Interview: Wheatus

Mostly known for their mid-Noughties hit, Teenage Dirtbag, Wheatus are a band who have experienced their fare share of ups and downs. We caught up with Brendan B Brown, lead singer and driving force behind the band, to talk song writing, album releases and recording systems…

Wheatus is a band that has been through many line-up changes. How have you, as a band, and personally, coped with these changes, and have they affected the music that you have produced?

99% of the line-up changes in Wheatus have resulted from amicable splits...and they are actually harder, because you wind up missing someone when they are gone. Wheatus has also been an additive changeover band, meaning that the band gets bigger every time someone leaves, so you wind up pushing the limits of the arrangements of songs ,and everything seems to get more complex...it's never boring for me as a producer and arranger.

Undoubtedly, your most famous and recognised track is “Teenage Dirtbag”. Are you proud to have written and performed this song, or are you fed up of it? What is your favourite song to perform, and why?

I love that song...still enjoy playing it...The crowd is always sort of "willing us" to get it right at the end of a set and it is always the best pick me up. These days my fav song to play live has to be a new one called From Listening To Lightning. It's just immense and when we get it right there is a real sense of accomplishment...all the more shocking when we don't. Playing that song is like performing a dangerous emotional stunt.

You are currently recording material for the “Pop, Songs and Death” series of EPs, the first of which will be released in the summer of this year, and are offering fans the chance to choose their own price. What was the reasoning to do this, rather than record a traditional fourth album?

Yes that is correct...the 1st EP in the series is The Lightning EP and it will be up on wheatus.com and all the other music sites in May/June. There are 2 main reasons for a series/episodic release...We have 45 new songs, too many for one album. The way that they relate to one another, I don't think they could make a 10 song album. Another reason is that the album is dead, but I think there will always be a place for series releases, like comics, or TV shows....I prefer that anyway...and the price thing is just fair I think.

From debut album “Wheatus” to your most recent single “Real Girl”, your sound has changed. Is this a conscious effort to be ‘more mature’, or has it been a natural progression from album to album?

I don't think an effort to sound mature would ever do anyone any good. We are recording the record 2 track into the SONOMA DSD system....it sort of requires that we design the sounds of the songs a certain way and I am very happy with it....I don't ever want to sound the way we did on other albums...I don't think I could get through that.

Throughout your albums, your lyrics are witty and entertaining, from “Punk Ass Bitch”, through “The Song That I Wrote When You Dissed Me”, up to “BMX Bandits”. Do you have a ritual when writing, or does it just flow from your body to the pen?

I did not write Punk Ass Bitch...But if you mean the funny songs...I guess there is an effort to be immature there that could be considered in that those songs are reactionary songs...fast arguments in other words...Like the lyrics were spoken before they were thought out. I like songs like that...they feel unguarded....There are others on TooSoonMonsoon for instance that are more contemplative. And perhaps those sound older but it's only because I thought it out before writing it down....I'll try not to do that so much if you like.

You encountered problems with Sony when you were signed with them, and subsequently re-released your second album under the thinly-veiled, and hilarious, title “Suck Fony”, a classic spoonerism if ever there was one. Was this re-release an effort to show Sony their mistake, and to prove that you were a band worth supporting, or was their another reason?

I just wanted to say FUCK YOU out loud and in public. Also, Hand Over Your Loved Ones had been so tainted by their refusal to release it that we just felt like seeing it in a light that more accurately and honestly reflected our feelings at the time, which were very, very angry.

You recently toured the UK as a stripped-down, acoustic trio. How did that go, and will there be another tour on British shores any time soon?

It was really quite cool. The crowds were amazing...but I must say that I missed my band mates dreadfully during that and was a bit depressed to not have them all around after the show and what not. The Girls, Karlie and Jo, and Joey our merch girl cheered me up though...I will certainly do that sort of thing again.

You can find out more about Wheatus at their website (http://www.wheatus.com/).
Pop, Rocks and Death Vol 1: The lightning EP will be available in May/June 2009 from all your favourite e-music retailers.

ES