I can count on one hand the occurrences of shows that truly felt like the totality of the audience, musicians, music and ambiance existed in a conjoined and natural state. This idea is practically unheard of in modern concerts, mostly due to the disjointed nature of audience and performer. This idea exists in scene and local shows; typically the audience will feel disconnected from each other, but one of the few harmonious concerts I have attended was a relaxed Waldheim set at a friend’s back porch on a warm New Orleans evening. The summer heat hadn’t forced sweat upon our brows, beer was plentiful, and intermingling felt like a natural part of the music. It is environments like these that my generation has heard tales of through wiser mouths, but rarely get to experience in a contemporary setting.
With a Spotify page that displays a scant number of listens, when it comes to underground music it doesn’t get more obscure than Waldheim. With full disclosure, I didn’t have to dig too far to find this subterranean band: I have known a few members for some time. I can assure you however, that this group is deserving of much more acclaim than their numbers reflect. Their sound is unpolished, their stage shows are amateur, but their twangy guitars, angelic vocals, and profound lyrics is transcendent. With a folksy country influence mixed with modern indie melodies, the group offers a complete juxtaposition to the music industry’s norm of grooming artists to write overly polished TikTok hits. With the algorithm driven music listening experience I have become accustomed to, I suspect it is their genuine authenticity that fascinates me.
Spearheading the band is Mason de la Houssaye—a Louisiana native who is the band’s frontman and all-around Swiss army knife. Waldheim is his brainchild. He composes the lyrics and the melody, books the majority of the shows, and leads the band with his skilled but dialed-back finger picking and vocals that can range from a scream of rage to a whisper. Beyond his steering the helm of Waldheim, his personal life is just as wide-ranging.
As a philosophy graduate, EMT, aspiring MD, radio DJ, and more, Mason juggles a significant amount of responsibilities and interests in tandem with his musical ambitions. Although he is capable of being a one-man musical army, he knows that his project is better when in conjunction with the layers of Waldheim’s equally talented supporting cast (Ocean’s Eleven has to feature more than just Clooney or Sinatra to become a classic). Signing onto the project by virtue of friendship and a love of music is Robert (Rob) Holmes and Devin Gutierrez.
Gutierrez, the multifaceted creative, occupies the role of the group’s drummer and on occasion steps in as graphic designer. His bubbly personality is evident in conversation, but when the show begins the drums will engulf him and he will become consumed by the beat. In this zen-like state, he hits drum fills that would make Goldilocks proud—not too simple but not overly complex either. After the show, he wipes the sweat from his forehead to his shirt, cracks open a lukecold Pabst Blue Ribbon, and chats for hours toward anyone in his proximity.
Rob, the deft bassist, is — to quote Billy Joel’s famous lyrics — “quick with a joke or a light of your smoke.” Amidst an occasional tech glitch during a show, Rob soothes the audience with conversation akin to a comedian doing crowd work. He effortlessly riffs off of the audience, with a humorous quip or attempts to play the barrage of requests thrown his way during the tinkering of de la Houssaye. Whether the group plays a venue in a shoulder-to-shoulder backyard or a tiny coffee house, the personality of the members exudes within the duration of their songs as well as the meaningful intermediate.
De la Houssaye’s musical influences come from a diverse array of niche sources. When asked about his musical influences he ponders the grand reservoir of old folk singers and indie deep-cuts that somehow can occupy space in his mind and responds, “I’d say ‘Songs: Ohia’ (Jason Molina), ‘Jason Isbell’… that makes a list with two Jasons, and ‘John Fahey’ more from an aesthetic point of view. Also… for country and folk influence I would say ‘The Carter Family’ and ‘Pavement’ for 90s indie.” These key artists demonstrate the dynamic range of influences, old to new, traditional to avant garde. As far as aesthetic or philosophical influences, de la Houssaye says he doesn’t particularly feel that his exceedingly romantic lyrics are particularly philosophical, but “a general Southern Gothic style, and as far as writing dialogue—I admire ‘The Mountain Goats’ in the way that the dialogue drives the song.”
The band’s finale occurred earlier this year. Devin Gutierrez departed on good terms to pursue other ventures in New York, leaving the band’s future fairly foggy. I reached out to de la Houssaye about this ambiguous future and he was resolute Waldheim will continue: “There should be a new album or some sort of project, the goal is to make two new EPs this year, or at least one by February. I’m hoping for a more stripped-down and sparse sound, but still with band instrumentation. Also we got a new drummer.”
He says that these projects will be self-produced and be more experimental than his previous projects. As far as his experimentation, he affirms that “the album will not necessarily have pop sensibilities but go beyond the folk I’ve been doing, sort of like ‘Lucky Stars’ [One of the more prominent Waldheim tracks].”
It seems that for Waldheim that chapter is over with Devin stepping down as the main drummer. On the other hand, this is only a chapter in de la Houssaye’s musical project, the rest of the book has still yet to be written. I for one am excited for new music to liven up a dull workday, and the advent of more blissful shows where the environment, music, and people exist in unity. I can picture myself in a dilapidated lawn chair with eyes closed, nodding along to the euphonious beat, and enjoying a crisp breeze that makes the New Orleans summer heat feel like a warm blanket.
