Interview with Wiring

September 13, 2025

In July, Wiring brought their punchy, prog rock stylings to Mendelsons House in Dayton, Ohio and caught up with our very own Max Lightcap after the show. In the interview, the Brooklyn four-piece of Connor Gibson, Michael Sandvig, Moses Torres, and Kevin Wulf talk about the making of Like A Porcelain Lamb, what influenced the record, and more.

Wiring’s sophomore record, Like A Porcelain Lamb, came out in June. It’s available on all platforms. Check that out and watch the interview below.

Max: Hello, I'm Max, here with BLIGATORY. Here, also, with Wiring who is on tour from New York City with Main Era. We just did the interview with Wiring and Main Era together…but now we're talking about their new album that just came out that they're kind of on tour for: Like A Porcelain Lamb. If you guys want to talk about the recording process, love to hear about how that all went about and how long you did it.

Connor: Yeah, for sure. We recorded with our friend Justin Hatch and Zach Vogel, and we did a lot of the guitars and drums in a single day. And, we got most of the basics down in a single day. And then it was sort of a process for the next year. Kind of layering out, different sort of auxiliary like production elements that we wanted and getting the the mixes right and stuff. Everyone kind of slides in with their parts and, and plays what they want to play, and it comes together in that way. So it feels pretty organic, which is cool. And Justin Hatch did an awesome job of kind of letting us try a bunch of different stuff. And I think we tried to have the record sort of run seamlessly from song to song, you know, inspired by records that we all really, really like that sort of do a similar thing and kind of did it in a way that worked for our band.

And the writing process is again, kind of similar to how we recorded it. We would have certain ideas, like maybe Mike and I would be working on something, or like Kevin and I would be working on guitar parts. Usually it starts with two people, like Moses and I could have been working on an idea too. And then eventually everybody comes in with their own part where they feel like it works. And then after a couple of times of playing it through and ironing it out, we usually have a finished song. And then we figured out the way of which, like, maybe they all work together in a way that runs through.

Max: So for this album, was there a lot of songs already that you guys that were already performing that you just recorded, or was this more like, you flesh this album out, wanted to get it out and then started?

Kevin: Both. It kind of happened at the same time. We had like a year of sitting on the material for this record. And during that year we ran, that's pretty much all we did for the live set. So working on the record, overdubs and all that stuff at the same time as getting better at playing those songs. I guess, like they kind of aligned. 

Connor: Yeah, yeah, we recorded it in March of 2024 and then we had already been playing some of those songs. “Tower” on that record was written…

Moses: Been playing that one for like two years now.

Connor: Summer 2023. We kind of keep going any time that we have developed a new song, we try to try it out live, like usually around the time that we write it, just because, like, it feels fun and fresh. And there were certain songs that we had had ready for the studio that we hadn't tried. Like, I believe “Drag [In The Wing]” was tracked before we’d even played it live, and then we started doing it live afterwards. But yeah, we basically play all the songs on the record and we’ve started to play some new songs too, because we just started a new record with our good friend Joe.

Kevin: Stay tuned. Yeah.

Connor: And all that material is pretty sick too. So yeah, it usually runs concurrently, recording it and playing the songs.

Max: Do you think this last album, Like A Porcelain Lamb, was a collection of songs, or do you see it as more of a concept?

Connor: Yeah, there's a narrative thread in there for sure, like, on the lyrical end. I think there's things that run through. It definitely has things at play that are consistent and there's people and characters that are present in the songs that are going on. A lot of it is a bit abstracted at certain points, I guess, but there’s like a through line with it. But, we kind of wrote the songs as if you could pick one out if you wanted to. Because there's sort of like pop form in there.

Kevin: It’s playlistable.

Moses: Put it on your playlist.

Max: I do, I already do.

Kevin: Thank god

Connor: Good, good...You're in our favor then.

Max: “Navigator” and “Porcelain Lamb,” instantly.

Connor: Let's go, let's go. Awesome.

Max: So when it comes to lyrics, everybody writes everything, right? Like everybody writes their own parts. So it's very much so like a band, it’s not just two brains or one brain. It's a. 

Connor: Yeah, everyone's doing their thing. Yeah. I think it's a cool process because there's legwork that one person does in one way and then another person does in a different way. Usually that's doled out to just anybody playing the thing that they feel they think is most comfortable, and also just makes the most sense to them. And usually those things gel together in a cool way.

Max: So then when it comes to lyrics, who's writing the lyrics? Is it just you?

Connor: I usually do the lyrics, yeah. And there's other components on the record too, that were introduced because of Kevin.There’s a lot string arrangements–like mandolin, piano, cellos, upright bass and yeah, there's these instruments that we haven't really introduced in that way before. Kevin's played on an EP with us, Spinning Chalice, but this is the first record that we've done with Kevin since he joined. And that was something that, outside of us writing parts for the band, that was an element that Kevin brought in, which if you want to talk about that, I think that shit's cool.

Kevin: I don't really know what to say. I was a big fan of Wiring–I was in this band called CPS, and we played with Wiring, and I love their music. And I found out that they liked my playing. And then I ended up joining the band. I'm in the band, and now it's my band.

Max: So before that, were you guys a three piece?

Michael: Yeah. So it kind of started as me, me and Connor. We went to SUNY Purchase, and this is like early 2022, me and Connor would make songs together. Then, we were playing with our friend Cally. Shoutout Cally. And then, Moses came along to fill some bass playing spots. So that was the three piece for a minute. Then, like a year later Kevin joined, and that's been the lineup ever since.

Max: So as far as for Kevin, then, how long have you been doing, like, the strings and all that? I noticed that you guys had the cello and mandolin on there, and I was like, this is really cool because this is something that you don't hear a lot in, especially in modern alternative music. I just thought it was so cool. 

Kevin: The four of us all have very different backgrounds within music and mine is on the classical composition side. So I guess that's where.

Connor: Yeah, Kev went to school for composition, like at SUNY Purchase. So that was his wheelhouse, you know. And while we were working on this, I think there were parts that we were like, oh, this would be really sick to try to figure out. And so, Kev and I would work on the note selection or like, try out the parts. There’d just be sections where Kevin would be like, “okay this would be cool to try this here.” And the last song [“I had that vision again”] is just guitar and double bass, basically, just upright bass and there's some mandolin. And that was sort of brainstormed by Kevin. And also, the opening track “Heirloom,” is like all Kevin as well, like piano and upright bass and stuff. And yeah, you cooked that one up. 

Kevin: Yeah.

Max: Well, cool. So, you guys talked about like, different inspirations for this and different backgrounds. Do you want to talk about some of those inspirations and influences that helped write this record specifically?

Moses: For me personally, I mean, my background, a lot of it is in jazz and also prog rock. I don't know, being a bass player, sometimes you're like, oh, let me limit myself to, you know, doing root notes or doing whole tones, you know, whole notes. And that's all fine and good, but I like to get a little more melodic with it sometimes. So for me, Yes, Chris Squire is a huge influence. I try to evoke him a lot in what I'm playing, King Crimson as well, I know is across the board, a pretty big influence…

Michael: Oh yeah

Moses: Also, I'm a huge Beach Boys fan, and so hearing all the strings is like, just like, totally evokes like that. Yeah, Rest in Peace, Brian Wilson. Pet Sounds is like my favorite album of all time. So, anytime I hear, like, cellos and mandolins and stuff like that on a pop record, I just get very excited.

Max: Cool. Well, that's perfect for this right here.

Connor: Yeah, same way. I mean there's a lot of modern bands too that I think  getting to see in the past couple of years was really sick. And for one, even a band that we get to see a lot and get to play, BOYSCOUTMARIE, that band is insane. And that's like one where, that was kind of when we were putting out the first record and meeting them and then, like, it just kind of was the thing where I was like, oh man, they're really good. And they had really progressive song structure, and seeing that makes you also want to do it as well. And yeah, there's a band, Bruiser & Bicycle from Troy, that again, before we started working on this record, I was running, their record, Holy Red Wagon…and I think it's amazing. And it's pretty ambitious, too. It’s cool to see that–an ambitious scope–when you are working with resources that are available and it’s pretty admirable. And then also like, I would say King Crimson was yeah, one that we all really kind of rocked with.

Michael: And Genesis, of course.

Connor: Definitely Genesis, yeah. And then Northeast bands like, a bunch of really cool Philly bands, a bunch of really cool New York City bands that we get to see. And, yeah, I think that shit is really awesome. What about you, Kev?

Kevin: Yes. Literally, Yes. Love Yes, yes. Love that band Yes, I'm a Soft Machine fanatic. And I love folk music, and Tchaikovsky, and Davydov, and Shostakovich.

Michael: I like heavy metal, like Black Sabbath, and like, Slayer, and Satan.

Connor: We also like, sort of ambitious, like pop records. Hounds of Love [by] Kate Bush is a record I was listening to a lot, and, like, that's one that when Mikey and I were our first playing shows, that's a record we would throw on in the car lot as well.

Max: I know yesterday you said Women.

Connor: Oh yeah, I fucking love that band. I always forget to, because I really love all the stuff that Pat Flegel does. Surface to Air Missive, from Atlanta, I think they're from Georgia. The Balkans. Frankie Broyles. Deerhunter, Deerhoof.

Kevin: That's one of my favorite bands, Deerhoof. They texted me. I said, I love you guys. And they said, thanks, Kevin.

Michael: Thanks, Kevin.

Connor: Shoutout Deerhoof.

Max: I love those bands like, Deerhoof, and I don't know why, I group them with [bands] like Stereolab…

Connor: Oh, yeah, I love Stereolab.

Max: …Black Moth Super Rainbow, Sweet Trip, like all those bands. Yeah, yeah. Dope.

Connor: Yeah, I listen to Public Strain a lot. That Women record, all the time. And stuff that Kevin and I like to do a lot, too, is guitar interplay and guitar harmony. That is always satisfying. 

Kevin: I like Palm. “Walkie Talkie,” though. That one song is great..

Max: Yeah, I love when guitars interplay and like, you know, just syncopate. It's so cool because it just shows how fucking locked in everybody is. And you guys especially, are just so melodic and so, twinkly, but not in the way that, you know, American Football is twinkly or like, you know, emo bands. It’s not in that way, but twinkly in a whole other aspect. And I kind of did hear, like the King Crimson-esque that thing going on, but not like…it's like King Crimson if they were twinkly…

Connor: Twinkly Crimson…

Kevin: I like that.

Connor: I think Kevin brought up Palm. I was at one of Palm’s last shows in Brooklyn and like, that's a band where everybody's playing their own part, it's all locking in in this crazy way. Everything is really, really fine tuned. It's a crazy, crazy thing to watch. It's so performative. But like, the song structure is really sick and like, the song is so good and they have hooks, you know what I mean? Like, Palm has crazy things going on, but also the two vocalists have this insane harmony. Again, it's like a sort of Beach Boys harmony going on, it has a pop kind of edge to it. That's the thing where it's like, there's definitely rock qualities going on, but we all rock with the hook.

Moses: Playboi Carti.

Michael: We love Carti, yeah.

Max: It's funny, because I was going to say Animal Collective is a good example of some awesome, experimental pop. It’s very experimental, it's weird. It's nothing like anything you've ever heard. But at the end of the day, it's pop. 

Moses: Catchy fun.

Max: Yeah. It's awesome.

Connor: Talk about catchy fun.

Moses: Summertime fun. Having fun in the summertime.

Connor: Summertime Mo.

Max: Summertime fun, having fun in the summer.

Michael: Summertime lovin’.

Moses: Regular show.

Max: Sublime. That's another, you know, another real, twinkly, catchy…

Moses: Oh, hell yeah. 

Michael: I don't know about that one, dog.

Max: They’re like my favorite twinkly, twink emo band.

Michael: My favorite Midwest emo band, Sublime.

Connor: Second only to 311.

Michael: I love that band.

Moses: Also, I guess, just like obligatory Velvet Underground, obviously.

Kevin: The best.

Moses: Feel like they influenced everybody. But, definitely us too.

Max: Gotta shout out the Velvet Underground, of course. Yeah, thank you guys so much for coming out.

Michael: Thanks for having us.

A combination of everyone: Shoutout Money Mouse, Money Mouse Rave. July 11th, pull up. [lots of repetition of “rave” and “pull up”] 

Max: Money Mouse Rave, Yellow Cab Tavern, Dayton, Ohio. We’ve DJ OZ-E, Mucoid, Full Body…

Michael: Full Body!

Max: Shout out, Full Body, of course. Not Full Body 2.

Michael: No, no two.

Max: Not even Full Body 1, just Full Body. Again, thank you guys so much for coming out. Where can everybody find your music at?

Connor: Everywhere.

Moses: Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, TIDAL, SoundCloud, YouTube. Maybe not SoundCloud. 

Michael: Bandcamp.

Kevin [with both mics]: Snapchat, Instagram, Netflix. And YouTube. That's it.

Max: Where can they find you, social media, wise?

Connor: Instagram.

Kevin: Try googling Wiring. You'll find it.

Michael & Connor: Wiring underscore underscore underscore underscore.

Max: Despite the shirt, they are not a hardcore band.

Connor: No.

Michael: Oh, yes we are.

Connor: Yes we are, yes we are.

Max: Hardcore in spirit, hardcore in the ethos, I guess.

Michael: We’re really evil.

Max: Thank you guys so much for coming out. Beautiful music, beautiful people right here.

Connor: DJ Money Mouse, thank you. Thank you for having us here. Max let us sleepover. 

Michael: Slumber party. 

Kevin: Lil slumber party. 

Max: Check out Like A Porcelain Lamb by Wiring. You can find it anywhere. This was my most listened to album of June. Not just because they were coming through, because I just loved it that much. Such an incredible record, I can't wait to hear what you guys have in store for future music. Definitely will be seeing you next time I'm in New York.

Kevin: More to come soon.