Recently, I got the chance to interview and review one of New York’s emerging talents, Wakey!Wakey!. The band, formed of New Yorkers, are gaining a great deal of attention at the moment, because lead singer Michael Grubbs currently appears as a bartender and musician on the CW TV show One Tree Hill. So I have a bit of a confession; I actually have all of the One Tree Hill DVD box sets. One Tree Hill is my guilty pleasure; yeah it’s one of those shows that never really took off in the UK, but I always liked the angst and the way music has been utilised as part of the story lines. The show has a strong connection to music; characters often reference songs, and the show has featured live charity concerts by several artists such as Sheryl Crow, Lupe Fiasco, Grace Potter and The Noisettes. I also would quite like to be Peyton Sawyer, the music addict-record label owner-cheerleader, with almost perfect ringlet hair who drives a remarkable 1960’s Mercury Comet.
So One Tree Hill brought Wakey!Wakey! to my attention through the use of ‘War Sweater’ in the Season six finale, a strikingly beautiful record that became one of my playing favourites of 2009. I knew very little about them (apart from the minor details), however, so I spent some time getting to know Wakey!Wakey!.
In your recent CW interview, there seemed to be quite a few members of the
band, can you give us a low down on who’s who and what you each play?
Well, I'm [Michael] the lead singer, and I play the keys. Then we have Ane
Lieberwirth on bass, Tanya Buziak on backing vocals, Patrick Doane on
violin, and Max tucker on drums. We also have a rather large cast of
guitarists, brass, backup singers, and whistlers, but they switch
around a bit.
So getting to know you, Michael, can you tell me your top 5 played
tracks on your iPod?
Right now I'm into the new Fever Ray album. Classic loves would be
Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Phoenix. I'm not all
indie, though. My most recent purchase was the Drake album.
And your favourite book and movie?
I'm a huge nerd for Tom Robbins. As far as movies it really depends on
the day. 28 days later, Big Lebowski, and Step Brothers, all in
rotation. King of Kong was pretty great, too...
I see that you performed in some musical theatre productions; would
you ever consider going back to that or is that totally dead and done?
At this point I'm not counting anything out. Until One Tree Hill I
never thought I would act again, but I'm starting to remember how much
I love it. If the right part came along and I had time, most
definitely!
So your schedule is fairly hectic with One Tree Hill and promotion.
How would you spend your ideal day off?
I'd start by laying in bed and watching TV. Daily Show, Colbert
Report, etc. Then I'd ride my bike through Brooklyn. Then I'd go to a
really great dinner. I'm a huge foodie, and I really get into NY's
Cuisine.
Can you tell me what your favourite venue to play is?
I really love the stage at Bowery Ballroom (in NYC). That's probably
my number one. But for intimate shows it's all about Rockwood Music
Hall (also NYC). That place has been my living room for years.
And what’s your favourite part of a live performance?
There's always a moment when we all make eye contact amongst the band
members and realize how good we've got it. We're so lucky to be
playing with people we love and on a really supportive label.
What experience would you like people to take away from listening to your music?
I just want people to feel a little bit less lonely. It's nice to know
that other people have been through stuff. It's even nicer to be in a
roomful of people all celebrating having this whole pain thing in
common.
So what’s next, musically? Any chance of a tour?
We're dying to get overseas, so it's just
a matter of time. In the meantime, we're gonna start with touring the
US with this album. We're really proud of it, and want to spread it to
as many people as possible!
The review: ‘Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You’.
I’m really interested to see how this first album pans out, Michael Grubbs said himself “I had no idea how to put a song together; no one telling me, ‘Hey, you should check out Gershwin,’ but it was all so fascinating to me. So I found my own style by experimenting with what works and what doesn’t.”. So I’m intrigued to see how his style translates to a whole album.
The title track ‘Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You’ is a big piano and strings number that is distinctly pop-like. But with added guitar, it remains a strong track that with lyrics proclaiming ‘See it feels bad now/but it’s gonna get better someday’ that leaves you feeling strangely upbeat and itching to listen to more. The tracks are diverse; ‘Take It Like A Man’ captures Romany Gypsy harmonies whilst ‘The Oh Song’ slightly evokes tones of British band, Muse.
‘War Sweater’ is a track that I fell in love with. The instant drum beats interlaced with dramatic piano and strings with Grubbs’ voice sent shivers down my spine. Then there are the lyrics, the chorus proclaiming, ‘You wear your religion like a War Sweater/ You ask for the truth/ but you know you could do so much better/ And you sat on your fences/ you've screamed no retreat/ So now what will your legacy be?’, these are lyrics which, on paper seem a tad overdramatic, but played by Wakey!Wakey! and it feels dark and poignant. ‘Car Crash’ is another big track, similar to ‘War Sweater’. It’s one of those epic piano tracks which could seem to be easily forgotten about as it’s the last track on the album. I actually think this one is one of the strongest; it starts sweet enough and moves into a haunting melody with compelling lyrics.
It’s hard to categorise Wakey!Wakey! into a genre, because they are so diverse in their music; they sound classical one moment, full of Folk strings the next and produce drum beats reminiscent of Indie Rock the next. Grubbs certainly does use his own experimental style to produce an album that delivers pleasing tracks; my favourites of course being the emotive, ‘War Sweater’ and the rather more buoyant ‘Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You’.
We wish the band every success in their upcoming tour of the US and hope to see them in London soon.
