Talk it up: Wavves

Just announced on the line-up for next year's Golden Plains Festival in Meredith, Victoria, Wavves frontman and poster boy Nathan Williams (far left) checks in with Rip It Up to tell us, well, not much really. Let's just say he's a man of few words.

Rip It Up was supposed to talk to Nathan via the telephone a few weeks ago but when that fell through (damn you Telstra!), we had to settle for an emailer. Big mistake! As you'll find out in a minute, Nathan's a pretty vague guy at the best of times, but put him in front of a computer and he's a complete space cadet. I guess more than anything this shows exactly why you shouldn't use the questions you've prepared for a telephone interview in an email interview. But first some background info on Nathan and his band...

Wavves have had a massive year in 2010. Their third album King Of The Beach has just owned. A blend of skater punk, indie and psych-pop, the album is miles ahead of Wavves' scrappy lo-fi punk of the past. Back then it was only Nathan writing, recording and playing eveything. Now he's got a band. Stephen Pope and Billy Hayes, formerly of the late Jay Reatard's band, joined Nathan a year ago and things have been happy ever since. Which is a good thing because at the time Nathan was getting himself into lots of trouble, "being a jerk" onstage at a festival in Spain and getting into fights with members of Black Lips.

But that was then, this is now:

Hi Nathan, this is a bit weird talking to you via email. Thanks for your time to answer my questions. What have you been up to lately?

“This is weird? I think this is awesome. I'm naked right now while writing this.”

Congratulations on King Of The Beach. The album’s been out for a few months now, have you been happy with how it’s been received?

“Yeah I'm happy with it. My cat is happy for me. I just did my laundry and my feet are kinda sweaty. But it's not even hot in my house, ya know?”

In a lot of ways it was a very different album to what you’ve done before – you recorded it in a studio with a new band and a producer – how did you find recording this album compared to the first two?

“It was cool to work with other people. I couldn't have done it without the engineer and producer and band.”

I guess the most obvious thing about King Of The Beach is how clean it sounds compared to your earlier stuff. Are you trying to distance yourself from that older sound?

“I'm not trying to distance myself from anything. I just don't want to keep doing the same thing. The idea of Wavves sounding one specific way is just something I don't want. I don't want to continue to make records if the music isn't evolving and taking something else on. That wouldn't be fun to make or listen to.”

The whole lo-fi thing seems a bit done to death now. Would you agree?

“Maybe. Probably. Not really. Somewhat. I don't know.”

Was it difficult for you to adapt to working with a band in the studio instead of doing it all on your own?

“No it was fun! The studio situation took a second to get used to but when it worked it worked well.”

What about working with producer Dennis Herring? How did you guys get along?

“We had our ups and downs but it was a good working relationship. We challenged each other to fights outside every night. We would take off our shirts and our pants and just ya know, just uuhhhhhhhh.”

What made you decide to do it in a studio? A big part of your appeal early on was that you were making all your music in your parents’ garage.

“I wanted to create a bigger sound. I wanted to make a different record. Those were the main reasons.”

And the internet was a big part in getting you noticed early too on but it bit you in the ass a bit this time when the album was leaked. Were you pissed off about that?

“Nah, it doesn't matter. I'm flattered ppl wanted to hear it so badly.”

A lot of the themes and music on this record seem a bit happier than your earlier work. Are you in a happy place now?

“I'm in a happier place now probably but it's hard to say. Each day is a new one.”

There’s still a lot of self-deprecation about your music though. How much of that is about you and how much is just conceptual?

“It's all about me. Part of cleaning it up was making it more 'honest', so lyrically it was sort of the same thing.

From the outside it looked like you had a pretty rough 12 months leading up to the release of King Of The Beach. Would that be a fair comment or is that just an outsider’s perspective?

“It had its ups and downs like every year before it. Just this time some people cared what I was doing for some reason.”

Did you feel like you had a point to prove with this album though? There seem to be less critics of your music than there used to be.

“I'd be lying if I said I didn't kind of have something to prove, but I wanted to make the best record I could regardless of  how I felt.”

Has your attitude or opinion about the media changed at all in the past 18 months?

“No.”

Wavves play at Golden Plains at the Supernatural Amphitheatre in Meredith, Victoria from Fri Mar 12-Sun Mar 14.

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