Wilson: Streets of death taught us music business

Wilson frontman Chad Nicefield says growing up in Detroit has given the band the edge they need to survive in the music industry.

And he insists they have the ambition and drive to make it to the next level of success.

They recently issued streams of All My Friends and Give ‘Em Hell from second album Right To Rise, set for release on June 30 via Razor & Tie.

Nicefield tells Metal Hammer’s Merlin Alderslade: ”In Detroit you do things because you have to. Like, ‘This is how you’re able to survive.’ You were told not to go to certain places or do certain things as a kid because it was scary.

“There was crime and there were people that might fucking kill you there. In Detroit you have to know what you’re doing.”

He continues: “We make guttural decisions because that’s how we’re programmed. When we write, we don’t think, ‘How will people in Los Angeles like this song?’ We’re writing because we like the way it sounds.”

Wilson launched debut record Full Blast Fuckery in 2013, which Nicefield says led to a “crazy tornado” that’s seen them tour the world and support artists including Halestorm.

He says: “We’ve done these amazing things – but we’ve done them on the back of other folks. Going forward, we’d like to do all of these things of our own accord.”

Crediting “people that have worked themselves into that position” he adds: “It would be wonderful to be the band that can extend that same hand out to younger bands to grasp on to.”

The full interview appears in the latest edition of Metal Hammer, on sale now in print, digital and via TeamRock+. Right To Rise is available to pre-order from Wilson’s website and iTunes.

Wilson: Party Rockers!

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.