Born out of a weekly residency at The Gallimaufry in Bristol, Waldo’s Gift have an origin story as unorthodox as it gets.

Instead of writing their material and then performing it, Alun Elliott-Williams (guitar), Harry Stoneham (bass) and James Vine (drums) started performing live first and figured out what they actually were further down the line. Thrown into a room in front of an audience every single week, the trio were forced to make something happen and improvised entire 90 minute sets out of nothing with improvisation as the foundation of their performances.

With the harmonic intelligence and rhythmic elasticity of jazz, the glitchy fragmented loops of electronic music, and the massive physical force of rock and metal, you can hear echoes of artists like Flying Lotus in the way sound is manipulated and reassembled but also the precision and aggression of tight bands like Animals as Leaders. A huge part of their sonic identity comes from Elliott-Williams’ pedalboard, upon which loops are built, stretched and fractured, stacking layers until the trio sounds impossibly large before collapsing back again resulting in a band that sounds far bigger than three people should reasonably be able to.

From their initial residency at The Gallimaufry to tours with And So I Watch You From Afar and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Waldo’s Gift are a messy break from algorithmic polish built on equal parts trust and wild experimentation who somehow make just as much sense at a jazz festival as they do on a metal lineup.

We caught up with the band to find out more:

Can you explain your unusual origin story to our readers?

What do you think The Gallimaufry residency forced you to learn that you would have missed had you gone a more conventional practice route?

Do you have any thoughts on improvisation as a philosophy?

Does it ever go wrong, or is jamming in front of an audience just second nature at this point?

You guys seem to defiantly avoid neat genre labels, are there any artists or labels that you would call a direct inspiration for what you’re doing?

Can you tell us about the recording process for your 2025 debut album Malcolm’s Law?

You’ve been supporting some big bands on some big stages as of late, how did you find the crowds?

What are some of your favourite venues to play in the UK?

What’s on the horizon for the band?

What is the ultimate goal of Waldo’s Gift?