Wess Meets West

Wess Meets West

Wess Meets West is an instrumental post-rock group from New Haven, Connecticut. It begins in late 2005 as an electronic music project formed by Sam Stauff, whose other projects include The Morning After, My Holy Ghost and A Paper Tugboat. The group later develops into a live band in February 2008 when Stauff recruits bassist Bryan Gottshall and drummer Jesse Vengrove, adding full-band performances to the original electronic and guitar-based approach.

Style and formation

The project starts with electronic material supported by Stauff’s guitar, then expands into a sound built around atmospheric jams, electronic undertones and instrumental rock. The group’s description places it within post-rock, with an emphasis on instrumental and ambient textures.

Releases

Its first release, You Women..., is a small collection of songs and experiments that comes from the period when the act is still Stauff’s solo project. After the line-up expands, the band records new material that appears on How To Kill A Mammoth, which combines the live-band format with electronic elements. That release is recorded by Port City Recording at Mercy College in White Plains, New York, a studio operation run by Stauff and Gottshall. In 2009, the project returns to a solo format with help from friends when needed, and A Collection Of Explosions And Death Threats follows as the third release.

Collaborations

Stauff also works with singer-songwriter John Nolan of Taking Back Sunday and Straylight Run on the song “The Bering Sea”. He collaborates with singer Corina Brouder on “The Patience of Men”.

Other personnel

The Sun The Moon The Master features Steve “Woody” LaCerra on drums and Bryan Gottshall on bass.