When Rob Shipp first heard a teenage Angie Pepa open for The Speaks, a band Shipp managed, he “basically fell in love with her performance.” In the late 2000s, The Speaks disbanded, and Shipp took a few years off managing. But soon, he was drawn back into the music world when his managing partner, Lindsay Conty, suggested forming a band around the young Pepa.
“I never really saw myself as a singer … my dad taught me a little bit of guitar when I was younger, and I ended up writing songs and noticed I had a little bit of a knack [for it], so I started writing more,” Pepa says. After releasing her first album while a high school student in Maryland, she toured for a while. “Eventually, I gave it up because I was young and I wanted to be with my friends,” she says. But music still held a special place in her heart, so when the opportunity arose to join a new band, Pepa jumped at the chance.
Shipp brought along bassist Myk Menez, who’d played in an early version of The Speaks. Pepa recruited her friend and drummer Jonathon Noklu Tosado, who brought his friend Steven Gabriel Garcia, a lead guitarist. But the band was still in need of a rhythm guitarist. Noli Conty, originally a member of the management team, stepped in.
“He decided he’d just fill in for the moment, but he was a perfect fit,” Shipp says.
When the band was first assembled, Shipp had his doubts that they’d be able to weave together a cohesive band from such different threads.
“I remember the first time I saw them practice, I was like, ‘What the hell did I just get myself into? This is a mess! I can’t do this! This is pretty—what the hell?'” Shipp says.
But the five eventually found their footing, coming together as a band and developing a sound all their own that sits somewhere between a grungier Alanis Morissette and a less emo Paramore.
“It started as a funny hodgepodge of different types of musicians, [but] they all eventually found their [fit]. We’ve been working really hard and growing a fan base and slowly but surely, we’re getting there,” Lindsay Conty says.
The March 26 show at Jammin’ Java serves as an album release party for the band’s debut EP, Figuring It Out. It will be Wandering Lies’ second time selling out Jammin’ Java.
After almost two years together, “We’re kind of a family … every once in a while, we may get into it, but that’s just because we’re rambunctious and love each other,” Garcia says.
So what’s in store for the band’s future?
“Hopefully, one day, we’ll quit our day jobs,” Pepa says. She and Garcia work at an animal hospital; Mendez and Noli Conty are government contractors; Tosado is an audio and video producer for PSAV.
“We want to go wherever the people are, whether we’re touring around the country or we end up in other countries,” Garcia says. “We just really love making good music, being around good people and wherever that may take us—as long as there’s smiles, that’s good.”
QUICK HITS
One album you can’t live without
Pepa: The Beatles’ white album
Conty: Paramore, Paramore
Menez: The Cure, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Tosado: Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon
Garcia: Jimi Hendrix, Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix
Song you sing in the shower:
Pepa: The Spice Girls, “Say You’ll Be There”
Conty: Elmo, “Rubber Ducky”
Menez: Wham!, “Careless Whisper”
Tosado: Stone Sour, “Through Glass”
Garcia: Anything by Michael Buble, Allen Stone or Dave Grohl
What you wanted to be as a kid:
Pepa: Rockstar or a doctor
Conty: Fighter pilot
Menez: Designer for a skateboard company
Tosado: Musician or actor
Garcia: A “big-time” violinist
Personal motto:
Pepa: “Things always get better.”
Conty: “Prepare for the worst; hope for the best.”
Menez: “Experiences over material possessions.”
Tosado: “Live and learn.”
Garcia: “Music will save us all.”
What you order at the bar:
Pepa: Vodka on the rocks with a twist of lime
Conty: Captain Morgan (or Jack Daniels) and Coke
Menez: Black and Tan
Tosado: Beer, Jameson or Jagermeister
Garcia: Fat Tire Amber Ale with a shot of whiskey or tequila
