Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Phoenix Wise & The Resistance

We are the The Resistance, which is also the activism by the founder, musician, and author, Phoenix Wise. Progressiveness will overcome and defeat traditionalism. It’s way past time to change and progress to help save humanity, the animals, the earth, and the future. Through veganism and ahimsa and through the use of the arts, especially music, videos, and literature, we will make a change to stop the lies, greed, manipulation, tyranny, dictatorship, patriarchy, racism, sexism, & right-wing fascism. We have to keep speaking out and stop letting the rich, the companies, and the politicians brainwash and control us through consumerism, materialism, drugs, and money. We are supposed to create and live our lives by experiencing things instead of working all week for next to nothing. I hope you enjoy the music, the music videos, the activism videos, and please check out the book, The Great Illusion: A Story of Self-Revolution, all 3 parts. Be Vegan and Practice Ahimsa!

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

I remember having an 8-track stereo in my bedroom when I was about 5-years-old. After I laid down, my mom would put in an 8-track tape. The one song I remeber the most was Muskrat Love by Willis Alan Ramsey performed by Captain and Tennille. I would fall asleep immediately even though now, I’m not a fan at all of that style or genre of music. 

How did your passion for creating music begin?

A lot of my family can either sing and/or play instruments, but my grandfather was a professional steel guitar player, so hearing all of them get together at family functions and playing instruments and singing was inspirational. When I was about 12-years-old, I started playing the trumpet in the school band, but when I was about 16-years-old, I picked up the guitar for the first time. I have loved playing the guitar and singing ever since. About a year after I started playing guitar and singing other people’s songs, I started writing my own lyrics and eventually the songs came. 

What’s the story behind your current music project? 

With the political climate and turmoil in the U.S.A. and a lot of world today, currently, I’m working on protest songs to follow up from my first album, Songs of Protest & Passion that I released in 2021 under the original band name, The Resistance. I re-released it as Songs of Protest & Passion Volume II under the current band name, Phoenix Wise & The Resistance, in 2024. The songs are mostly punk rock and hard rock with a couple that are reggae rock. All of them focus on protesting fascism in some way or another and waking up from the lies and propaganda of the fascists. It helps me cope with all the evil and destruction these right-wing policitians are doing and of course, all the conservative voters who support them and keep them in power. 

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

I would say my sound is mostly hard rock and punk rock for the protest songs. You could also say there is a lot of 90s alternative rock influence in my songs. I also have a lot of songs under the album, Vegan for the Animals, that are more pop punk and folk rock songs as I also have acoustic rock versions of these. These pop punk or folk rock songs focus more on relationships, philosophy or self-discovery, and love. There are also some reggae rock songs due to my love for Bob Marley and his reggae sound. I try to do at least 1 reggae rock song on each album. 

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

I don’t like doing covers or playing other people’s songs anymore. I have become a better singer, songwriter, and guitar player by writing, creating, playing, and singing my own songs. I do listen to other people and their songs as there is a lot to learn from what they are doing, especially to make sure you aren’t copying or plagarizing someone else. In addition, I’m a health nut, so I excercise a lot. Most of my songs, melodies, and lyrics were created while I am running or walking. 

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

I think of a lot of my melodies and lyrics when running or walking. Then, I will start writing down the lyrics for the song or finalizing the lyrics with an old-fashing pen and paper. Then, I start playing the guitar with the lyrics to get the key and chords down before bringing in the other instruments. I use my phone and computer at first for recordings and then move to a friend’s studio, but I’m not too familiar with all the names of the technology. 

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

I haven’t been keeping up with the current music for a long time, maybe 5-7 years, especially since I like to focus on my own songs. If I listen to other people’s music, it’s more classic rock or 90s rock or reggae like Bob Marley and Burning Spear. That being said, some of the current bands I like that are still going (in no particular order) are The Killers, The Black Keys, Radiohead, and Cage The Elephant. I also enjoy listening to All Them Witches, Umphrey’s McGee, and Bright Eyes. I love that Tool and Rage Against the Machine are still rocking it. 

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

I’ve worked in human serives a lot in my life, and I have also seen the horrors of animal agriculture, so a lot of my music is influenced by these personal experiences. I have seen how so many people allow themselves to get brainwashed by advertisements and the lies of politicians. I also fear for the future of the Earth as we are polluting it so much while stripping it of all it’s natural resources, such as water and fossil fuels and the mining for minerals. All of these issues turn into ideas for songs. Some of them are more angry and direct and others are more about self-discovery, change, and love. 

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

For the protest songs I do, I want people to get upset, wake up, speak up, vote, and make a change or difference in their own lives or call people out on their negative behaviors. For my love, relationship, and philosophy songs, I want people to feel the togetherness, hope, love, and movitivation. 

 What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

That no matter how horrible things are or what problems are going on, hearing someone else’s song that makes you feel what they are feeling is amazing. We are not alone in this world, and so many other people think and feel the way that you do. Music helps people connect and evoke certain feelings. Communication never sounded so good when it’s with music. 

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

I’ve never been a huge fan of festivals, so I wouldn’t want to do a festival, but it’s great that so many people love them and enjoy them so much. It’s also great that a lot of amazing artists and bands get their start and breaks attending festivals. For the venue, I would love to perform at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, U.S.A. or The Metro in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. The sound and abiance at those venues is very powerful. 

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

There’s a few, but I’ll try to stick to one. Even though the music I create is different, I love the sound, lyrics, melodies, and songs of Pink Floyd. It would be an honor and my dream to talk with and play with their lead guitarist, David Gilmour. I think I could write some psychadelic blues songs, but I’m enjoying what I’m doing right now. It would be amazing to create a song with David or have him play on one of my songs. He is definitely one of the best guitarists and song writers and lyricists ever. Bob Marley would also be another one as Bob is also an amazing song writer with that ingenious reggae sound. 

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)

You can find Phoenix Wise & The Resistance on all the streaming platforms (spotify, apple, etc), but it’s great to steer people to the Bandcamp page, so they can maybe purchase the songs/albums: https://theresistance-officialpage.bandcamp.com/ 

There is also the vidoes on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@phoenixwiseandtheresistance/videos 

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Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

I would like to see our followers/subscribers/listeners significantly increase on the various platforms, so we can get more fans and get our music out there a lot more. There is so much music out there, it’s like screaming into the void sometimes, and since I’m a poor starving artist, there’s not much money to put into advertising and marketing. So, I’d like to at least have the revenue from the music pay for what I’m putting into it. That would be awesome! But, I still have a long way to go. 

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

Even though I named one of our albums, Vegan for the Animals, and I’ll probably do another one called Vegan for the Animals Volume II, I hope listeners will discover my love for animals and my life’s goal of saving as many animals that I can, which also saves the Earth and humanity. I have been a Vegan for almost 30 years, and I can’t say enough about how important it is for us to stop engaging in animal agriculture as this evil industry is just as destructive as the fossil fuel industry if not worse as we are abusing and killing innocent, defenseless, helpless, and voiceless living beings who have feelings, thoughts, relationships, and families. Being Vegan is my religion, and being Vegan is one of the few things that I’m absolutely sure of in this life.