Adam McIlwee (born March 11, 1989), often known by the stage name Wicca Phase Springs Eternal (WPSE), is an American musician from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
From the age of thirteen he was a frequent user of the internet, often spending his time on anime and wrestling message boards.
[1] Tigers Jaw was founded in 2005 by Ben Walsh and Adam McIlwee, during high school, with Brianna Collins joining after the first couple of months,[2] taking their name from a song by lo-fi band The Microphones.
[5] AbsolutePunk gave their self-titled album a generally positive review, noting that "Tigers Jaw is fueled by emotionally-driven lyrics brought to life by vocalist Adam McIlwee, whose voice is one of those that reveal passion while at the same time giving the impression that he's barely trying.
Aforementioned opener "The Sun" is one of the better tracks on the album, offering up a well-organized mix of Tigers Jaw's two personas.
Strong vocal harmonies and bouncy guitar work carry both 'I Saw Water' and 'Heat' to heights other bands would have a hard time reaching.
In a 2018 interview with Pitchfork, he stated that he owned a secondhand GBC t-shirt that he wore "every day, to bed, in the morning, everywhere" and that he "looked up to Wicca Phase almost like on a stan level".
[17] On November 15, 2017, Lil Peep was found dead on his tour bus when his manager went to check on him in preparation for that night's performance at a Tucson, Arizona venue.
[16] While still a member of Tigers Jaw, McIlwee began composing electronic music, which would he would eventually release under the Wicca Phase Springs Eternal moniker.
[29] Additional members of the collective included Horse Head, Lil Tracy,[29] Cold Hart, Nedarb,[30] AJ Suede,[31] Fish Narc[32] and SneakGuapo.
[35][36] In April 2018, McIlwee, Lil Zubin, Jon Simmons, Nedarb, Fantasy Camp and Foxwedding formed Misery Club.
[40] In 2020, McIlwee formed the indie rock band Pay for Pain, which includes former Tigers Jaw musicians Dennis Mishko and Pat Brier.
[43] He has cited influence including the Streets, Das Racist, Twin Shadow, Blink-182, Gucci Mane, Salem, Ferrari Boyz, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and Phil Elverum.
[11] The Chicago Reader wrote that his music "threads together emo, trap beats, and occultism"[44] and DIY stated that his music "mixes blackened, acoustic guitar-led cuts with those signature 808s, creating an intoxicating, truly modern hybrid that foregoes preconceptions, genre boundaries and artistic limitations.