Written by Jason Gottfried
Self-styled as a “red rock blues band,” BrickWalker is a St. George-based quintet comprising Max and Zach Wiltbank, Connor Houchen, Chase McClung, and Tyler Huff, and being managed by Alek Wiltbank. They released their debut EP, “Blu Unk,” earlier this year and have been featured recently at local festivals like George Streetfest. Max set aside the time for an interview to discuss the band, their EP, and their plans.
Jason Gottfried: What are your primary influences? Anything specific, or do certain members have specific influences?
Max Wiltbank: I’m trying to think of what we listened to when we recorded this … Led Zeppelin, The Strokes, Vulfpeck, Queens Of The Stone Age, Cage The Elephant, Jack White. Vocally, I take a lot of my influence from Julian Casablancas (The Strokes and The Voidz), Matthew Shultz (Cage The Elephant), Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones), and Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die).
JG: Looks like two or three of you are brothers. Any story about how the band formed and how each of you got into music?
MW: We have five members, plus a manager. Zach Wiltbank (drums), Alek Wiltbank (manager), and Max Wiltbank (vocals) are all brothers. Us three were all in a punk band before BrickWalker called Ex Era. I was on bass, Alek on guitar, Zach on drums. I liked playing that music, but I really wanted to play the blues, and I wanted to be a lead singer. Luckily, I went to possibly the best high school to find people like that, Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts. I was friends with Connor, Chase and Tyler beforehand, and we all used to jam together all the time, so all I had to do was convince them to join the band.
JG: Are you all Utah or St. George natives?
MW: Four of us are alums of Tuacahn. The other two have lived here for the last five years. Chase was born in California, Tyler was born in Carson City, and Connor was born in Milford, but they have all lived here for the majority of their lives. Zach and I both moved here five years ago.
JG: How long have you been together?
MW: Connor, Chase, and Tyler have known each other since grade school. I didn’t really meet any of them until junior year.
JG: I’d say it’s relatively uncommon for a band to have a manager, or at least not many do. Locally, most probably don’t. You noted online that Alek is the only reason that the album was completed. What has Alek done specifically to help you as a band?
MW: Basically, Alek has booked our shows, managed our money, and pushed us into making “Blu Unk.” He set up all our recording and mastering dates and basically does everything for BrickWalker except perform.
JG: Do you recommend that all local bands have a manager?
MW: Alek has helped us become a legitimate “band,” and I would say that every band would benefit from having a manager. It allows the band to focus on writing and perfecting their music, not worrying about money, gigs, or other business-based responsibilities.
JG: Care to explain the album title?
MW: Blu Unk is what you feel when you listen to BrickWalker. When you feel that funkiness build up inside of you and you just gotta set it free, that’s the Blu Unk.
JG: I don’t know if you saw the piece I wrote about the music scene in southern Utah or my interview with Lisle Crowley where he talked about how he feels about it. What do you guys think about the music scene in southern Utah? Do you feel supported by the culture here?
MW: The music scene in southern Utah is amazing. Amazing bands, amazing artists, amazing fans, and amazing people in general are all around. The one issue is how small the scene is. We need more bands, more venues and more money flowing through the scene if we ever truly want to thrive. We need to have more nationally touring bands stop in St. George to get people excited about live music. The people are great, but there’s not enough of them.
JG: I agree that there should be more venues. Then again, we’re talking about a city that literally issues dancing permits. Have you been well paid for local shows at the few venues there are, or do you find yourselves fighting for fair compensation?
MW: There is not a lot of money being invested into the St. George music scene, and because of that, bands rarely get paid anything more than $100. Even Georgefest only pays $100 to the local bands, and that is sponsored by the city.
JG: Jeez, seriously? That’s pathetic.
MW: There is not nearly enough support for the arts in St. George, and the issuing of dance permits only highlights that. The arts are completely disrespected in southern Utah, unless you are part of the Southwest Symphony, Southern Utah Heritage Choir, or Tuacahn. There is no chance for artists to thrive.
JG: Are you guys trying to get signed?
MW: We are currently signed to Arborist Records, a local record label run by our manager, Alek Wiltbank. Our EP was the first release for Arborist, and we’re pretty excited about that.
JG: Do you plan to release a full-length album in the future?
MW: That’s the dream!
JG: Are any of you planning on pursuing music long-term individually, say, at the collegiate level?
MW: I am attending Dixie State University and taking music classes, and Connor is starting next semester, though we both plan to move to a different college to finish our degrees.
JG: What are your immediate as well as long-term plans?
MW: Currently, we are on a little bit of a hiatus. We all have other “life” stuff we have to take care of right now, and we’re working that out, but we all want to keep playing music together.
BrickWalker’s debut EP, “Blu Unk” is out now. It’s available online for streaming and digital download. Support BrickWalker and local music by purchasing “Blu Unk.”
