Artist of the Week: The Wrecks Q&A

1. How would you describe your style of music to somebody who is just starting to check you guys out?

Well, we like to think of ourselves as a rock band – at least that’s what it feels like live. But in this industry you tend to get told what you are. We’ve heard indie-rock, alternative, pop-punk, post-modern-punk-pop-dad-rock-indie-alternative-folk-gaze.. it’s all just noise to us. We’re a fairly new band, so we’re always exploring our sound and experimenting with new ideas. So I guess my advice for anyone stumbling upon our music is: Always expect something different – something new. We get bored easily and half of us have ADD. Oh, and come watch us live. We’re really good live.

2. How did you guys meet and decide to form the band?

A five car pile-up on the north-eastern shore of New Jersey. We each individually climbed out of our cars, assessed the damage, and were about to go our separate ways. As fate would have it, I noticed an acoustic guitar in the back of Nick Schmidt’s 1969 Cadillac Eldorado. He said he was on his way to a bon fire to meet impressionable girls who liked Red Hot Chili Peppers licks, and anchor tattoos. Before you know it, Billy was pulling a drum kit out of his pick-up truck, and Harrison was wielding his ‘ax’ that he named “Shakespeare’s Hammlett” after Metallica’s lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett. We went on to disrupt traffic in the middle of Route 9 for 3 hours as we covered songs by The White Stripes, Jesus and Mary Chain, and our biggest inspiration, Steel Panther. We upset a lot of people that day. Turns out, none of us had insurance on our vehicles, so we decided to start a band, name it The Wrecks, and use the money we make to pay for our excessive mechanic bills. We’re still paying it back, so come to a show and buy lots of merch.

3. What made each of you want to get into performing and making music?

 4. Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

As a band, we attribute a lot of our current sound to the artists that we all bonded over when we met – bands like Pixies, The Killers, Vampire Weekend, Weezer, Radiohead – I could go on and on.

Personally, my biggest lyrical influences come from bands who tell stories in their songs. Bands that you can listen to and feel as if you’re reading directly out of their journal. Bands like Say Anything, Motion City Soundtrack, Kevin Devine, Modern Baseball, Brand New, etc. While most of these acts are pop-punk, the genre has never really mattered for me. I’ve just always connected more with music that sounds undeniably honest and tells the listener exactly what happened without hiding behind lazy metaphors. I think pop-punk has just brought about bands that are really good at this.

5. You just got done touring with Nothing But Thieves – what was that experience like?

 6. Any crazy tour/traveling stories?

Conor from NBT smashed a windshield. I won’t comment any further on that. You’ll have to ask him yourself.

7. As a band, what piece of the creative process is your favorite? (Writing, recording, performing, etc.)

I’d say it’s all part of the same process for me. I don’t really think of them as separate things, as they all lead to one thing: sharing our music with other people. There’s no better feeling than writing a song that you think is great, or hearing that song come to life in the studio, or performing in front of a crowd of excited music fans screaming the lyrics. But of course you can’t have all that without the writer’s block, the 15-hour studio sessions that churn out a shit song, and the shows in Missoula, Montana in front 2 people. It’s all one big frustrating, rewarding, confusing, incredible, and heartwarming adventure.

8. Do you guys have any dream collaborations?

We’d love to work with Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys, The Arcs) or maybe Mike Crossey (The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Two Door Cinema Club). Both exceptional producers who know how to make a song sound raw, yet polished and rock, yet catchy. We really love their work.

9. If you could pick anywhere in the world to play a show, where would you go?

Probably Italy. Or Japan. Or Singapore. We wanna play everywhere.

10. Your debut EP came out earlier this year and already has some incredible reception.

What can fans expect to see from you guys in the remainder of 2016 and beyond?

Yeah, we didn’t really expect such a thunderous reaction to the EP. I mean, Alt Nation and Spotify both picked up the first single ‘Favorite Liar’ and put us on the air, and on official playlists online. We owe so much to them. We’d like to give the other tracks on the EP a little more attention, so look out for possibly some new music videos, or just more content in general regarding the other two songs. We just announced that we will be supporting Nothing But Thieves on their upcoming full US tour this Fall. We’re thrilled to get out there and meet so many new people and hopefully even see a few familiar faces. The dates are posted on our Facebook page, our bandsintown page, and on our websitewww.wearethewrecks.com

1. Movies or TV?

Going to the movie theater is probably my favorite leisurely thing to do. I love popcorn so much. But if I’m at home, I’d rather binge watch a favorite TV show. (Bojack Horseman, Rick and Morty, The Office).

2. Cats or Dogs?

Dogs. I’ve had some awful experiences with cats.

3. Pancakes or Waffles?

This may be an unpopular opinion, but definitely waffles.

4. Winter or summer?

I love the summer, but I write better songs in the winter. I suppose I’m undecided.

5. Twitter or Instagram?

Twitter is so much fun. Instagram stresses me out, and seems a bit more superficial. Twitter feels more random, and fun, and honest. At least that’s what I use it for.