Interview with Jonny Woods from Indie rockers Wynona Bleach
14th November 2024Indie alt-rockers Wynona Bleach are back with their latest single, “I Deserve That”!
This track serves as a cautionary tale about the cultural chaos brought on by being chronically online and highlights the importance of reconnecting with the real, natural world. Guitarist Jonny Woods explains, “It’s a track about brain rot and how social media and TV can be poisonous, making you feel worthless and bad about yourself. You should go outside and touch grass every once in a while.” We see the fallout from this ‘disease’ all around us every day.
The accompanying video sharply critiques how YouTube and podcast culture can push young people towards political and religious extremism. Instead, it advocates for real-life connections, genuine friendships, and meaningful personal interactions. Let’s breathe, be real, and have authentic discourse. Ditch the virtual noise! As yet unnamed Sophomore album will be out later in 2025.
We can’t wait to hear it! Meanwhile, we asked Guitarist Jonny Woods a few questions about the band:
What was it that inspired you to put together an indie rock band?
It was always going to happen for all of us, childhood obsession with music and teenage obsession with our instruments!
How did the name WYNONA BLEACH come about? What does it mean?
Quite simply, we were bleaching our hair and had been watching movies with Winona Ryder, the obsession with both caused us to start a band named it. Plus… Nirvana’s Bleach album!
Who were your favorite bands growing up?
We all could say many things here, but grunge and power pop were always our collective go-to’s. Thanks to growing up with the internet we could get into so many genres so Alternative bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, MBV, Goth bands like Type-O Negative, The Cure, Bauhaus, and even pop-punk like Green Day and NOFX, all played massive roles in our young formative musical brains.
Who are your favorite bands now?
Again, too many to mention, but we’ve been listening loads to Wolf Alice, Joy Formidable, Poppy, Ringo Detahstarr, Remi Wolf, and Mk.gee.
The latest single ‘IDeserve That’ – tell us about it.
It’s about internet dwellers spending too much time online and battling each other to no avail, and how being with real friends doing real things, and having real experiences are all much needed. We’ve seen too many people radicalized and become completely distracted from reality.
Do you have an EP or album on the way?
We do – a full-length album recorded in our studio/rehearsal room (an old ballroom above a dive bar in west Belfast, co-produced with Andy Bradfield and Avril Mackintosh (Rufus Wainwright, The XX, Manic Street Preachers, Bryan Adams) – it’s almost complete with a release date some stage in 2025!
Tell us about the music scene in your hometown Belfast
It’s better every year. The talent from our city is immense, particularly in the guitar bands. Our local faves are Cherym and Brand New Friend who are paving the way for proper melodic guitar music. We are honored to share the stage with many of the greatest from our part of the world and are particularly fond of our label-buddies Ash, and their awesome legacy. Venues like the Oh Yeah are a massive help for young bands starting out, and it’s something a lot of cities don’t have. So we are fans!
You once supported Alice In Chains – which must’ve been amazing.
They are amazing people. We got the show thanks to one of our mutual friends who has now sadly passed away (Steve Strange) an incredible booking agent hailing from NI. He was bowling with Jerry Cantrell in LA and recommended us to him for the Irish dates as the tour support couldn’t make those shows. Jerry put us on his TV when they got back home and thought we were really cool so had Steve book us for them. At the shows they were massively supportive, standing on the side of the stage as we played and giving us motivational chats before we went on (we will never forget Sean Kinney’s chats!) The shows were great fun and we will never forget them!
Where can we find your socials?
We are pretty much always @wynonableach on all social medias!
