HELLO WHOEVER: Basement Show Recap (02.18.19)
The local Kalamazoo band that calls themselves “Hello Whoever” consists of Bre Bowen, Grace McElhone, and Jacob Wolf all who are currently students at Western Michigan University. Bowen is from Midland Michigan and is currently a junior studying music therapy, McElhone a native of Mason Michigan is a senior at WMU, and Wolf describes himself as a “fun-loving boy who just loves good music and good ceilings”.
The band first came together in the summer of 2018 and has a rather interesting tale on how they came about naming their group. The group’s name originates from when McElhone lived in the Gibbs House, a sustainable living and permaculture research laboratory site. The house is rather prominent in the WMU community and one night a car passed the house and honked, McElhone says that her internal response was “Hello whoever just drove by” and immediately thought to herself that it sounded like a great name for a band. And so “Hello Whoever” was born and the rest is merely history!
This Monday “Hello Whoever” was the guest on our weekly Basement Show and played an eight-song set. The band brought their indie folk sound to the WIDR studio with lyrical depth and vulnerability. Each song brought upon a new emotion, with lyrics that carried dark undertones and mental health references, all while sounding dreamy and upbeat. The groups sound is comparable to that of Fleet Foxes, Of Monsters and Men, and Alvvays with raspy male vocals complemented nicely by bright and soothing female vocals, melodic guitar, sweet harmonies, and minimalistic percussion. Keep your eye peeled for their first recorded album in the not so distant future and feel free to check out some of their published work as well as the live recording from the basement show at the links below
Set List: Post Syndrome, Here Comes the Sun (Beatles Cover), Give Me Love, What Are We Doing, Greggggg, Earth Tones, Beach Boys, Definitely December
Favorite Songs: Post Syndrome & Give Me Love
