Friday the 13th was supposed to be an unlucky day reserved for paranoia and superstition, but for Nathan Williams, the man behind Wavves, it was a perfectly good day for jubilance. “HOORAY NORTH AMERICA! 2009 IS STILL POS- ITIVE!” he wrote on his blog, Ghost Ramp.
Any number of things could deserve credit for putting Williams in such high spirits on a traditionally bleak day, including the fact that around the time of the post, he was taking in a few moments of recuperation time in California following a rowdy, drunken European tour that left him “coughing gross shit up.” But it’s likely that Williams’ enthusiasm stems from the two LPs he’s released since December, not to mention that he’s about to embark on a lengthy U.S. tour and has such a buzz surrounding him that even the New York Times picked up on the vibrations of his fuzzed-out, fried-up pop punk.
Williams, a mere 22, is the second oldest in a family of four kids. He was born in Los Angeles, moved to Virginia for a few years and then moved to San Diego when he was 14. His parents met in high school and played in a band called Summer Wind that played “cheesy ‘80s pop,”Williams says. He also played with bands in high school, although his musical style aligned more with “really crappy punk.” He grew up listening to punk and alternative music, but turned his focus to hiphop after his parents expressed distaste for it. Hip-hop doesn’t come up in his music today, but he still pays tribute to it with smatterings of the genre’s classic videos on his blog.
Only a couple of short years ago,Williams found himself in a rut. He had dropped out of school, had no job and no girlfriend—but he did have a new computer. Using the Garage Band trial program that came with it, he started to record some songs and found he enjoyed the freedom of being in a one-man band. “It was easier doing things by myself,” he says. From that point on,Williams kept up his at-home recordings, picked up the per forming name Wavves and started to spread his blend of punky, distortion-happy lo-fi to open ears. He says he recorded his debut in about one week, took a day off and then recorded his follow-up, Wavvves, in two and a half weeks. By the time the Woodsist label released his debut in December 2008, both the album and the follow-up were already more than a year old. Fat Possum took over for the release of Williams’ second album, but released it earlier than planned through iTunes both to capitalize on the blog buzz phase and because the album had already leaked online.
By the time Williams came to play New York shows in February, it appeared that the hoopla surrounding his music had sparked the attention of mainstream media—no less than a Times reporter showed up to his show at Less Artists More Condos in the West Village. Seeing the review in the Feb. 8 issue made it feel like the Gray Lady had gone and cut herself some chunky hipster bangs, but the language was stiff enough to assure readers that the paper was still wearing mom jeans.Williams admits that it was weird to get that sort of coverage, but he’s more indifferent toward it than anything. “Honestly, I don’t even remember what they said, but I don’t really care,” he says. “It’s there for a day, and then the next day it’s gone.”
Recognition has come to Williams and his music fairly quickly, and he still seems wary of the attention he has received. “I definitely did not expect as many people to listen to the songs,” he says.Williams has plenty of touring in store for the rest of the year but does not anticipate putting out any more albums in 2009. “Although I say that,” he says, “and I’ve been back in California for two days and have already recorded two songs.”
> Wavves
Mar. 28, Market Hotel, 1142 Myrtle Ave. (at Broadway), B’klyn, no phone; 8, $8. Also, Mar. 29 at Cake Shop & Mar. 30 at Mercury Lounge.
