Interview by CC Getty

Texas riff wranglers WO FAT have something very special planned for 4/20.   It’s road trip time for the celebrated Dallas psychedelic doomers, as Kent, Michael, and Zach rev up the tour van and head north for their first ever performance in Canada.   The 420 Music & Arts Festival is taking place April 20th, 21st, and 22nd at Distortion Live Music Venue in Calgary, Alberta.   This, the first fest of its kind in the Stampede City, boasts of nearly two dozen doom metal and stoner rock bands, joined by a wild array of artists, food trucks, vendors, a daylong 420 Expo & Marketplace, and nightly beard contests (tix available here).   As Wo Fat readies for its jaunt to the Great White North, we invited event organizer CC Getty from The Metalheads United Network to share his recent round of 20 Questions with frontman, Kent Stump.

1. For anyone that doesn’t know who Wo Fat is, can you give us the quick rundown on the band?

Wo Fat is a three piece heavy rock band from Dallas, Texas. We’ve been around since 2003 and released our 6th studio record last summer.

2. There are so many ways to describe your style or genre of music, but the only one that counts is yours, so how would you describe the music of Wo Fat?

It can be hard to give a good description of our style and I am always curious to hear how other people describe us, but I would say we are a psychedelic blues-doom metal band. What we do is very much based on a foundation of the blues but much heavier and metalized. It is very riff-oriented but also we include a lot of jamming and improvisation as well, which is where I see the psychedelic aspect coming in.

3. You guys started out as a four-piece, but turned into a power trio. Was that a conscious decision or did it just happen that way?

The first four songs that Wo Fat ever recorded were with a 4 piece. At the time, our friend Matt Watkins was playing with us. Matt is a killer guitar player and his presence played a very influential role in shaping what the sound of Wo Fat would become. He actually lived in Kansas City at the time and would make the 8 hour drive down to Dallas to rehearse with us and that just proved to be an unsustainable situation so Matt had to bow out of the band. It really was just the fact that he lived so far away. That being said, I really dig the trio aspect of the band, which is what we were in the very beginning. It does have some limitations and I have to write with those in mind, but it also offers a good amount of freedom.

4. What made you decide to pick up the guitar specifically and then want to start a band like Wo Fat?

I’ve played music and been involved in music in some way my entire life. Both of my parents are musicians so it was just a part of my everyday existence. When I was in college I studied jazz and at that point my plan was to become a jazz musician. While in college I was exposed to a huge variety of music and discovered heavier stuff like metal and punk. I got deeper into the heavy stuff and Michael and I actually played in a more straight ahead metal band in the ‘90s. After that came to an end, I had recently discovered stoner rock and bands like Fu Manchu and Nebula and Sleep. That kind of music really spoke to me. Around that time I realized that all along, my whole life, the music that I have always - going all the way back to childhood – always loved the most was essentially blues based. Whether it was '70s funk, '70s rock like Black Sabbath or ZZ Top, country blues, or Fu Manchu, it was all based on the blues in terms of melodic structure and concept. So I decided that that was what I wanted to embrace with the next band I started, which was Wo Fat.

5. Texas has spawned some amazing musicians and bands, and you guys are from all over the place, but how has being a Texas band influenced Wo Fat?

Texas has an incredibly rich musical history. The list of hugely important musicians from Texas is incredibly long. In addition to the major personalities we all know, Texas is packed full of great musicians and bands that aren’t famous. Music is just a big part of the Texas culture, whether its country, blues, rock, whatever, and that leads to an environment conducive to having even more killer musicians and bands. I think if you just look at the stoner rock genre, which we fall into, the number of really good bands from Texas is pretty amazing. As far as direct influence on Wo Fat, I think being a part of this Texas scene has played a role in our development and progression as a band. I think the Texas thing also adds to the bluesy funkiness that is inherent in our music, as well.

6. You are coming to Canada for the very first time to headline the 420 Music & Arts Festival in Calgary April 20-22, what took so long to come to the Great White North?

We just haven’t really been presented with the right opportunity before. We don’t actually do a whole lot of touring. Michael and I run a recording studio together, which is how we make our living, so we can’t afford to be away for long periods of time and still keep it going, so that, as well as other family responsibilities, limit our available touring time. We try to be very strategic about setting up shows and we want to be able to play for our fans but unfortunately we can’t go everywhere. So we’re happy that we have this opportunity to play somewhere new.

7. With all the talk of Americans immigrating to Canada because of the politics in the USA. Has Wo Fat ever thought about that?

(laughs) We haven’t talked about it as a band, but my wife has talked about living in Canada or Europe somewhere, only half-jokingly. We’re big hockey fans and we like cold weather, so Canada might be right. Not to mention healthcare.

8. What do you think about Wo Fat being involved in a 420 Music & Arts Festival?

I think it’s great and we’re honored to have been invited. We all support marijuana legalization. Texas will probably be the last place where that happens.

9. Wo Fat does tend to get put into the “Stoner Rock” category, is that cool with Wo Fat?

Yeah, it’s fine with me. I think some people that aren’t hip to the genre don’t know what that means and think it’s referring to jam bands like Phish or something, which is too bad. I have heard some bands that don’t like to be called stoner rock, but honestly it doesn’t bother me. In one of our old songs, “Enter the Riffian,” there’s a lyric that says “with a stoned insight and the riffs sublime” and that stoned insight refers to a frame of mind and a way of thinking that is what this genre is all about. It’s about freedom and exploration but also about awareness of and discovery of the past, so I think the term is apt.

10. We know that Texas isn’t scared to put a guy in jail with a roach in his pocket, but this is Canada and the eyes of Texas aren’t upon you, but has Wo Fat ever been influenced or inspired while under the influence of marijuana?

I would say, in some way, most certainly. Believe it or not, it’s been a long time since I’ve partaken, but at one time in my life I did quite a lot, and that’s what I mean by saying a Stoned Insight, which is the fact that my way of thinking and perceiving the world all was changed from those days and that way of thinking informs the whole aesthetic of Wo Fat.

11. Texas is known for its amazing food - What does Wo Fat look to when the munchies kick in?

Mexican food. There is so much awesome Mexican and Tex-Mex food in Texas. Whenever my wife and I have joked about moving somewhere else, it always comes back to Mexican food and the fact that it would be mighty tough to not have that.

12. What is it about Texas and Dr. Pepper?

I don’t know. Is that a thing? Maybe because Dr Pepper is from Texas?

13. OK, back to your visit to Canada, how did you happen to choose Calgary and the 420 Music & Arts Festival as your first ever Canadian show?

Yeah it does seem weird we haven’t been to Canada before but I guess all the stars aligned for this one. We’re excited to be headed up there.

14. Are you flying in just for your gig or are you going to be at the whole festival?

We will be there for Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately we’ll miss some cool bands on Thursday but we’ll be hanging for the Friday lineup and playing on Saturday.

15. What are you most looking forward to about the 420 Music & Arts Festival?

We always love playing festivals with like-minded bands. It’s cool to be able to see and hang out with other cool bands and it’s also cool for fans of the music to get to see more music. We’re looking forward to seeing the Chron Goblin guys who we met in London when we played Desertfest with them and we’re looking to meeting and hearing new bands and connecting with some fans from afar.

16. What do you prefer playing as a band or musician in general; a one off show with a few other bands or a multi-night festival with a varied lineup of bands and artists and why?

Both have cool things about them. Like I mentioned, the festival thing offers opportunities to hear a wider range of music but smaller club shows can often be better for hanging out with people. Sometimes, depending on the festival, you are sometimes more separated from the fans. Not as much usually with a club. A lot of that kind of depends on the venue, too.

17. What can your Canadian fans that have not travelled to see you live expect when Wo Fat takes the stage to close the 420 Music & Arts Festival down on April 22nd?

We’re getting to play a longer set than we usually do so we’re gonna dust off an old song or two that we haven’t played in a long time and we’ll be able to play more songs than usual. Our songs are a bit on the long side so with shorter sets we have to play fewer songs and sometimes have to cut some jam sections a little short, which we won’t need to worry about at the 420 Music & Arts Festival.

18. Your music has an organic feel to it; like it lives and breathes on its own - is there room for improvisation while you play live, or do you recreate the songs as they are on record?

There are lots of sections of our songs that are jams with improvisation. I’ve never been one to work out solos beforehand and I can never remember what I played as far as solos go on the record. I actually prefer it when bands don’t play the same thing live. Like Hendrix or Cream, the live stuff is the best. We also got sections that are open ended jams that, even though we have a conceptual framework for these parts, they aren’t necessarily always the same and we cue off of each other as to when we move on to the next section.

19. If you decided you wanted to get into the true 420 Spirit while at the festival would you puff, puff, pass outside with the people, vape in the Green Room with the bands or seek out some edibles from that cute girl with the brownies someone told you about?

I actually haven’t smoked in a long time, but who knows. I can’t speak for the other guys in the band, so time will tell.

20. Last question, is it true? Is everything really bigger in Texas?

Of course!

That’s right, Doomers & Stoners….the Zombies just didn’t want to come out for Day of the Shred this year, but you know what? We’re going to have a better party. BETTER I TELL YOU! You know why? Because, look at this freaking line-up at Brick By Brick in San Diego (3 pm to 2 am) this Halloween, are you kidding me???? I’m having a kind of ghoulish orgasm shuddering through my undead veins as I contemplate the list that is NIGHT OF THE SHRED:

Windhand! Elder!
Monolord!
DANAVA!
BANG!
Wo Fat!
The Shrine!
Black Bombaim!

Our own Liz Gore will be there to snap pics and Frank Heredia (King Ravën) will be helping out with interviews. Thief Presents, you’ve pulled it off again, you devil, you.

Also brought to you by Vol4 and Pabst (and we’re in there somewhere, if for nothing else than providing moral support to get your butts down to SoCal for Halloweeeeen!)