Sig Wilder: In His Own Words
The Te Whanganui-a-Tara based American country/folk singer on the verge of the release of his debut album.
Selected Works is a weekly (usually) newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell, aka Yours Truly. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately and some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken + some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes, it takes completely different forms.
From the gently rolling plains of the American Midwest to the windswept, hilly coastlines of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa, Sig Wilder has spent a lifetime chasing something just beyond his reach, but not beyond his sight. Now, with his band Sig Wilder & Friends, he captures the process of finding your place in the world on Cowboy Practice, their moody debut album.
Rooted in the traditions of folk, alt-country and ambient Americana, Cowboy Practice is a hard-won series of reflections on homesickness, resilience, and becoming. Born in a small town outside St. Louis, Missouri, and shaped by years spent in Austin, Melbourne and his new home, Sig’s songwriting carries the weathered grace of a handwritten journal—full of cracked memories, quiet revelations, and dust-kicked hope. Tracked between Lincoln, Nebraska and Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Cowboy Practice is adorned with spare slide guitar, harmonica, warm vocal harmonies, and the easy pull of a rolling rhythm section. Across songs like 'Stop Myself,' 'Texasman,' and 'Light Tower,' Sig holds a cracked mirror to the long, slow work of making sense of who we are.
Together with Mads Taylor (Tahini Bikini, DJ Staciez Mum), Tessa Dillon (Mystery Waitress, Tessa De Lyon) and Sofia Machray (Sofia Machray), Sig Wilder & Friends have become fixtures of Wellington’s D.I.Y. music community. As Sig reflects, “Cowboy Practice is about becoming content with who I am. That’s how it started, and I am in no way finished on that journey. But I’m happy with the cowboy that I’ve become, regardless of any notions of how one “should” be a cowboy.”
Earlier in the year, I exchanged some emails with Sig that formed the basis for what follows: an account of Sig Wilder's life and times, in his own words. Sig Wilder & Friends’ debut album, Cowboy Practice, is available for pre-order on LP from Holiday Records here.
Missouri
I was born in a small town outside of St. Louis, Missouri. A bible-minded city with the American dream looming large. It isn’t known for much apart from the usual disparaging things people say about small midwestern towns. I had a view of a large plastic manufacturing building outside my bedroom window, and as kids, we would play with the thousands of small white beads that sometimes piled up near the train tracks.
We listened to a lot of music in our household. My father has a respectable CD collection and takes extra care with his top-of-the-line sound system (at least top of the line in 2010). On weekends, he liked to play Billy Joel, Queen, or Heart at top volume while brewing his coffee. I can recall waking up many times to Billy Joel’s voice singing, “I’ve seen those big machines come rolling through the quiet pines.”
My mom’s favourite band was REO Speedwagon, and I made a big effort to listen to their entire discography as a kid. My older sister’s room was quintessential 2000s, with posters of the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera – all of whose music I thoroughly enjoyed. Still, I took a special liking to her copy of Dido’s 2003 release, Life for Rent.
The most influential person on my musical tastes was my older brother. He had a CD subscription service that sent a handful of CDs per month of alternative contemporary music. A few albums that remain important to me from that time are: Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse, Parachutes by Coldplay, United by Phoenix, Fashion Nugget by Cake, Dizzy Up The Girl by Goo Goo Dolls and This Desert Life by Counting Crows. Additionally, it helped that he was tech-savvy and knew his way around Limewire. Once I discovered something I liked, I wanted it all, and he provided it.
When I was about 9 years old, my brother started a band. I would sit on the carpeted steps in the living room and watch their three-hour rehearsals, in which they would barely manage to get through one song. I decided that I wanted to be a drummer, and for the next year, I begged my parents for a drum kit. From the very beginning, they have always encouraged my musical notions. The following Christmas, I opened a 5-piece faux maple drum kit from Pulse. I made a lot of noise playing those drums while listening to my Sony Walkman at full volume.
At the same time, my mother enrolled me in singing lessons and piano lessons with the church choir leader. Looking back, I’d say she was encouraging me away from such a noisy instrument. And it worked. One Spring, for a Beatles-themed school concert, I was given the lead vocal part in ‘Let It Be.’
Some time passed, and my mother received a call from the neighbour asking if I would like to join her son’s band as their singer. The bassist happened to be my cousin. I recall saying no several times (I was a drummer, I told myself), but my mother continued to encourage me to walk down to Joe’s house and just watch their rehearsals.
By the age of 11, I was in my first band. We called ourselves No Signal. The drummer’s dad suggested the first songs we learned: ‘Shook Me All Night Long’ by AC/DC, ‘Living After Midnight’ by Judas Priest, and Joan Jett’s ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.’ At this point, my prepubescent voice could handle all the belters of the ‘80s. We quickly progressed into playing songs we enjoyed. The likes of ‘Joker and the Thief’ by Wolfmother, ‘Closer’ by Kings of Leon, and anything that Jack White’s hands had touched.
The band stayed together for almost five years, and in our last years, we began writing originals. We released a 3-song EP with the help of our local guitar teacher. Then, when we started high school, we all took an interest in sports and parties. We played a couple of hometown shows in the summers, but over time, it came to a natural end.
Austin, Texas
Around 2012, I started a duo with my high school girlfriend, which we called January May. This is when I learned to play the guitar and discovered my passion for songwriting. We released a handful of songs, won $10,000 through a now-defunct online artist funding platform, and became a trio, with my cousin on the bass. With the funds, we packed our bags and moved from a small town in Missouri to the music capital of Austin, Texas. It was summer 2014, and I was 19 years old.
My cousin quickly learned to play the drums. I convinced my brother to come along as the band manager, and my sister to join as the band photographer. The song ‘Texasman’ on the new album is a screenshot of this period. They were certainly formative years, and I gained intimate experience with dreaming big, making mistakes, and falling out with my closest friends. In 2016, we disbanded. I generally tend to minimise this time in my life despite the massive impact it had on me.
Aotearoa
My brother and I decided to relocate once we had tied up the loose ends in Austin. We floated the idea of New York City, San Francisco, Vancouver, and then I recall one of us half-jokingly saying, “How about New Zealand?” Almost as soon as it was in the air, we had both made up our minds.
Toward the end of 2016, I took my first international flight from Los Angeles to Auckland. We had no expectations apart from mountains, beaches and forests. We had planned to stay a year, and that was what our visas allowed us to do. After six months, my brother received a job offer in San Francisco and settled there for the next four years. A few months before he left Aotearoa, I met my partner, Ruby. We moved to Melbourne in 2017 so that I could stay on this side of the world for another year. Our relationship grew, and I fell wildly in love. We spent 4 years in Melbourne.
I was in awe of the music scene in Melbourne; however, it was around this time that my enthusiasm for music was diminishing. I tried several different music projects through those years and never seemed to find the right people. Or maybe I wasn’t quite the right person for them. Then in 2021, Ruby and I moved back to Aotearoa and settled in Wellington – the city where we met. The city has been a positive environment for my new music project, Sig Wilder & Friends. I am happy to say that Wellington is my home now.
Philosophy
In general, I believe that creativity and music provide a lens through which we can understand the world. It provides context and offers solutions to a better world. I see this as a big responsibility for artists.
As a creator, I believe that good art takes time. I also believe in community. Great art is created over time with a wide range of people. And of course, I believe music should be fun and sometimes extremely silly.
Sig Wilder & Friends
Sig Wilder & Friends began in Wellington in 2022, featuring Mads Taylor and Kei Heke. The first time I met Mads was in Melbourne at her flat in St Kilda. Ruby and Mads worked together, and they arranged for Mads to do her first stick-and-poke tattoo on Ruby’s left arm. When we arrived, the kitchen looked like a scene out of Dexter – plastic from the ceiling to the floor and around every curve of the kitchen table — extra caution for her first client.
I ate strawberries and watched quietly in awe, as this was also my first time witnessing a tattoo being done. Given my conservative upbringing, I remember feeling somewhat immoral. Those feelings have subsided, but every now and then, I am still surprised at how the past can resurface. We met again for St Kilda Fest at her flat, and I recall being intimidated by Mads. People respected her, and she was effortlessly cool. We smoked cigarettes and drank cheap beer. I didn’t expect ever to see any of those people again.
Shortly after we moved back to Wellington, Ruby ran into Mads on Cuba Street. It so happened that she’d also recently moved back to Wellington. And she’d started a band. Ruby knew that I was looking for a quiet space to work on new material, so when Mads mentioned her band’s rehearsal space, she gave Mads my number. Within the next month, I was a regular tenant at what is now a vibrant shared rehearsal and studio space in Hataitai. Now and again, Mads and I would catch each other at the studio, and I would show her a song I was working on. I remember feeling particularly vulnerable with this material, as I was beginning to explore country music and processing the massive changes in my life. She was always generous and an extremely pleasant person to be around.
I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but before long, we had a gig for Vogelmorn’s couch sessions with Mads on backing vocals and guitar. I had been writing under the name Sig Wilder, and adding the ‘& Friends’ just felt right. Mads recruited Kei on bass, and we performed as a trio. Then we started to get booked for more shows.
We asked our friend Rachel Andie to play drums, and she joined us for a handful of shows before becoming too busy with other projects. Mads wasn’t enjoying playing guitar and was keen to learn something new, so she jumped behind the kit. And of course, once you have drums on a song, it’s hard to go back. Then, later that year, we got asked to perform at Meow for a show that Sofia Machray was organising. Our set consisted of most of the songs on the new album in their early form. Directly after the show, Sofia came up to us and asked if she could have a jam with us. And just like that, we were a four-piece.
Last year, the band went on hold for a brief moment. I took the opportunity to collaborate with Ōtautahi-based singer-songwriter, Just Janie, on a double single. This resulted in a small tour around our hometowns and a great deal of fun. We are now in the process of making a live album to capture the songs from our set.
Towards the end of last year, we began to receive a few shows. It was time to reassemble the band. I asked Tessa Dillon, thinking it was a long shot, but as it turns out, she was keen to learn the bass. We had a few people come through to fill Sofia’s place, who have all been wonderful, but luckily, Sofia is back behind the guitar. Our current lineup is Mads Taylor on drums and vocals, Tessa Dillon on bass and vocals, Sofia Machray on guitar and vocals, and me.
Dreams & Realities
Throughout most of my music career, I’ve balanced a full-time job alongside my music. I’ve worked as a barista, machinist, website developer, waiter and most recently a gardener. It wasn’t until I started working in horticulture that I discovered I could love something as much as I love music. This has made the balance easier in some ways, but overall, it has made it more difficult. There is only so much time in a day. At the start of this year, I left my gardening role and have been making music full-time. I know that this is only temporary because it’s challenging to pay all the bills solely from music. This time has been extremely valuable to focus on releasing this album.
Music is always a part of my day-to-day life. I’m a fiend for a full-length album. And I’m addicted to discovering new music. Now and then, I find myself revisiting my old favourites, and what an absolute joy that is – in fact, I must remember to do it more often. The majority of the time, I’m scouring Bandcamp, Pitchfork, or one of the many music newsletters I follow for new albums. I listen very broadly. Of course, I have my favourites – Americana, Electronic, Indie Rock, Ambient, and Shoegaze – but there is no genre or type of music I will ignore.
I am constantly writing songs. I feel as though there is always a song on the tip of my tongue, but whether or not I’m ready to receive it is a different question. I like to chip away at songs, working slowly over weeks, months, or years on all the pieces. This isn’t always the way, but it certainly works well when you have a full-time job that is mentally and physically draining. Now and then, I encounter those magic moments when a song comes out fully formed and finished. To illustrate, the song ‘Slow Time’ was written and refined over the last six years, whereas ‘Stop Myself’ was composed almost entirely in one sitting.
Music has always been an enriching experience for me. Despite moments of doubt, I would never want to live a life without music being a substantial part of my daily routine.
Influences
My musical influences and inspirations have undergone significant changes since I relocated to Aotearoa. I went from listening quite narrowly to devouring anything I could get my hands on. In truth, this experience began when I moved to Austin, but it has gone to a new level in Aotearoa. A few major players that come to mind that have been with me since the start of my new journey are: Angel Olsen, Patricia Wolf, Coulter Wall, Naima Bock, Big Thief, Bedouine, John Prine, Nia Archives, Nathaniel Rateliff and my endless love for Gillian Welch.
I fell in love with the music being made in Aotearoa almost immediately. When I first moved to Aotearoa, I did a simple Google search, something along the lines of “indie-folk bands from New Zealand.” I can’t remember all of the results, but I do remember listening to Eb & Sparrow’s debut full-length album and thinking, “Oh, this place is going to be alright.” I found myself in a surreal moment when Gram Antler supported our show at Vogelmorn, and Ebony Lamb joined him onstage.
A few early inspirations were Nadia Reid and Tiny Ruins, both of which I discovered through my partner, Ruby. She immediately clocked what kind of music would resonate with me and delivered me some of Aotearoa’s finest. She introduced me to Marlon Williams and Aldous Harding, which led me to Delaney Davidson and The Eastern, and what I now understand as a vibrant scene that has emerged from Lyttelton. Bands like Womb, Mystery Waitress, Soft Plastics, The Beths, and Vera Ellen inspire me. Recently, a few favourites of mine are Hannah Everingham, Recitals, O & The Mo, and Holly Arrowsmith.
An American Adrift In The South Pacific
I have a lot to learn about the tradition of Americana music in Aotearoa and the South Pacific, and I have made it a goal of mine to explore its history and impact. Truthfully, I have a lot to learn about Americana music in general. As I’ve mentioned, it didn’t play much of a role as a musical influence when I was growing up, and it was only when I moved to Aotearoa that I began to make music in that vein. I am drawn to country, western, and Americana music, most likely because I am homesick. There is something very comforting in the music—the acoustic instruments with all their buzzing and creaking. The songwriter is the highest form of storyteller.
The melancholy that weaves through almost every country song. Despite not having extensive knowledge of Americana music, I still feel as though I have a rich, shared past with it. I feel positive about creating this music in Aotearoa because it's where my love for Americana music developed and will continue to grow. This music is helping me process all the emotions that come with leaving home and finding a new one.
Cowboy Practice by Sig Wilder is due for release through Home Alone Music on August 1 2025. You can pre-order the digital album here or the vinyl here.
FIN.