more important those connections feel than anything else.
You’ve had so many amazing accomplishments throughout your career. If you had to pick one, which one meant the most to you?
This year, we created and hosted our inaugural music festival, Soil & Sky Fest, in Saxapahaw NC. It just felt like such a culmination of years of work – being able to have to many bands play we’ve toured with over the years, and food and drink vendors we’ve known from sowing into this community. It was truly one of the most special days of my life thus far.
Let’s talk about your new single, ‘Medication.’ It has an incredible message about the importance of mental health and getting help. What was the writing and recording process like?
It was one of the quickest writes I’ve ever had – I was snowed into a cabin in Maine, I woke up and started banging on the piano and looped it for a few minutes while I danced around the cabin, and the first words out of my mouth were, “I deserve to be well.” I started crying as soon as I sang them because I knew I had to convince myself to believe them. The rest of the song fell into place over the next hour and was demoed shortly after. We brought the song to our producer, Jeremy, and in some ways, we stuck fairly close to the demo – it just had an emotional immediacy that felt important. So the piano, acoustic, and drums were at least fairly close to the demo. We tried a lot of things on the recording – some group vocal parts, violin, etc. – in the name of making it “cooler,” but every time we came back and listened, we held each part against the emotions of the song, and anything that felt too “cool” had to get cut.
With the song being extremely personal, do you have a favorite lyric or part of the song?
“Being alone without being stuck.” This is a thing I’m currently learning – I’ve been in pretty constant partnerships and relationships over the years and have finally started to learn that some of that is fear of being alone. Being able to claim my own well-being for my sake instead of someone else’s has been a big growth this year, and that line felt almost like I was pushing myself into it and claiming my own growth.
You’re extremely active on TikTok, which we love! What’s your favorite TikTok that you’ve posted so far?
The funny thing about TikTok is that, often, my favorite ones are the ones that don’t go very far, ha! We did a little Medication Infomercial that was funny and goofy and set up a phone line where people could hear the song and leave voicemails about it. It was SO sweet to hear people’s responses, even though the tone of the video was honestly probably too goofy for the tone of the song itself.
Speaking of social media, for your song, ‘Sorry Baby,’ you did a postcard initiative where you received an overwhelming amount of heartwarming responses. What was the inspiration behind it?
I’d been in a case of writer’s block for awhile because I couldn’t get other people’s expectations out of my head about our music and my writing. I finally decided to pretend all those expectations were in front of me,and write them a letter not apologizing to them for being me – and ‘Sorry Baby’ came out. So for that tour, it felt like a fun idea to let others do the same – to write letters specifically not apologizing to people for being themselves. It was so emotional for us to read the responses – people standing up for their queerness, their depression, their decisions to skip college, etc. We were all super touched each night.
You recently put out an amazing EP earlier this year, How To Survive an Ending. Without giving too much detail, how do you think your upcoming full-length album compares to the EP?
Thank you! The EP was our first full release as this touring band – we’d been playing together for many years, but the pandemic halted our recording plans. Recording it felt like an expression of ourselves in a very forward and earnest way. The new record feels like, “okay, now we know who we are, let’s play around with it and create something new.” There’s a lot of experimentation with new sounds – playing with tuned glasses, tin foil on snares, weird synths and toys. The EP was the first time I was writing songs that felt really empowered about getting through tough moments, like, “hey, screw everyone else, you’ve got this.” In contrast, the new album is a much more personal journey through deep mental health struggles, a mental breakdown I had, and being at the complete bottom of things.
We love to end on a positive note. What do each of your bandmates bring to the band?
Graham Dickey (horns) is also our tour manager, and the perfect blend of lighthearted kindness, and band mom firmness. Joshua Linhart (drums) would do anything kind for anyone. Sarah McCoy (keys, vocals) is hilarious and also brings a grounding to our crew. Hayden Cooke (bass) gives the best hugs I’ve ever received and makes us all laugh constantly. Joshua Ling (electric guitar, vocals) is such a consistent, loving friend to everyone, and always knows the ‘right’ thing to do.
We want to thank David from The Collection for taking the time to chat with us! Be sure to keep up to date with them by following their social media accounts! If you aren’t following them on TikTok, you’re missing out, for real. Have you been a long-time fan, or did you just discover your new favorite band? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, Instagram, or by tweeting us @thehoneypop!
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