Band Spotlight: Into the Wild Blue Yonder
- Andersen Beck
- May 15
- 6 min read
On Monday evening, I was given the opportunity to come up to Haven (a newer underground art and music venue in Oakland) and meet the boys from Wild Blue Yonder for an interview. Sheltered under the old church's roof, the premier Jam band of the 'Burgh shared their origins, tour stories, and creative processes with me around a table laden with recording gear and empty Wendy's cups. Wild Blue Yonder is one band you won't want to sleep on.
Wild Blue Yonder began in 2018 with Eli Alfieri and Benito Countouris in their senior year of high school, but the band wouldn't reach its final concrete form until Jason Kuehnle joined to play keys. In the periods between 2018 and 2023, the band would take many forms with players coming and going. In August 2024, Lucas Sherman would officially join the band, and the six-piece has been steady ever since.
One of the standout features of Wild Blue Yonder is the multi-instrumentality of its members. You might've noticed I didn't list the instruments of the members earlier; that's because they often switch between themselves for different songs.
"It's more so about perspectives and seeing how those different instruments interact," says Dan Sawyer, "If you understand how another instrument plays and approaches the music, and you take that in the context of another instrument and use that to influence how you approach that (the music), it all really comes together in very interesting ways. Layering things and understanding where the other instruments fall and where to support them."
While I've yet to go to one of Wild Blue Yonder's shows, the music they have streaming showcases a sophisticated level of technical knowledge and very well-developed style and sound. Wild Blue Yonder honors their influences without being overly derivative.
"I didn't grow up listening to jam music and I kind of found my way getting into it through Eli and meeting Dan and starting to play with these guys," recalls Mark Riggio, "I would say early on when I started to get into this music some inspiration definitely came from the Grateful Dead and Phish and Jimi Hendrix. Kind of a little bit more of an edge; I grew up playing jazz, and that was awesome, but this was definitely a different world for me and trying to get that bite was a new thing.
Eli Alfieri described the band's unique and broad dynamics:
"The cool thing about Wild Blue Yonder is, there's a bit of a family band type of dynamic; and that goes off of the stage. Our friends will like, take pictures for us, our friends will run audio, our friends will help us run social media. Even just coming for morale. That's probably my favorite part, you know, it's more than just the people on stage playing music, and that's what makes it fun."
Though not members of the band itself, there's a whole cast of off-stage folks who help keep Wild Blue Yonder running. Ian Whitfield helps produce alongside Benito and Mark, Liam Cunningham runs lights, Colin Tierney takes photos, Alex Lichtenfels works in video, and Mark Bluemle manages. The band also appreciates people like Aidan Dean Dunn who come around and hang out; these people are what makes them a family, and Wild Blue Yonder is grateful to have them along for the ride.
Another trademark feature of Wild Blue Yonder, going back to their technical knowledge, is how satisfyingly mixed and mastered their music is. This is much in part to the work of Benito Countouris, Wild Blue Yonder's sound expert. He explains to me how they make their music.
"Mark and I work together and we recorded the one song Bridges in here (Haven). Other songs we've done at Eli's house in the living room. Duquesne University for the album too, Dancing Astray was done at Duquesne."
With their latest studio situation being the stage at Haven, I asked Dan what it's like recording in such a large space.
"We've really been able to dial in here," he says, "I mean we're honing in the sound and the process. I think the consistency of having the space and fine tuning it has been really nice."
Benito adds, "We're trying to consistently figure out a way to keep everything in house, just a system that's our own."
Wild Blue Yonder is connected to Haven via the creative collective Post Genre, which Eli and Mark cofounded. Jason and Benito are also instrumental in the operations of the venue.
All members of Wild Blue Yonder have a background of playing music from a young age; something that presents itself in the intricate sound they weave into their music. Some members like Mark, Jason, and Lucas have backgrounds in classical training and others like Eli, Benito, and Dan learned instruments in their own 'unorthodox' ways–surely an accomplishment given their undeniable proficiency.
Wild Blue Yonder is grateful for the local scene, both artist and audience, for their embrace and support over the years.
"We came up playing shows at Pitt and the Oakland scene, a number of different house venues. They've really embraced us and always been out for a good time; always hanging out and listening to music, doesn't really get too much better," says Dan.
"It's a pretty tight-knit community," adds Jason, "I think all the bands around here really like each other and are good friends with each other. Like you'll see people I know in other bands at our shows every time and I'll be there at their shows."
All around it is agreed that Pittsburgh welcomes artists and has outlets to support cooperation across mediums and styles.
"My favorite part about it (the art scene) is just that there's so many different sections of it. Growing up in Pittsburgh, I didn't just play one type of music. I'm not as into the visual art scene, that's something that I'm definitely trying to go out to more and support more, we just got busy with music. But growing up in Pittsburgh I was playing jazz, rock and roll, hip hop, funk, folk, all happening at the same time, a lot of times with the same people. It's all rooted in an appreciation for music," says Eli.
Wild Blue Yonder has been able to tour around a good bit, playing in places like Philadelphia, New York City, Clinton Tennessee and more. They told me funny tour stories of sleepless nights, wrong bookings, and three-show days; made possible through a considerable amount of perseverance. Moving and setting up equipment is something the band excels at, which given their size, is no small feat.
"On gig day, if the show starts at 8 p.m., Mark and I are meeting up at noon to prep. We're good at continuing to move forward and patience," says Eli.
Just as well, the band is always looking for what they can improve upon.
"We gotta get in the studio and start getting stuff out," says Dan, "We're always trying to improve things in terms of the processes. Whether it's the tour, or rehearsal, or the recording process, like sound engineering. We're always trying to incrementally, iteratively improve everything that we're doing. There's endless areas to improve."
"That's the cool thing about music," adds Eli, "Like, I'm not the musician that I want to be. Becoming better versions of ourselves and being nice to each other, being there for each other, that's the growth that really makes the music happen."
Wild Blue Yonder will be at The Parking Pad on June 14th, as well as Haven to play a Phish After Show. You can find more info on their instagram at @wildblueyonderjams.
You can also support the band by streaming their recent single Bridges on all platforms!
Make sure to follow them on your streaming service as well so you don't miss any New music that May or May Not be on it's way ;) .
Big thanks to the lads from Wild Blue Yonder for their hospitality and cooperation with this article, I'm very excited for their upcoming projects and shows this summer. There are far too many things to regret in this life, don't let missing a Wild Blue Yonder show be on them.
Thank you loyal subjects for reading, I hope you enjoyed another cool band feature. Stay tuned for Millvale Music Fest coverage, hopefully some fashion stories, and more cool stuff coming soon!
-Andersen Beck Founder, Reporter
Comments