On A Roll
Anglo-Finnish group Wheel are back with their second album, which explores the divisions in our society. Vocalist and guitarist James Lascelles describes Resident Human as having a “humanistic vibe” and, he tells Prog, it really showcases the band’s hypnotic sound.
Words: Hannah May Kilroy Images: Ville Juurikkala
Wheel aren’t going to stay still for long!
“I think it’s a reasonable discussion to have: how do you advance society in a way that progresses towards equality and other values that people care about?”
James Lascelles is discussing his band Wheel’s new second album, Resident Human, that examines modern humanity and calls for change. Lascelles himself knows about the positivity that change can bring, given the fact that he left his home country of the UK to move to Finland on a whim 10 years ago, and played on pop music reality shows before forming Wheel in 2015.
“I was playing in a prog band in the UK but was going broke and thinking about quitting music,” Lascelles recalls. “A friend had moved to Finland and won the Idols competition [the Finnish version of Pop Idol], and he started inviting me over to play guitar with him and sing backing vocals. I took the plunge and decided to move there.”
Lascelles laughs at the memory of the music world he found himself in: “It was pop so not my scene at all, but some of it was fun! I enjoyed looking at things like harmony arrangements, but the musical style didn’t do much for me.