For The Collection, connection supersedes all else. “Our band relationship has always been the top priority for us, and the friendships have really come before the actual music for us,” explains singer and writer David Wimbish. “So most of us were friends in one capacity or another long before we played music together. Even the times we had tryouts, our biggest conversation was ‘how much did we enjoy hanging out with this person?’. We live a bit spread across the state, so each story of meeting is pretty different – like Hayden and I met in high school, for example, and Joshua and I met at a bar his ex-wife worked at. But all of our meeting stories have been formed around our friendships first.” Their sound could best be described as a bit of a sonic potluck. “These days, it’s easiest for me to lump everything into ‘alternative,’ but if I could I could use every adjective aloud, I’d say poppy-semi-orchestral-alternative-indie-rock.” The band gained accidental notoriety when they unexpectedly went viral on TikTok. “It was honestly wild. I remember thinking ‘I look so bad in this’ when I posted that video, and then woke up to so many views and comments and almost thought ‘OH NO.’ But it did so much for us – especially live, we started meeting people who were coming to the shows because they had seen that video. It felt really really good.”
David became curious about writing loss from a healed perspective, an interest that ultimately precipitated their upcoming EP, How To Survive An Ending. The goal was to cultivate an uplifting sense of triumph. “I’ve spent a lot of my musical exploration writing songs about endings, but usually from the side of being in grief, in the moment,” he reflects. “On this EP, I wanted to spend quite a few months processing those endings, and write songs from the other side, from a place of empowerment. I wanted to write songs that would leave me and the crowd all feeling stronger after singing them together at a show. It’s our first full release as this touring band we’ve been with together for years, and so, in many ways, it feels like the most ‘us’ release we’ve done to date.” There is a profound exuberance to be found in refusing to conform your life to the opinions of others.”Quite a bit of my life has been spent discovering who I really am, what desires lie inside me, and then trying to actualize those desires. In the process, it’s been easy to alienate others who think I’m changing into a version of myself they no longer understand. Those people’s expectations can really keep me from actually becoming the best version of myself. It has felt so freeing to write about bucking those expectations as a way to becoming the most alive version of myself I can be.” We must all strive to grant ourselves grace during times of grief or emotional upheaval. “I think there are a few elements that have felt common through most endings – giving myself space and compassion for whatever emotions are coming up, giving others involved as much compassion as I can muster, drawing boundaries around relationships that are not helping growth and healing, engaging in activities that make me feel alive and individual again, and focusing on the love I still have in my life, no matter what form it takes. And that’s what most of these songs are about.”
Simply, listening to yourself can be a radical act of self liberation. “It’s hard to hear our inner voices these days – we’re constantly talked at by our phones, our socials, our family expectations, roadside billboards, movies, etc. I think even the work of HEARING that your body is telling you what your own path should be is a sign of resilience – just getting alone and putting one foot in front of the other. Anything beyond that – actually carving that path out – I think is proof of strength just by being able to follow what your heart is telling you in the midst of so many other voices. And it’s the most empowering feeling to do that.” If you’re attempting to rediscover your zest for life. David advises reimagining indulgence from every angle. “I think leaning into pleasure is big. Do you love to eat strawberries? Have you ever taken three entire minutes to eat one, tasting it slowly and letting it drip down your chin? Do you need a nightly long hot bath? Do you want your body kissed all over? Focusing on small, tiny pleasure with an emotional microscope after an ending always reminds me that there is such capacity for joy and new beginnings in even the smallest parts of life.”
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The Collection Applauds Strength in Healing with Upcoming EP, “How To Survive An Ending.” Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez.
