WyndRider is a wicked stoner doom group blasting out of the mountains of East Tennessee. They’re about to release their sophomore record, Revival, on June 7th. We recently wrote about a single off the album—“Motorcycle Witches,” and I wanted to learn more about the killer band.

They’ve been called one of the hardest-working bands in the heavy underground today, and they’ve got a full slate of shows lined up across the U.S. this summer. Hopefully, I’ll be able to check them out when they come to Nashville.

I contacted Chloe Gould, the lead singer, and she was kind enough to answer my questions via email. Check out my interview with WyndRider below, where the band talks about their new music, crazy stories from the road, and how living in Appalachia influences their style.

Interview with WyndRider

Third Eye: Thanks so much for doing this interview! Can you introduce the band and give us some background on WyndRider?

WyndRider: Thanks for having us! We are WyndRider, a stoner doom band from the mountains of East Tennessee. We have Chloe Gould on vocals, Robbie Willis on guitar, Joshuwah (Garth) Herald on bass, and Josh Brock on drums. We played our first show in March of 2022. Our first self-titled album came out last year in March, one year to the date of our debut show. In May of 2023 we made the transition over from our first drummer, Richard Bucher, so Brock has been with us for about a year now. And we’ve been goin’ ever since! Our second album, Revival, comes out on June 7th with Electric Valley Records. 

Third Eye: I loved your debut record, and the new album sounds great, too. How do you think the band’s sound evolved from the first to the second album? And what was your vision for the new record?

WyndRider: Thank you! There has been some transition stylistically going from our S/T to Revival. We are leaning a lot more into the Rock & Roll side of things. But, a lot of the same elements from WyndRider have carried over into Revival. The smokey doom and psychedelic riffs and Chloe’s weird ass lyrical content is still as present as ever. The vision for Revival was really just to be a strong continuation of the identity we established with our S/T. 

Tales from the road

Third Eye: WyndRider played many shows last year, including festivals like Holler of Doom in London, Kentucky. What was the tour like for you guys? And do you have any fun stories from being on the road?

WyndRider: Touring has been amazing. We are grateful as hell for all of the cool shows we played last year. Our 2024 is looking to be even busier, too. We will be returning to Holler of Doom as well as Maryland Doom Fest and some others that have yet to be announced, and we plan to hit as many new states as possible. We actually just got back from a run in Memphis, Arlington, and Houston, Texas, and New Orleans. Gravitoyd Doom Fest in Houston was a blast. We hung out with the bands for hours. There’s so much talent out that way.

Some crazy stories, though… We once happened upon an abandoned tuberculosis sanitarium and got to walk around the creepy underground tunnels there. There was also one night Brock almost cut the tips of his fingers off, accidentally sticking them into a fan, and directly after that he slipped and fell into a puddle so hard it knocked the wind out of him..from his ass. Chloe has gotten us lost while using a GPS so many times it isn’t even funny. And, did you know the Peavey factory in Mississippi has urinals shaped like mouths? Some of our funniest moments are definitely just meeting all kinds of new folks and exploring the cities we end up in.

Third Eye: I’m always interested in what touring is like for smaller, independent bands. What’s one misconception about touring that you think some fans might have for bands like WyndRider?

WyndRider: Touring really looks different for everybody. Not everyone can spring into a month-long cross-country adventure. For us, we hit about four shows at a time around weekends and hold down jobs the rest of the time. Some people wouldn’t even call that a tour. One of the biggest misconceptions tends to be about the amount of work that goes into setting up even a few days on the road. It’s hours and weeks of emails, booking, planning, and coordinating just for a couple of shows! It’s hard, and it definitely doesn’t happen overnight. As a growing band, we try to take all the opportunities that we can. If we can make it there, we will do it. 

Third Eye: You told me that you get a lot of inspiration for the band from your location in the mountains of East Tennessee. How do you think living in that part of the Appalachian region affects you, and how does it affect WyndRider?

WyndRider: Living in Appalachia has a lot to do with the content and style of our music, as well as our individual identities. Elements of folk and blues have always heavily inspired Robbie’s guitar riffs in WyndRider and in other projects. The struggles of life in the mountains and the invasion of religion on people’s lives are a major focus of Chloe’s lyrics. Appalachia is a beautiful place steeped with intense culture and wonderful people, but also addiction, poverty, death, and violence that everyone here is familiar with. We try to dig into the darker parts of the place with our music while also staying true to the amazing musical styles that come out of the region.

Sabbath on constant rotation

Third Eye: This is a dorky question, but I have to ask. I’m fascinated by Appalachian folklore and ghost stories; it’s such a rich region for that. Is the band into that stuff, too? And if so, what’s one Appalachian folk tale that has always stuck with you over the years?

WyndRider: We love a good ghost story. There’s a cool one from our area about a woman called Granny February. Her name was Nannie Crowe Brister, and some people believed she was a witch. One story goes that she grew sick and died (or so people thought) and was buried in a mausoleum with her late husband. Some say she was not actually dead and they had buried her alive. Others say that she died, but because of her magical abilities, she would regularly rise and haunt the cemetery grounds long after her passing. Locals often go to the cemetery where she rests and hear the clanging of the mausoleum door or the rocking of her favorite rocking chair that was placed inside the tomb with her. 

Third Eye: If you had to pick one record that “changed your life” and made you want to be a musician, what would it be? And why?

WyndRider: This one is different for each of us. For Brock, ACDC’s Back in Black is one of the first albums that taught him to play from a very early age. Garth started truly playing instruments after hearing Metallica’s Master of Puppets. Robbie wanted to play guitar for as long as he can remember and was actually inspired by watching people play in church when he was young. Chloe’s love for singing developed from classical choir tunes and musical theater at school. There’s not one band or record that you could say “changed our life,” but a whole lot of reasons why we do what we do. 

Third Eye: What’s one record or band/artist you can’t stop listening to right now? And why?

WyndRider: It’s a given that we keep Black Sabbath on constant rotation. Not only are they a major inspiration for our band, but for our genre as a whole. Our favorite tracks are probably “Into the Void,” “NIB,” “Electric Funeral,” and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” though it is incredibly hard to pick. 

Third Eye: What’s next for WyndRider? What are some short- and long-term goals for the band?

WyndRider: Right now, we are really just riding the wave. We have shows coming up all over this half of the U.S. this year, so keep an eye out for us! We hope that with the release of Revival, more fun opportunities come our way. We want to keep writing, traveling, and we aren’t planning on slowing down any time soon. And, we hope that everyone digs the new stuff as much as we do!

Pre-order Revival by WyndRider on Bandcamp here.

You can support WyndRider by finding them on Bandcamp or social media (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube).

Consider supporting The Third Eye on Patreon here.