BACKSTORY: Originally formed in 2021 under the name Mana, Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites rolled two projects into one to create a fairer reflection of the multiple facets of their tastes
FROM: Indianapolis
YOU MIGHT KNOW THEM FROM: Their 2023 debut EP Paradise, or the catchy lead single from their debut album, “Love on the Outside”
NOW: Their debut album Triple Seven, which revolves around the power of happenstance, is out now via Winspear
The role of fate in our lives is a double-edged sword. Some of the greatest relationships we have can come from the most innocuous moments that spark a connection, while it sometimes feels as though misfortune arrives at the worst possible moment. For Indianapolis’ Wishy, their tale is one of good fortune, but their debut album Triple Seven explores both sides of the coin. Nina Pitchkites and Kevin Krauter initially met in high school, and became friends shortly after in college. However, the pair never had a chance to collaborate as musicians, as Pitchkites moved to Philadelphia after graduating. But it was destined that she would return to Indiana during the pandemic, and the pair discovered a musical alchemy between them that would merge from a project called Mana into what we now know as Wishy.
Originally a side project away from Mana, Wishy played into a more twee- and pop-inspired side of the pair’s musicality as opposed to the heavier rock of Mana. “It was a good opportunity to open up the vibe of both projects,” Krauter says. “Merging the two offered us a bit more aesthetic freedom to really just include whatever we want in the project.” With the later additions of guitarist Dimitri Morris, bassist Mitch Collins, and drummer Conner Host, Wishy would cherry pick the best facets of their earlier projects.
Throughout Triple Seven, we see a delicate balance between whirring shoegaze, atmospheric pop, and heavy-hitting rock riffs. The pair namedrop bands such as The Sundays and Cocteau Twins when it comes to their influences, but they don’t want to be pigeonholed into a label such as “dream-pop,” which has become “nebulous” over the years. Instead, they strive to widen their scope as much as possible. “Something that attracts me to a lot of bands is them having a wide range,” Pitchkites tells me. “I think of Arthur Russell. He has a catalog that goes from folk to disco, and I think that’s so cool. I think a lot of mainstream things you see are very packaged—it can be more daring and fun as an artist if you expand what you think you’re capable of.”
“A lot of mainstream things you see are very packaged—it can be more daring and fun as an artist if you expand what you think you’re capable of.” — Nina Pitchkites
This is where the heaviness heard throughout Triple Seven offers Wishy that extra bit of dynamism. Listening to “Honey” feels like you’re watching the band fling themselves across the room, akin to the way Blur do in their video for “Song 2.” It’s an example of where we get the two sides of Wishy in perfect harmony, with Pitchkites’ apparition-like vocals sounding as if they belong to a My Bloody Valentine song while the instrumental displays the project’s untamable energy.
The stories littered throughout Triple Seven are concerned with the tumultuous throes in which our personal relationships can take us. It was a quick point of connection for Krauter and Pitchkites, who found that their lyrics naturally hit upon similar themes from their separate experiences. “I think we’re both just dramatic people—we’re drama queens,” Pitchkites says. They enjoy a sense of self-parody, unafraid of embodying the most extreme sides of their romantic tendencies as they occasionally lean hard into a wide-eyed, enraptured perspective on Triple Seven. “I feel like people are scared to be cringe, and they lose authenticity,” Pitchkites adds. “At the end of the day, people say ‘To be cringe is to be free,’ and there’s truth in that.”
Within that ability to poke fun at themselves, we arrive at a real sense of earnestness that Wishy displays. The opening line of lead single “Love on the Outside”—“Woke up again with your name in my mouth”—turns infatuation into a hangover, replacing dry mouth and a pounding headache with racing thoughts and an instant sense of devotion to someone, something which can be just as dangerous after a night out than any amount of drinking. “A lot of my self-discovery has come through the catalyst of my interpersonal relationships,” Krauter says. “I don’t really know how much growth you can do outside of other people. Anytime I’ve tried to grow alone, it never worked.” You can’t learn a lot from loneliness, he notes: “You just learn to be lonely.”
Krauter and Pitchkites have grown alongside each other throughout the process of making Wishy’s debut album. Pitchkites describes her initial nervousness at having not played guitar in a while, where she’d practice in between shifts at her full-time job to get to where she needed to be. “I’m constantly being pushed out of my comfort zone, and it’s scary sometimes,” she says. “I feel insecure, but growth is never comfortable.” Now, the pair bounce ideas off of each other as they tap into one of life’s most universal struggles: heartbreak. For every instance of passion, there can come dejection. It’s a fine line we often tread, emphasized on album opener “Sick Sweet”: “It’s a sick sweet life and I’m gambling it all tonight,” read the lyrics. Whether consciously or not, we take these wagers with little apprehension because the rewards could be bountiful, and such rolls of the dice embody the sense of luck that permeates Triple Seven.
“I don’t really know how much growth you can do outside of other people. Anytime I’ve tried to grow alone, it never worked.” — Kevin Krauter
Krauter has recently been getting back in touch with what spirituality means to him, while Pitchkites is an advocate of manifestation—and there have certainly been signs of stars aligning within the story of Wishy. Having wound up collaborating after feeling like the opportunity had been missed, they’ve seized the opportunity and used it to tap into the potential they always thought they had. “Manifestation is something that’s provided me with a lot of comfort in my life,” says Pitchkites. “Just seeing how far I’ve come personally, as a musician—I’ve held it in my mind for so long. The way I go about things, I feel it’s finally coming to fruition.”
On Triple Seven, Wishy balances heaviness with softness, heartbreak with awe. If they continue on their current trajectory, they’ll likely continue to manifest that extra bit of good fortune that’s spurred them on this far already. FL
