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Wavves
Out of the Pool House
"Where I just kind of had an idea and put it down and did it right away. This is more kind of arranged and thought out... and I feel, mature, in a way." Wavves
In February last year Nathan Williams quit his job managing a record store in San Diego, dropped out of college and moved into a shed in his parents’ backyard. Now he’s better known as the founding member of Waaves, the lo-fi punk outfit which has recently become a duo completed by Zach Hill. Nathan’s promised they will hit Australian venues late January or early February 2010, but after a disaster show in Spain, who knows what to expect?
Nathan Williams is sorry. That much is evident – although it’s hard to tell for sure from the other side of the world. On the phone line he’s quiet and gives the impression that even he himself doesn’t quite know how he managed to go from his parents’ “pool house” (there’s no pool), to international touring, to not being able to finish his set at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona because he drank a cocktail of ecstasy, valium and xanax before fighting with his (then) drummer onstage in front of a crowd of thousands. It was the second date of their European tour, which was cancelled.
“I knew I wasn't exactly mentally healthy enough to continue to tour the way I have been since February,” Nathan said in an online apology.
“Honest truth is this has all happened so fast and I feel like the weight of it has been building for months now with what seems like a never ending touring and press schedule which includes absolutely zero time to myself.”
It was described as “the most epic onstage meltdown a band of their small size could conjure” by Pitchfork’s Ryan Schreiber, but as far as Wavves is concerned the past is the past – and the past will soon be marked by their third album, recorded in August and set for release early 2010.
“It [the next album] is a lot different, the actual recording of the stuff has changed... for the most part it's demos of mine that I still had, and newer stuff... they came to the table with Zach and our friend and engineer of the record, Andy. I was getting more input on the stuff instead of the way I did it prior where I just kind of had an idea and put it down and did it right away. This is more kind of arranged and thought out... and I feel, mature, in a way.”
In a world where every musically-minded teenager is mixing tracks on his MacBook, Wavves are making tacks that, simply put, are dirty. At best the sound quality is poor. But once you get over that and listen to the music, you have to admit there’s something there, in a 90s nihilistic kind of way. Let’s face it, if there wasn’t something about the music, they wouldn’t be getting the gigs they are. So how is the new Williams-Hill partnership working out?
“Well, I talked to Zach towards the start of wave a couple of times. He got a copy of one of the first pieces of music I released… he had just kind of said that he was a big fan, and that he wanted to play with me, but we both had hugely busy schedules at the time and we couldn't really find the time. Then we hooked up a couple of months ago in LA and started playing together and the vibe was right and it just sort of went from there... We just decided that we wanted to continue doing it and that we were going to record a record together.”
Before Wavves there was Ghost Ramp, Nathan’s blog: a collection of music he admires and Wavves’ work-in-progresses. Check it at ghostramp.blogspot.com. Wavves latest album, Wavvves is out now in Australia through Stomp Records.
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“I knew I wasn't exactly mentally healthy enough to continue to tour the way I have been since February,” Nathan said in an online apology.
“Honest truth is this has all happened so fast and I feel like the weight of it has been building for months now with what seems like a never ending touring and press schedule which includes absolutely zero time to myself.”
It was described as “the most epic onstage meltdown a band of their small size could conjure” by Pitchfork’s Ryan Schreiber, but as far as Wavves is concerned the past is the past – and the past will soon be marked by their third album, recorded in August and set for release early 2010.
“It [the next album] is a lot different, the actual recording of the stuff has changed... for the most part it's demos of mine that I still had, and newer stuff... they came to the table with Zach and our friend and engineer of the record, Andy. I was getting more input on the stuff instead of the way I did it prior where I just kind of had an idea and put it down and did it right away. This is more kind of arranged and thought out... and I feel, mature, in a way.”
In a world where every musically-minded teenager is mixing tracks on his MacBook, Wavves are making tacks that, simply put, are dirty. At best the sound quality is poor. But once you get over that and listen to the music, you have to admit there’s something there, in a 90s nihilistic kind of way. Let’s face it, if there wasn’t something about the music, they wouldn’t be getting the gigs they are. So how is the new Williams-Hill partnership working out?
“Well, I talked to Zach towards the start of wave a couple of times. He got a copy of one of the first pieces of music I released… he had just kind of said that he was a big fan, and that he wanted to play with me, but we both had hugely busy schedules at the time and we couldn't really find the time. Then we hooked up a couple of months ago in LA and started playing together and the vibe was right and it just sort of went from there... We just decided that we wanted to continue doing it and that we were going to record a record together.”
Before Wavves there was Ghost Ramp, Nathan’s blog: a collection of music he admires and Wavves’ work-in-progresses. Check it at ghostramp.blogspot.com. Wavves latest album, Wavvves is out now in Australia through Stomp Records.
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