hometown: Smithers, BC · based: Victoria, BC
Michael Wilford: songwriter/drummer
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Bio
Michael Wilford grew up in Smithers, a small town of around 5000 people in Northern British Columbia. Renowned for its natural beauty and packed with fiddle music and protest songs, he credits his exposure to world-class artists in a small-town setting as one of his major inspirations to pick up an instrument at a young age. Moving to Victoria in 2015 to pursue an education in music, Michael has become a recognizable face in the Canadian music scene as the drummer for Old Soul Rebel, Sarah Osborne, Sail Cassady and more.
Stepping out from behind the drums, Michael created his solo project to explore other elements of his musicianship. Acting in similar vein to artists like Mark Ronson, Michael writes the songs and builds a band around each one. This brings a different singer’s voice to each song and a variety of instrumentalists, producers and collaborators to participate in every project. This also removes the limitations of a standard rock band lineup and allows Michael to collaborate widely with musicians all over the country.
In April 2022 Michael released his newest single Esraela. The song features the crooning vocals of Elijah Quinn (lead vocals) and Molly Moolman (backing vocals) and employs the skill sets of Chris Lloyd (electric guitar), Zak Windle (bass), Michael Fong (synths) and his longtime cowriter and collaborator Joshua Litton (keys). Ben Erikson (The Darcys, Dead Levee) produced and mixed the song and it was mastered by Brock McFarlane (Clairo, Mother Mother, Biffy Clyro) at CPS Mastering.
Despite Esraela only being his third release as a solo artist, Michael has been generating a lot of buzz with his music. He is a two time finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, he has received national and international radio play and his debut single Scotch peaked at number 78 (coming in behind The Black Keys and Radiohead) on the Canadian Radio Top 100 Alternative Songs Chart. Described by weareymx.com as a “completely next-level new artist able to blow your mind off,” Michael is busy working on new music for his solo project as well as collaborating with artists and bands all over Canada.
Discography
Esraela (featuring Elijah Quinn) – April 2022
Rattle My Bones (featuring Sail Cassady) – October 2021
Scotch (featuring Chelsea D.E Johnson) – February 2021
Latest news
Michael Wilford’s most recent single Esraela just dropped at the end of April. It was recorded at Barnhouse Sound in Qualicum Beach and produced by Ben Erikson.
You can also catch Michael playing drums on the ambitious 4 part “Seasons” project by Sarah Osborne, Old Soul Rebel’s recently released debut EP and Sail Cassady’s upcoming debut album among others!
MP3s
Michael Wilford – Scotch (featuring Chelsea D.E Johnson) (download)
Michael Wilford – Rattle My Bones (feature Sail Cassady) (download)
Michael Wilford – Esraela (featuring Elijah Quinn)(download)
