One day, when Wildling is your favorite band and you’re making out to “Doesn’t Really Matter” in the backseat of your car, you can thank Young the Giant, whose members saw Wildling’s first live show in November 2014. They were so struck by Wildling’s gig that they brought them on tour. And in between, Ryan Levine (lead vocals), Justin Levine (bass), Andrew Ampaya (keys / vocals), Erik Janson (guitar / vocals) and Casey Brothers (drums) have gone to SXSW, nabbed a coveted residency and recorded an EP at the legendary Apogee Studios in Santa Monica, which drops December 4.

Today we're excited to premiere "Doesn't Really Matter" off the band's upcoming self-titled EP. Listen above and read below as Justin and Erik talk to us about how the band has done so much in less than a year.

Hometown: All of us besides our drummer Casey are from the suburbs about 30 minutes north of Los Angeles. We all grew up within a few miles of one another except for Casey who grew up on a farm in west Minnesota.

Homebase: Half of us live in Venice, California, now, and the other half live in Woodland Hills.

You guys have had a pretty busy year -- the kind that every band just starting out wants to have. How did Wildling become a band?

Ryan and Andrew have been playing music together for about 11 years, and the project really started with them as an acoustic duo. Ryan and Justin are brothers, and Justin joined in after seeing a couple shows. Ryan and Erik met while taking part in a songwriter's forum put on by ASCAP. We started playing some acoustic shows around LA as a foursome, wanting a drummer, but not sure where to find one. We were turning down shows because we didn't have a drummer, and when we were about to turn down one with our friends Heaps and Heaps at The Satellite, our friend Alisa (Heaps' singer) said something to the effect of, "You've been saying this sh*t for too long, FIND A FU**ING DRUMMER!!" The next day, our friend Sameer Ghadia of Young the Giant told us his friend, who had just left another band, could fit the part. He introduced us to Casey Brothers, and later that week we jammed in his little studio for 8 hours straight. When we crawled out of that sweat box of a room, we knew the search was over.

What made you want to form a band together?

It's pretty simple. We wrote these songs, and we wanted to play them live, it was just about finding the right people.

Why did you choose to call yourselves Wildling?

No real reason... definitely nothing to do with that show on HBO though — although Justin does have a strong likeness to Jon Snow.

Did you grow up in musical households? What were your early memories of liking music?

Justin: Ryan and I definitely grew up in a musical household. Our dad is a drummer and played a huge role in sparking our love for music. There was always a record playing in our house growing up and very often we would come home from school and our dad would be blasting one of his favorite albums, playing his drums along with it. Also, our aunt was heavily immersed in the ‘60s and ‘70s music scene and has endless stories about the time she spent with some of my heroes like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, and Janis Joplin, the list goes on and on. I'd say my dad's drumming and my aunt's stories really laid the foundation for my interest in music. Every Sunday we would sit around the breakfast table (usually with lox and bagels!) and we would play Sunday morning's Breakfast with The Beatles radio program and we would devour The Beatles. I remember listening and not realizing at that early age that this music was actually coming from a group of people, a band. I didn't think music like that was possible. It was as if there was music and bands and then there were The Beatles, in a land all to themselves. My dad played me my first blues song when I was 10 years old, "Mamma Where's My Daddy" by Keb' Mo' and it opened up an entire world for me. That was the first time that music made me 'feel' something I couldn't describe. It was bigger than me and left me wanting more, especially when it came to the blues.

What’s “Doesn't Really Matter” about and how did you write it?

That was a really fun song to write and arrange... We played with a handful of different approaches before really solidifying the vibe/arrangement with Caleb Shreve (Phantogram/Bear Hands) and Ted Gowans(Tegan and Sara) who produced the track with us. The song is about the frustration of wanting something to be simpler than it is. It kind of takes place in the fog of a breakup, or separation, or time apart. There's definitely isolation and reflection, but mainly frustration. People are beautiful and complicated and this song is about two people being both.

Tell us about your debut.

Our debut EP is self-titled. We spent the last year writing and working out new ideas so the songs evolved out of that process without one dominant theme. For us it's crucial that we have a strong emotional connection to what we are playing when we are playing it. Over the course of this past year we ended up choosing the songs for the EP that we felt worked in a live setting, because our number one goal is to connect with fans of music when we play shows.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

Justin: Our musical influences are fairly broad within this group of people. For me, bands like Modest Mouse, The Strokes, Built to Spill, The Dead Boys, and and The Velvet Underground really helped shape my teenage years. The only thing on my mind at that time was skateboarding, jamming in our friends' garages as loud as we could, and sneaking out of our houses at night to drink our first beers and hang out with girls. I was honestly kind of a terror in my youth! After doing a little bit of growing up and self discovery, my influences have stretched a lot further. These days I'm really into the blues, folk, soul, a lot of African music (specifically Nigerian and Malian psych rock) and obviously the classics; The Stones, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Paul Simon... There are too many influences to name, what I listen to depends on my mood at the time, there are thousands of bands I love!

As a group, several artists pop up consistently in our conversations and songwriting sessions... from Roxy Music and Talking Heads to Spoon and Alabama Shakes.

How do you describe your music to someone who's never heard you before?

Justin: I think our music lives under the indie/alternative umbrella.... When we play live I think it's pretty clear we are a rock band, but the recordings are definitely a bit more nuanced. I guess I'd say that we hope to have the commercial appeal of a band like Coldplay or Kings of Leon, but with enough attention to production and aesthetic to kick it with fans of TV On the Radio or Tame Impala as well .... Hopefully!

You’re based in Los Angeles. How does where you grew up and live influence your music?

Erik: For those of us in the band who grew up in the LA area, the culture of LA was a big influence. As Southern California natives we grew up immersed in the skate, surf and snowboarding world where the raw energy and sounds of eclectic punk and rock bands were always present. As I grew up the legacy of places like the Ash Grove in LA, where some of my favorite blues and folk singers like Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin' Hopkins performed, inspired me to dig deeper into that music. Presently, LA constantly evolves and pushes us to grow because we are surrounded by so many talented artists and performers that remind us that there is always room to grow and push our songwriting, productions and performances.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

We are all big fans of Dave Fridmann records. We love the sounds and aesthetic of the records he produces and mixes (i.e. Spoon, The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala). We also love Blake Mills' guitar playing and we've been jamming Liane La Havas's new record on the road so it would be incredible to work with her on a song!

What do you do for fun?

We love eating and love Mezcal so when we are home in LA we have a few favorite spots to indulge in both. One recent favorite for the latter is The Corner Door in Culver City. Justin (our bassist) is also a chef so we are often together eating home cooked meals at his place in Venice. We also try our best to be healthy and love hiking the Santa Monica Mountains, surfing and yoga. Of course, we are all obsessed with music, so shopping for vinyl tops the list as well as going to see live shows.

What's the craziest thing that’s happened on tour so far?

Last night, someone gave Justin a piece of chocolate, and unbeknownst to him it contained some hidden ingredients...Needless to say, he left a few things behind at the venue.