Sam Wilkerson of White Reaper Says MGMT and Desire To Play Songs Live With Ease Inspired New Album

When they released their latest album, ‘Asking for a Ride'(Elektra) in January, fans of White Reaper were treated to a glimpse of the band’s influences and penchant for harder sounding songs. The album was recorded and largely self-produced in Nashville with the help of close friend and engineer Jeremy Ferguson and the result is a more direct and in-your-face approach, prioritizing the collection’s raw energy and its ability to translate live. Bassist Sam Wilkerson shared, “we intentionally wanted to record something that we could play live really easily and I think we could play this whole album front to back with no problems honestly. We all feel confident in that we wanted to make songs a little more rocking, a little faster. We wanted to get out of our comfort zone and say, ‘yeah let’s put a Butthole Surfers type song on this album and just like see what happens.’ While songs like “Funny Farm” embody what Wilkerson describes as inspired by Butthole Surfers, others like “Fog Machine”, “Pink Slip” and “Bozo” capture that raw energy combined with the catchy hooks White Reaper has become known for. Standout tracks like the acoustic-based “Pages” has become a fan favorite, while “Heaven or Not” shows the band’s penchant for darker indie. Wilkerson noted, “we’ve been listening to a lot of like MGMT’s last record ‘Little Dark Age’ and we thought that it would be cool to put in the new wavy stuff.” Comprised of Tony Esposito (guitar / vocals), Ryan Hater (keyboards), Sam Wilkerson (bass), Nick Wilkerson (drums), and Hunter Thompson (guitar), ‘Asking for a Ride’ is the follow-up to their 2019 album ‘You Deserve Love’. White Reaper will hit the road with blink-182 and Turnstile on a handful of dates in May and then with Weezer and Spoon late summer in between festival appearances and their own shows.

Sam Wilkerson of White Reaper spoke with B-Sides host Pete Mar about the album ‘Little Dark Age’ by MGMT and the desire to be able to play the new songs live influenced the band’s latest album ‘Along For The Ride’ and more.