Writ on Water began in early 1991 when Daniel Johnson and Jeff MacKey were joined by drummer Joel Hughes. After early three-piece live efforts proved limiting, guitarist Miles Williams was brought on board in late ’91 to form the complete original lineup.
Having signed with Blonde Vinyl earlier in the year, the band went into the studio with producer Christopher Colbert and recorded Sylph, which was released in December of 1992. Unfortunately, financial difficulties led to the dissolution of the label in early 1993.
The band had already begun working on 4-track demos for what was intended to be the second Blonde Vinyl release, to be called The Greyest Day, and after Joel and Miles left to pursue other interests, Daniel and Jeff completed the demo project. With no new deal in the offing, the album was ultimately abandoned, and Daniel and Jeff took a long hiatus.
In 1999, with improvements in technology in the interim having expanded the possibilities of music distribution, and with the assistance of friend and long-time supporter Chris Nandor, Daniel and Jeff released The Greyest Day Sessions: 1992–1994, essentially cleaned-up versions of the demo project from ’92-94. Following this venture, Daniel and Jeff recorded six additional tracks which had been written during the same time period as The Greyest Day (some of which had been performed live) but yet unrecorded. This session became the Pelléas EP, which was released online in 2000.
Daniel and Jeff commenced work on a larger project of new material in late 2000, along with Jeff’s cousin/drummer Jared Mackey, and recording continued until early 2002. This project also included a guest appearance by Jon Sonnenberg of House of Wires/Travelogue, a close friend of Writ on Water. This finally project reached fruition after several years on the shelf concurrent with the re-launch of writonwater.com as A Wingless King.
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