"biggest smile from tokyo"

Q: Hey Karly, I've been a long time fan of mark kozelek's music (red house painters and sun kil moon) When I first heard 'Handsome Man' I noticed you used the line 'biggest smile from tokyo'. Is that a reference to the red house painter's 'cruiser' or are you and Mark both referencing some other media that im not aware of. Ever since i heard that song, I've been wondering about that. P.S. wednesday is my favorite band everrrrr love you guys :))

A: I love Mark Kozelek’s music too unfortunately, especially this time of year…. It is indeed a reference to his song “Cruiser”… one of my faves of all time.

For the record though i LOATHE you Mark Kozelek.

I’ve written a song about this dynamic I have with him and hating him as a person but loving his music… maybe it’ll be released one day idk!

Tattooooooz

Q: I really love your tattoos. How do you go about choosing what you’re going to get tatted and where? Do you have a fav tattoo artist? Have you done any yourself?

A: Thanks!! I love em too. I only get tattoos when I’m traveling. I try to just get something that the artist has available for flash. I have a bunch of artists I like saved in his google doc.

I try not to think very much about what I get or where. Whatever I’m pulled to is what I go with…

My favorite artists rn are @dirtyl00ks in Montreal, I just had a great experience getting a tattoo there recently. Would love a tatt from his wife @kuntrydirt also. That’s just mostly recency bias though, I love all the artists tat tatt me.

I did the one’s on my right leg at the knee and above. A ribbon around my knee, a girl from the movie Hausu and some Charlie Brown characters dancing. I dont feel like taking a pic of em at the moment to show here, but if there’s any pics of me in shorts you can probably see them. They’re very goofy but I still like em!

Favorite music videoz of all time

Q: omg hey girl hey wut is your favorite music video of all time !! i'm really loving the direction + style of yours and am curious which ones you enjoy

d0nt know but lately it feels like music videos are a lost art -- anyways would love to hear your thoughts !

A: Omggg I LOVE this question!! Music videos were soooo deeply effecting to me when I was growing up <3 A lot of my earliest memories with music were watching AMTV before I went to school

From that era I love:

Sugar We’re Going Down Swingin’ - Fall Out Boy

Helena - My Chem

Walking On Air - Kerli

Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups

Cool - Gwen Stefani

Hot N Cold - Katy Perry

I’m So Sick - Flyleaf

You’re the only one - Maria Mena

Smile - Lily Allen is a classic

Foundations - Kate Nash

older videos I like:

Man Size - PJ Harvey

Sugarcube - Yo La Tengo

1989 - Smashing Pumpkins

Cross Bones Style - Cat Power

Bull in the Heather - Sonic Youth

Perfect - Smashing Pumpkins

Scott Pilgrim - Plumtree

Other Side of the Game - Erykah Badu

modern videos I like:

Basically all the Yeule videos but mostly “Sulky Baby”

Sorry Entertainer - Sasami

I’m mean the So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings video is iconiccccccc

I think Beabadobee’s got some of the best vids in the game - I like this one

Pinkpantheress’s vids go crazy

My friend showed me this vid recently it is so funny - song it “Nate” by Ok If Not

There’s a bajillion more I love but I’ll leave it there for now

Phish likes Wednesday

q: Sharing in case you didn’t hear. Trey from Phish likes Wednesday as shared on the Wong Notes podcast.
https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/wong-notes/id1513405224

A: Broooo I did hear this and it makes me so fucking happy. He seems like such a nice guy, I hope we get to hang out someday.

I can’t believe what a good sport he is about the line in Phish Pepsi… to be real though my gripe with having to watch that concert that day was that it was in middle school and my friend made me watch all 3 hours and I wanted to get drunk and run around on the beach. Plus the air conditioning was blasting and it was freezing cold…. it’s funny the things you remember.

fave big star song

Q: I was so stoked to see y’all cover september gurls recently. What is your fav big star song? Come to florida soon plz!!!!

A: Honestly September Gurls might be my favorite……… “I love you well never mind… i keep crying all the time” the way he says that breaks my little damn heart evertime. I love “Kanga Roo” too!

listening for creativity

Q: Congrats on the new album - I’ve been listening to it non-stop (especially Townies and Wound Up Here) and I was previously kinda having a lull with my songwriting and getting bogged down but since listening to Bleeds I’ve felt so full of ideas ! Born again Wednesdian ! What I really want to know is what you listen to when you get writer’s block - old stuff, new stuff ?

Thanks for everything !! Here’s to many many many more songs for both of us forever <3

A: Ideally, I’ll seek out some music I’ve never heard before when I feel a little stagnation creatively.

NTS radio shows or just texting friends like “hey what have you been listening to?” are my go to’s for discovery atm!

Listening to life altering music you’ve never heard before is soooooo fucking exciting and energizing !!! so glad our music has provided you with some of that<3

songs u actually like

Q: Hey Karly, rad new album! I live in a small appalachian town called athens, oh near west virginia and the lyrics you wrote fit so well with raw appalachian culture. But in a cool punk way. I love to see a historically looked down upon region be celebrated in the way y'all do.

As a fellow song-writer I wanted to know how you evolved to writing music you liked? I think it can be so easy to write a song. But for me it seems it is all about whether I would actually listen to one of my songs itself that determines if it is a good song. How did you get there in your songwriting? To actually enjoy what you wrote and not be embarrassed to play it? Is it something that came from playing with your bandmates more? Do you find yourself wanting to listen to your songs?

Y'all should come out to our pawpaw festival one year it's so appalachiancore and beautiful. Thanks for creating cool shit!

A: YOOOOO! We played the university in Athens, OH (for lobster fest) in 2023 riiiiight after Rat Saw God came out and it was fucking awesome.

As far as your question… I put out multiple albums worth of music before I started writing music I actually liked!! For me it was purely just a practice and time thing, although I know that’s a boring answer. It definitely helps to have bandmates that challenge you to write shit that meets their and your personal tastes. It’s 1000000 times more fun to play music you really love. Rat Saw God was the first time I fully felt like I did an albums worth of songs I loved, but on TP and IWTTDYTS there were a few songs that I really felt like I tapped into something… and they guided me to write more in that vein. (Fate Is…, Billboard, How Can You Live, Toothache, Twin Plagues, Handsome Man, November) Those were songs that I truly identified with really informed the next albums and we still play a lot of those old songs for that reason.

I love listening to our songs when we get the first mixes back… but once the music is out I almost completely stop listening to them so I can move on to the next thing I’m writing,

PS I add tags at the bottom of these questions for songwriting so if you want more advice in that vein just click on those <3

halloween

Q: Hey! Do you have a favorite costume that you've worn or a costume that you really want to do in the future?

A: This alien I did as a kid was pretty epic…. my sister was a George Bush cop that year? My mom just let us do whatever basically. The year I went as a “nondescript singer” was epic too just cause how my life turned out

My dream costume would be like really good practical effects demon like on Buffy… or maybe one of the scary guys from the “Hush” episode of that show

lil avatar

Q: I am in the process of coding my own website on neocities - inspired by the discovery of prisondivorcebombshell.com!! so firstly thank u for triggering a deep dive into the indie web and all things html <3
I am wondering whereeeee you made the super cute custom avatar from your homepage?? I was always obsessed with doll makers and dress up on the internet and am looking for the perf mini-me for my page!! if you know of any other gd avatar makers or sites to get graphics plsss put me on!!!

thanks karly and please never stop making your art, lots of love from east london :* (ps saw u at rough trade in august u killedt that)

A: https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/chibi/clothing/Body here you go!!!!!!

Everyone should make one they are so fun!!!

also comment ur website when you get it online <3

moshing at shows

Q: hey karly!

i was at the oakland show october 18, and before that was at the san francisco show for rat saw god!

at both shows we were moshing like crazy people the whole entire set. i think at the sf show you even said something about it implying it was excessive lol.

i'd love to know how you feel about the constant, kind of tone-ignorant moshing at your shows, and if it's something about wednesday fans or just something about the bay? from your POV does it feel like people are ignoring the actual tempo/vibes of the music, or like it's our first rock show and we're out of our minds, or do you like the energy?

from my POV, we weren't moshing because we mistakenly think the songs are really hardcore or anything. everyone was just SO EXCITED for every song!! we were all smiling like crazy people thrashing to elderberry wine because we just love it so much!! those 2 shows are some of my favorite memories because everyone was just so freaking psyched!

i pray we don't seem ignorant or god forbid ironic. we fucking love you guys!!!

p.s. at the rat saw god show i gave you a black and white and orange accordion zine with all the lyrics written on the back. hope u liked it!

A: I pretty much always fuck with moshing!! It definitely comes off more as excitement than like aggression at our shows.

I always usually say something into the mic if the crowd is getting too crazy… like I’ll explicitly be like “yo don’t push people up against the stage or barrier” or “hey please don’t mosh to this song its a sad one”

9/10 times though the crowd moshing/jumping gives me so much energy !! Which I usually need cause by the time we play it’s usually after a long ass day.

Oakland specifically was the most exhausting day on tour so far… we woke up around 6:30 to drive from LA for 6 hours and then had sound check and blah blah blah… but the crowd giving us that much energy made it soooooooOOOOO much easier to give ya’ll all the energy we had left. That was such a fun show.

Childhood Media Influences

Q: Did you ever watch the Addams Family growing up? If not, what were some big media influences to you as a kid?

A: I didn’t watch that much Addams fam. I did really like the movie with blonde Joan Cusack tho.

I would say like Cartoon Network shit like Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Tim Burton stuff and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark were all mad formative to me.

I was also OBSESSED with computer games. Nancy Drew, Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam and like the internet in general. Myspace, AIM, Club Penguin, etc etc.

Early music was def like pop punk and indie rock yadda yadda. I looooved the Shins, Rilo Kiley, Low in middle/highschool a lot, i don’t talk about them in interviews v much but they were very formative.

influential teachers

Q:

KH! First of all, thank you for all of the energy that you and your bandmates have put into Wednesday so far!! I’ve been coming back to Bleeds repeatedly since it released…strong contender for AOTY 2025.

Here’s my question: were there any notable teachers/professors/classes that inspired you to follow your passion for writing lyrics and playing music? What about them or their classes gave you either skill or confidence to do what you do today?

Looking forward to seeing everyone perform live when the band comes out to LA soon!! Much love and longevity to you and yours!!

A: I was not super super into school to be quite honest.

My favorite teachers I ever had were my high school English teacher Mr. Post and my middle school history teacher Mr. Auman. Both of them were just really relaxed with how they let me interpret assignments and understood/encouraged my like… style of writing?

I had english teachers that tried to correct a lot of my like creative choices and it annoyed the shit out of me… cause like… it wasn’t like I was slackin!!! I was tryna try something that would keep me interested.

Most of my most influential teachers were like… musicians I listened to and writers. Richard Braughtian, Mary Karr, Harry Crews and Lynda Barry are my writing parents <3 I reference them and their work all the damn time.

I’ve never had formal music lessons but Jake taught me a lot when I was learning his songs to play on tour. And then YouTube kinda the best teacher of all time.

zodiac

Q: hi!! sorry if this has been asked before but I’m curious to know what your zodiac sign is :)

A: I’m a Sagittarius … what does that mean? Please tell me in the comments

I would like to know how/who i’m supposed to be

taylor swift

Q: hiii i need to know your opinion on taylor swift's most recent albums and taylor swift in general

A: Haven’t listened to the new one, probably won’t. I like her song “Fearless” pretty good!

I don’t think about her very much… which feels just right for me

Memoir/Writing

Q: hi karly…. i just read your piece for vulture and oh my gosh…. it was just beautiful. I just wanted to come on here and say thanks for writing the way you do and sharing with everyone. I live and die for North Carolina and it’s so wonderful to see the coolest people on the music scene come out of our state. Anyways I wanted to ask if you’ll be doing more memoir-like prose and if you have any pieces that shaped your writing style/inspired you for this one?

A: Hell yeah NC 4 Lyfeeeeee

Also yes…. I will be/am writing more… working on it:)

I have read soooooooooooo many books to prepare for my nonfiction writing stuff. The main influences rn are Mary Karr’s memoirs and her book about how to write one, Harry Crew’s A Childhood, Ashleigh Bryant Phillips essays Sleepovers, Joan Didion “Year of Magical Thinking” and like a million others but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.

Black Lipstick

Q: hiii first want to say love love love the new album. wanted to ask what lipstick ur wearing in the townies mv because it is soooo fierce <3

A: I’ve tried many different ones but my ole faithful is Nyx Liquid Suede in Alien!

girl girl

Q: does girl girl like carolina murder suicide? my cat johnny is in a trance whenever that song is playing.

A: Girl Girl loves all music…. even when I’m just angry or sad at the house and playing feedback through my amp she is so chill listening from her lil cat tree

Polvo

Q: i saw a playlist of yours, titled 2025, and was so delighted to see a smattering of polvo tracks in there, from cor-crane secret, and celebrate the new dark age.

over the years i haven't really been able to track down someone who is very excited about polvo. i've come to wonder whether there is some specific sub-aesthetic or cognitive thing about them that draws me to them, and doesn't really cause other people to stop and do a double take/double listen.

seeing them on your playlist was very affirming. and given what i know of your music, i am so curious to ask you what your relationship is to them.

there is an explosive part of "pick up that knife" that struck me, at first, with Harvey Milk inflection. but i heard it again and again and i feel in it, at 00:58, a throbbing and impossibly cantilevered rats nest of angular, serrated and dangerous machinic sounds. I REALLY LIKE IT. there are aspects of it that associate with polvo for me.. but they are also a bit more arid (?) (bleeds is so JUICY and wet... (blood letting?)).

could you share what your feelings are about polvo, and if you have any favorite songs or associations about them?

it's a tradition for me to come to see you guys play when you come through philly. i'm excited for november! we were actually standing next to each other for a moment during hotline tnt's set at your last show but i didn't feel like getting to say hi was worth interrupting the moment you were having with yourself. so here's a delayed hi.

the cold spot in the lake in bitter everyday : ' )

A: bruuuhhh yeah I just had a deeeeep dive moment with Polvo a few months ago. Idk what took me so long to get into them cause they’re everything I love… dissonance, choppy messy guitars, passionate ass vocals, energy energy energy combined with immense beauty and patience sometimes. Also the fellow North Carolinian band thing counts for a lot.

I love Cor-Crane secret that’s been my go to album of theirs.

The thing that made me dig deeper with them is this episode of my favorite podcast Drifters Sympathy.

I love Harvey Milk too but I think what I was channeling for that part of Pick Up That Knife that you’re talking about is this Spirit of the Beehive song around the 1:20 mark. I love this first SotB album… I think what happened with Duster is gonna happen with them and Palm in like 10 years. Both bands are/were doing something so ahead of their time and I think are p underappreciated.

I actually appreciate that I can stand in the crowd and listen to the openers without having ppl come up to me tbh! So thanks for letting me have my peaceful moment in the audience!

NC Dates

Q: hai :3 do you think you’ll be doing any more tour dates in north carolina …..

A: Yes!! There’s another one on the March/April dates but we can’t announce it yet cause of reasonsssssss

And we booked this other other other NC date in 2026 that’s gonna go hard and be very very special…… news on that later

Stardew Wife <3

Q: hiii karly!!! first of all wanted to say that the new album rocks (obviously) and i feel sooo lucky to have been able to attend the zine workshop and the secret album release show. it's rare for a band of y'alls size to be so in touch with and passionate about your hometown fanbase and it's just really awesome to be able to attend all of these intimate events. it really means soooo much!!!!

also! i was looking thru yr "faves of all time" page and saw u put stardew valley on there...just got re-obsessed with the game as i do every year around this time and was wondering who u typically marry in the game!!!!!! first time around i married abigail (<3) but now in my new save im trying to get with harvey.......it's such a silly part of the game that i forget about but i am always curious who marries which character.

anyways. i hope you guys can remain in touch with us nc fans as time goes on but i recognize people are getting weirder and weirder and more parasocial so i understand why a lot of artists are getting further and further removed from the idea of doing intimate shows/events. it's unfortunate :( but also totally understandable. people r fuckin weird!!!

A: I’ve played twice and I married Emily both times :))) I just love what a weirdo freak she is.

I think in NC the hometown/home state shit will hopefully be able to stay intimate and fun cause my dream is to remain to be able to hang around town in a regular ass way no matter what the music does/ no matter how popular it gets.

I also might be naive but I feel like the noisy nature of our music really puts a cap on how popular we can get?? Idk…. maybe I just personally don’t want it to get scary and bad and I’m just telling myself that?

So far it’s been chill though and everyones been nice and cool at all the shows.