Switchblade Comb

Wentworth Kersey are an interesting combo from Denver, Colorado. Dusty, alt-country that swims in Eno-esque ambiance and glitch. It makes for music that’s otherworldly and antiquated sounding, but still possesses a slow and quiet beauty. More so, it that made me intrigued enough to want to discover more about its makers.

MP3:Wentworth Kersey – “Breakdown”

MP3:Wentworth Kersey – “The Death of Anthony Gonsavles”

MP3:Wentworth Kersey – “Ears Burn”

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Switchblade Comb: Can you quickly introduce yourselves to our readers?

Jeffrey Wentworth Stevens: Frontier man, Wentworth Kersey, is a psych-folk avant-americana artist from the plains of Colorado. Mister Kersey consists of Joe Kersey Sampson and Jeffrey Wentworth Stevens. Wentworth Kersey is an enigma even to us. Joe and I come from extremely different backgrounds in music. So through the process of recording our album, it has had the feel of a “sci-fi folk experiment” with Joe providing his folk compositions and myself becoming a virtual backup band of sonic landscapes.

SBC: How long have you been making music? How long have you both been playing together as Wentworth Kersey? I know you guys are in other bands. Do you consider WK a side-project then?

JWS: Both Joe and I have been making music independently of each other for well over ten years. But in 2001 we started getting involved in the Denver warehouse music scene. Which was amazing, from Monkey Mania to the Youth Hipster Halfway House we were able to be part of some very diverse line-ups. Occasionally Joe would invite me on stage to manipulate and play sounds with his band, A Dog Paloma, and I would invite Joe to play shows with my experimental electronic act George&Caplin. Wentworth Kersey started in December 2007 as a side project when Joe called me out of the blue and asked me to work on some tracks that needed something “new.” The results were so exciting that we decided to record an EP. We both have been committed to it creatively, so whether or not it is a side project is yet to be determined.

SBC: Where do you draw your inspiration from?

JWS: From Brian Eno to Leonard Cohen, Scott Walker to Flying Canyon, Laxmikant-Pyarelal to Lee Hazlewood, Phil Spector to Ennio Morricono, the list goes on. But, not so much that we want to sound like any of these bands or producers, but more so in the fact they created unique palettes that became distinctly their sound. We would like to walk away from this project with a sonic signature that is undeniably unique to our collaboration.

SBC: When’s the debut coming out? Do you have any other EPs or singles we should check out in the meantime? Where can we find more of your music to listen to or buy?

JWS: Our debut is EP O. We are in the midst of recording a three EP collection that we hope to finish before 2010. When Wentworth Kersey began we both agreed to commit to the EP format in order to keep our sound evolving and avoiding large stagnant projects. The LP format for us seemed daunting as we were never sure our differing styles and approaches would work anyways, so every EP is small step forward for us but one giant leap for creating our own sound. The debut CD EP O was released in November 2008 on Plastic Sound Supply Records. The second EP (O) will be out in late spring 2009, and hopefully EP ((O)) will be out next winter. You can listen to more or buy music on our website, wentworthkersey.com or purchase it at iTunes, Amazon, etc.

SBC: What’s the recording process like for you guys? How is the percussion programmed? Are these songs on the EP brand new or something you guys have been kicking around for awhile?

JWS: The process really varies, but it usually boils down to Joe writing the main structure of the songs and then I come in to create a virtual band to back his acoustic guitar and vocal performances. The first EP was mostly done with an eight track cassette recorder, a sampler, a couple lo-fi thrift store sampling keyboards, and some live recordings. Layer, upon layer of sound were created using individual notes or samples. Sounds/samples were usually collaged upon one another in a sampler then each sound was degraded, manipulated, or tuned to give it a feel that melded with the guitars. Finally, everything was bounced together or mixed together to give the overall feel of a live band. Or at least something that felt less programmed or less “laptopy.” The percussion was done the same way, with individual hits being layered and layered upon several takes to create sections, these sections were re-sampled or collaged upon each other to create an overall drum performance. Lots of manipulation was done within a sampler to either glue together several takes, change pitch, or tune drum sounds.

SBC: Any plans to tour with the new songs?

JWS: No plans to tour. Joe will be touring with Bad Weather California this summer, so be sure to check them out. I will be hopefully recording, recording, recording, trying to finish “2666”, admiring Richard Scarry books, and taking a much needed break from [teaching] 5th graders.

SBC: What’s your impression of the Denver music scene? How’s has it been treating you? Any other artists we should be listening to?

JWS: We both absolutely love the Denver music scene! It has always really embraced differences and it is one of the reasons Joe and I were able to even consider doing a project together. We come from very different ends of the musical spectrum but after playing so many shows together and being valued equally…it sort of brainwashed us to think “yeah, folk and ambient electronic music are like peanut butter and jelly. They taste great mixed.” Denver constantly amazes us and there are so many new artists rising out of the scene. Check out Bad Weather California, The Wheel, Little Paia, and Sandusky.

SBC: Anything else you’d like to talk about?

JWS: Do they still have the Paul Bunyan Amusement Park in Brainerd [Minnesota]. I adored it as a child when we visited from Iowa. We would tour if we could play there! Also, look out for our second EP coming very, very soon.

SBC: I haven’t been up to Brainerd in forever. I don’t know if Paul Bunyan Land is around anymore? I used to love going there every summer with my family. Anyway, thanks for your time Jeff. We’re looking very forward to the next two EPs.