Wilmington’s Wyldephyre burns bright on new ’Psychedelic Set’

As he teaches virtual music lessons from home, Sean Meade is adjusting to the pandemic. Before COVID-19, the Wilmington musician was readying for the April 3 release of new album “The Psychedelic Set” under the moniker Wyldephyre.

It’s an electronic jazz and instrumental album rich in ambiance and relaxing vibes – lively, sometimes darting electronic flourishes, breathy synths, staccato beats and lush melodies.

For now, Meade is instructing budding musicians to play saxophone, clarinet and a little piano.

“I can’t complain. Things are somewhat normal beside there not being gigs,” Meade said. “Taking the time to get my digital strategies and social presence together. It’s an advantage and a hurdle. And get some practice in.”

Born in southern Georgia, Meade grew up in Asheboro. He moved to Wilmington in 2011 to attend UNCW, graduating in 2015 with a degree in Music Performance, concentration in jazz.

“The colors of sounds a saxophone can make in jazz, I was interested in that,” he said. “And medicine. I wanted to go into the medical field. Once I found love for music I went back and forth. The challenge of music is vast, never ending. I always enjoyed a challenge. I like the individuality. My voice contributing to it.”

An alto sax player, Meade gravitated to clarinet the last year of college. And to electronic music. He joined Wilmington music collective Beats + Coffee after graduating and has contributed to many of their nearly two dozen releases.

His interest in electronica “started in an apartment where I couldn’t practice for sound reasons,” he said. “Going to more electronic shows and festivals than jazz shows. It was a transition in the music I was listening to, underground stuff friends were showing me. I became Interested in how to do that."

By 2017 Meade was playing in shows for tourists at the Alabama Theater in Myrtle Beach. But after two months of playing 10 shows a week, not to mention driving back and forth to South Carolina six times a week, he applied to go back to school.

In a fortuitous mix-up, he thought he’d applied to Berklee College of Music in Boston, but had actually completed the application for their campus in Valencia, Spain.

“When I saw the acceptance letter I thought, ’I have to do this.’” he said. “(I was) immersed in traditional Indian music, Mediterranean music, flamenco, jazz fusion, pop, hip-hop, electronic music. (Things) I never thought would be in this building, I was being asked to play on them. It opened up all of these ideas, so many influences to pull from. It was harder to come back than to go.”

The bond between the 30 students in his class remains, especially in light of recent events related to coronavirus. Using a Facebook group, Meade said he communicates weekly, if not daily, with students he was in school with in Spain.

“When we first left, it felt surreal. ’Did it really even happen?’ A couple of months went by and it started to sink in, all these people I spent more hours per day than I did with my friends here. And then to be thousands of miles apart. Now I don’t know how long it will be until I’ll get to go back.”

Meade recorded and created “The Psychedelic Set” after returning to Wilmington from overseas last August. He said his studies abroad definitely influenced him into new musical directions.

“Using this endless sonic palette to create atmospheres is really what’s moving to me,” he said. “It’s why I gravitate toward electronic music.”

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