Wavid Wurtin and Woongi give rock-pop a psychedelic buzz
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Written By: Madeleine Gardere
Edited By: Caleb Brennan
Photos By: Tricia Wood
Every night is show night on the corner of Western and Cortez. A chalkboard door with set times and a tattered awning with the words “Music Friendly Dancing” in bold lettering are the only indications that this is a place where bands perform. People hurry on and off the main stage, preparing for the show that is rapidly approaching.
The rhythm of the instruments echoes throughout the walls of Empty Bottle. Someone yells “Check, check.” Strands of thick coil tug against the bassists’ fingers, the hum vibrating through eardrums as the tap of the drums begins tonight’s headlining set: Woongi.
They begin their first song, each instrument churning out psychedelic noise as bodies begin to move with the music. David Curtin, also known through his stage persona as Wavid Wurtin, is the band’s lead vocalist. He is clad in an olive bomber and black jeans as he bops his head to the swing of the drums. He stands behind the center mic, wearing a purple and green dyed hat with a Slurpee logo on the side, and claps his hands to the beat of the bassist.
Woongi is a Chicago-based rock-pop outfit that goes beyond the psychedelic revival of the past few years. Their beat is highly diverse, a mix of Talking Heads, Roxy Music, heavy metal and 2000s pastiche. The band uses a unique sound collage to bring fans into their absurdist world. With their electric presence onstage and vibrant waves of pulsating bass and synth, the shock of their rhythm bounces off the stage and into the audience.
“We’re going to try some new songs that are kind of hard for us,” says Wurtin before Woongi’s performance. “Those’ll probably not go very well but that’s always fun. We’ve played Empty Bottle I can’t even count how many times, so it feels like a fun place to play at this point. The other bands are really cool so it should be a good night. It’s put together by this label, FieldTrip, and I love everything they’ve done and everything they’ve put out, so I was really happy they asked us to play.”
Wurtin has been a part of the Chicago music scene for five years. With his background in the music scene, he has a sense of familiarity with local venues such as Empty Bottle.
Clubs like the Empty Bottle allow Woongi to showcase their music. Back when the club opened in the early ’90s, it was one of the few stages that brought new talent to center stage.
John E. Dugan, a music and entertainment writer who covers the Chicago music scene, says one of the significant features of Chicago’s music scene is the growing number and type of venues where bands can play experimental music.
“I think that it’s a place where you can see very sophisticated and interesting music,” says Dugan, who edited “The Empty Bottle Chicago: 21+ Years of Music / Friendly / Dancing.” “There’s a lot of talented people and seeing a smaller city where there isn’t such a large music scene--you kind of get spoiled in Chicago.”
Woongi has a performance aspect to its shows that fits in perfectly with the outsider art mentality of the Empty Bottle. There’s a laissez-faire psychedelia that sticks out in the band’s on-stage presentation. The band members use synth and two bassists as their main tools when performing, which is unusual in a scene of garage rock and guitar-centric bands.
“One of the biggest things is there’s almost no one playing guitar in the set,” says Davis. “Usually, at every show you go to, anywhere, someone’s always playing guitar on stage. We kind of purposefully pushed back against the guitar, since there’s so much of that in the scene these days. Then we of course have two bass players, which I don’t think I’ve seen [in] another band in Chicago.”
Wurtin was only 20 when he began singing in bands. He says he had always been a guitarist in bands and thought he had something different to say with his music stylings. It wasn’t until his original band fell apart that he took things into his own hands. Since the band wasn’t going to play his new material, he figured that he would do it himself. Thus, Woongi was born.
With two albums under the belt, “Black Trumpets” and “Music for Prophet,” Woongi is excited to see what lies ahead as the band continues to grow.
When asked what they want their fans to know about their progress, Wurtin says, “We’re in it to win it. I guess as long as they know we’re trying our best, we’re going for gold.”
The inspiration behind the newest Woongi album is an eclectic mix of influencers that includes the composition for the TV show “Twin Peaks” and the boy band NSYNC.
“It’s inspired by clicking on 70 YouTube videos when you’re going down the YouTube rabbit hole. I guess it has more of a nostalgic feel than anything. ‘Music for Prophet’ was nostalgic in a classic sort of ’70s way, and this one feels more like late ’80s to early ’90s,” says Wurtin.
Davis says with the new music Wurtin has written, Woongi’s sound is definitely evolving. The overall feel of the songs is more up-tempo and engaging to the band’s audiences. “(Wavid’s) already got a new record already written, and there’s been an evolution in the sound,” says Davis.
When asked about the influence of the Chicago music scene on how it shapes sounds and genres, music writer Dugan describes it as vibrant and open-ended. “It’s had some moments where it had been influential but there always seems to be a new group of people that’s doing something inspiring and exciting,” he says. “Just when you think that there’s no new thing that’s really cool, someone comes along.”