Most electronic music acts dip heavily in prerecorded sounds, sampling and splicing until a unique song is made. But Will Wiesenfeld, the 21-year-old one-man-show operating as Baths, doesn’t do that. Every bit of every track of his debut LP, Cerulean, from guitar to percussion to keys, is Wiesenfeld-made.
“That’s the thing, is that it’s all me. I’m not outsourcing anything. All the music is my own; I’m not taking it from any other songs. So there’s a mish-mash of things happening,” Weisenfeld said.
To call Cerulean a mish-mash is an underdeveloped understatement — Weisenfeld is selling himself short. The melodic, beat-driven songs are smooth and lush, with layers upon layers of elements that collide to create a brand of tunes that are too guided to be ambient, but not structured enough and too complex to be run-of-the-mill dance songs. Listeners might wonder: Do people dance to this stuff?
“You’d have to see a show, I guess. I don’t know how to describe it,” Weisenfeld said.
Though vocals are sparse on Cerulean, the few croons, like every other sonic item on the LP, are Weisenfeld himself.
“I sing live, I do. I have a computer with me and an MPD controller…and I’m singing live on top of all of that. It’s sort of a mix between different things. Because I’m the only person that’s onstage, I have to be very physical and very involved in the performance so that it’s actually a performance — and not, like, just watching somebody press space bar on a laptop,” he said.
Wiesenfeld’s take on electronic music is rooted in a few crucial elements: he was classically trained on the piano from age four until 12, and he’s a big Bjork fan. In fact, the Icelandic art-pop icon was the impetus for Wiesenfeld’s creative career.
“I didn’t know I could compose until I heard [Björk’s] music. Then everything started sort of turning around and becoming something totally different,” he said.
“Everything to do with her and all of her producers and all of her artistic collaborators and graphic designers…Her whole universe is something that’s been a big centerpiece of my influence,” he said.
Technically, Wiesenfeld has been recording music since he was 14 years old.
“This Baths album is actually my 22nd full-length thing, I think. I’ve done a bunch of EPs or albums that I just distributed among friends. [Cerulean] is the first one that I recognize as being a possible career-starter, because it was the first signed release I’ve had,” he said.
Six years ago — and up until Baths — Wiesenfeld recorded as Post-Foetus.
But the name was “hard to say and write down,” and Baths felt more in line with the music he’d forayed into, he said.
“I’m just a very water-oriented person. It’s the name that’s been floating around for different things for a while, like maybe an album title or song title. But it just sort of fit the project. And it stuck, and now it’s going to be the name that I can hopefully ride throughout my career,” he said.
After taking in Cerulean, the name Baths does make sense. Electronic music that’s not dance-demanding has a way of washing over the listener, and Cerulean does just that. Now that Wiesenfeld is steady in his presentation of his music — and after performing as Baths throughout the US for about four months last year — he’s ready for a headlining tour.
“It’s very special and awesome. Both of the bands that are opening for me [Braids and Star Slinger] are wonderful and amazing musicians. I couldn’t be happier with the lineup. I think it’s going to be really solid,” he said.
