Cold Gawd on moving west, performance & adding voices to shoegaze

Photo Credit: Devon Cohen

Along with the physical reactions that often come with listening to music, some songs have the power to move us beyond our own understanding. At its core, shoegaze music asks us to reflect on our innermost thoughts and emotions, while getting lost in distortion, reverb and feedback. Listening to Cold Gawd goes further than that. 

Cold Gawd, a six-piece band started by multi-instrumentalist Matt Wainwright, sits somewhere between shoegaze and post-hardcore. Their latest album God Get Me The Fuck Out Of Here, released last month, is a follow up to their 2020 debut The Creative Pursuits of Me and You. In addition to being influenced by bands like Nothing and Whirr, Wainwright blends in his appreciation for R&B / neo-soul artists such as Childish Gambino, Solange and Snoh Aalegra. On vocals, Wainwright uses repetition to emphasize things like loss, fear, and desire. He stretches phrases across lines, often letting one syllable overpower others. On the opening track “Sweet Jesus Wept Shit,” Wainwright sings about being empty, as a result of giving himself fully. His only recourse is to call out to God for salvation. The track “You The Well,” which follows an ABACBA structure, sees Wainwright coming to terms with the end of a relationship. The interlude “Comfort Thug” is a conversation on the importance of artists, specifically people of color, using their voice in spaces where they have traditionally been left out (see shoegaze). The piece serves as a call to action for others to “shake the machine.” Listening to God Get Me The Fuck Out Of Here will give you chills.

CLD GWD SZN has become a kind of mantra for the band and among their fans. The band signed with Dais Records earlier this year. Soundvsystem reached out to Cold Gawd over email. Wainwright sent back some notes on self-reflection, the influence of moving west, breaking up the uniformity of shoegaze bands and the importance of performance.

How would you describe CLD GWD SZN?

Cold Gawd: It’s a lifestyle, it’s now, it’s forever

You put out “Moving to California,” just six months before God Get Me The Fuck Out of Here was released. You’ve written that the track is “about the anxious feeling that is making— what you think is— the biggest next step of your life.” Do you view that time period as transformational?

Cold Gawd: Absolutely. I’m definitely not the person I was when I was living in Chicago. Of course, I’m still me, but–with the change of scenery that my girlfriend and I went through, plus a little therapy and a string of bad career choices–I’ve become a different person, I believe. We all still have our bad habits as humans, but I think the habits I had living in Chicago have been improved upon since being back in California.

There’s a feeling of loneliness on the album, which comes across as both self-isolation and as a result of external circumstances. A lot of us can certainly relate to that. What was going through your head when you wrote these songs in Chicago?

Cold Gawd: I feel like the loneliness comes through most in the lyrics. Those were mostly written after having moved back which, I believe, was when I felt the most alone. Covid definitely had a part to play in it. Maybe those residual feelings that came up during the self-reflection bled into the lyrics, but then I didn’t feel alone.

You’ve pointed out the thematic overlap between R&B and shoegaze and the influence that has on Cold Gawd songs. You’ve also mentioned that “You the Well” was written with Snoh Alegra in mind. Did you grow up listening to R&B music?

Cold Gawd: Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that it was always around. My mom listened to it. Shit like Usher and Mariah were on the radio all the time. But back then I didn’t know it was exactly R&B. I just thought, “this is good music.” It wasn’t really until this nu-R&B era (the Summer Walker’s, the Snoh’s, the Giveon’s) where that shit made an imprint of inspiration on me. The classics are the classics–and I love them, no denying that–but it’s shit like SZA that I always run back to and try to pull things from. Listen to Tems.

The track “Comfort Thug” is a conversation centered around the lack of black artists in shoegaze. It is encouraging to hear you talk about creating space for yourself within the genre, while calling on others to do the same. Why do you think that the genre has stayed largely homogeneous over the years?

Cold Gawd: I think it’s a reflection of what’s seen on the screen. The most classic popular shoegaze bands are all or a majority of them are white. In turn, more white people are going to flock to this genre and create. So much of thinking you can do something is seeing someone who looks like you accomplishing things; so as a person of color, you could come upon the genre and feel intimidated. It would be nice that through the existence of Cold Gawd those anxieties didn’t hold anyone who looks like me down anymore.

Shoegaze bands tend to bury the vocals, yet on the album your voice delicately hangs above the instrumentation. Did you use any albums as sonic references during the process of recording?

Cold Gawd: For vocals, no. That was all Gabe Largaespada, my friend who recorded the whole thing. He really has a knack for pop music. In those songs the voice is really the main instrument, so I knew he wasn’t going to bury my voice as much as I would’ve liked. I sent mixing note after mixing note, and it was there front and center. Ultimately that was a lot more beneficial for Cold Gawd, I think. Musically, the main album inspirations were Whirr’s Feels Like You, Title Fight’s Floral Green, m b v, Nothing’s Guilty of Everything, and Luster’s Blue Oblivion.

There is a lot of thought that goes into the visuals that coincide with the band’s music. Are there any visual artists that you’re particularly influenced by?

Cold Gawd: Khairi Christopher, Donald Glover, James Turrell, Solange, Tyler the Creator, David Lynch, Es Devlin, Virgil Abloh, Kevin Abstract, Nick Knight, Hype Williams, and Dave Free to name a few.

You have talked about artists creating an entire universe—an album being one aspect of that world—in order to maintain longevity. What does that look like for Cold Gawd?

Cold Gawd: You’ll see. Whether that’s through new music, visuals, live performance you’ll be able to experience it. I can’t give it all away now, but it’s out there.

The band has been recording and sharing live sets. How important is the band’s live performance? Will you be touring to promote the album?

Cold Gawd: It may be the most important aspect of being in this band. It’s one of those elements where everyone does it–so I have fun in being able to find the things we can do in our live performances that set us apart from anyone we will or have shared a bill with. From the way we go off, samples, lighting choices, fog–there’s a lot of things people don’t truly take into account to make it a memorable experience. But trust, I'm thinking of everything. I’m trying to accomplish it all through whatever I can do at each venue. And I would love to tour on the record. We have a couple dates coming up with Cold Showers and some things in the works for early 2023. I’m throwing it out there right now, we want that full US support run.

God Get Me The Fuck Out Of Here is out now on Dais Records. It can be purchased on vinyl/CD on Cold Gawd’s Bandcamp and streamed on Spotify and other platforms. Buy some merch. Follow Cold Gawd on Instagram and Twitter. Catch the band on tour:

November 5 - San Diego, California - Petco Park - w/Deftones, Turnstile & more
November 10 - Oakland, California - Thee Stork Club - w/Cold Showers
November 11 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Rockstar Bar - w/Cold Showers
November 12 - Tempe, Arizona - The Beast - w/Cold Showers
November 13 - San Diego, California - The Whistle Stop - w/Cold Showers
November 27 - Los Angeles, California - The Echo - w/Sprain & Drowse
December 10 - Los Angeles, California - The Belasco - w/Drab Majesty, Adult. & more