TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The first thing audiences notice about indie rock band Wednesday is not the lyrics but the volume.
By the final two songs of the band’s set at The Wall on Tuesday night, the noise had become so punishing that frontwoman Karly Hartzman warned the crowd there would be no encore.
Offstage, Hartzman is markedly calmer. Sitting with her hand twisting a curl of hair in the hallway hours before showtime, the songwriter spoke thoughtfully about the band’s music, which has grown steadily darker, louder, and more assured across four albums released in as many years.
Hartzman’s songs often abandon traditional rhyme schemes and verse-chorus structures, unfolding instead as short stories set to distortion. Critics and listeners frequently describe her lyrics as bleak, populated by car crashes, death, and blunt imagery. Hartzman does not agree.
“It does not feel that dark to me,” she said. “We are surrounded by death and sadness and loneliness all the time. It’s easier to handle if you acknowledge it.”
That outlook also shapes her reading habits. A voracious reader, Hartzman gravitates toward writers such as George Saunders, whose work blends violence and empathy. She said darker writing often serves a practical purpose.
“Most people who write really dark stuff are using it as an outlet so they can be kinder in their day-to-day life,” she said.
Hartzman follows independent Substack newsletters (Blackbird Spyplane) and blogs to discover new music and writing, but she still values traditional criticism, particularly when it comes from writers who understand the cultural context of her work. Negative reviews do not trouble her.
“If everyone loved it, that would probably mean we were not doing anything interesting,” she said, adding that southern writers often grasp her perspective more intuitively.
Not all of Wednesday’s lyrics are grim. Some are observational and sharply humorous, including a line from “Phish Pepsi”: “We watched a Phish concert and Human Centipede / Two things I now wish I had never seen.”
Wednesday formed among close friends in Asheville, North Carolina, and Hartzman said the band’s longevity is rooted in those shared experiences. The core members have grown up together, moving from basement shows to international tours.
“You do not bond with coworkers the way you do in a band,” she said. “You see each other at the brink of everything.”
That closeness translates into the band’s live sound, which is intentionally loud and physically overwhelming. Hartzman said she finds comfort in noise, even as she wears earplugs during performances. “It runs closer to the frequency of how life feels,” she said.
Despite the band’s rising profile and a deal with a major independent label, Hartzman said commercial considerations play little role in her creative decisions. She insisted on full artistic control from the outset. “They can suggest things,” she said. “If I do not like it, I will just say no.”
While she is open to writing more commercial material for other artists, Hartzman said she has no interest in reshaping Wednesday to chase broader appeal. “I would rather write a song for someone else than turn Wednesday into that,” she said.
Touring Asia has reinforced that mindset. She described Hong Kong as intense and electric, while Taipei stood out for different reasons.“The vibe here is my favorite of the whole tour,” she said. “It’s relaxed in a way that feels real.”
For Hartzman, fulfillment remains the only meaningful metric. Wednesday’s music lives in the space where distortion feels comforting and sadness is amplified, then shouted away until the voice gives out.
“If you write what you want and put real thought into it,” she said, “that should be enough.”
