Wayne Wilkes

About W2...

Music has always been an influential part of my life. I started playing violin in school in the third grade and quickly excelled, both in school orchestra and with private instruction. In middle school, looking for new challenges, I switched to stand-up bass and eventually found my way to the bass guitar.

For the better part of the past twenty-seven years, I found myself in several bands and submerged in the Kansas City local music scene. One Degree Difference was one of my more notable previous bands. As a founding member, ODD and I had just shy of a ten-year run (2002 thru through 2011), opening for such bands as King's X, 10 Years, Snot, and Mudvayne, to name a few, throughout the Midwest.

After a few years away from the scene, I decided to plug back in and try my hand at a new project. Purged by Fire formed in late 2014 and was off to a solid start, recording a single track to set the tone and precedent for what was to come. Unfortunately, the project was ultimately put on hold to regroup, to collect new members, and to decide where to go next. In the summer of 2015, we created a new lineup that has proven to be a force to be reckoned. Burn the Gates made its public debut in March 2016 at the All Star Bar in North KC. Give a listen, catch a show, and follow us on social media!

Influences: Tool, Deftones, Alice in Chains, Kings X, Nonpoint, Norma Jean, Lamb of God, Mudvayne, Primus, Jane's Addiction, Machine Head

Currently Listening: Gojira, After the Burial, Norma Jean, August Burns Red, Deftones, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Twelve Foot Ninja, Between the Buried and Me