Photo by Alexandra Gavillet
The Internet has made hypochondria even easier, as Wavves bassist Stephen Pope discovered when he caught a bad case of Medical Students’ Disease. It was the inspiration for the band’s most recent single, “Heavy Metal Detox,” off their upcoming fifth album, V.
“After we finished touring for [2013’s] Afraid of Heights we were planning on going to the studio almost immediately but then scheduling conflicts started happening. We had over six months of pretty much not doing anything,” Pope said after soundcheck in Seattle, where the tour kicked off.
“I spent a lot of time in my room by myself writing songs and getting on WebMD convincing myself I had tons of diseases. I thought I had mercury poisoning,” which prompted the song title, he said. “It deals with paranoia and freaking yourself out. Being along too much does that to you.”
Wavves founder Nathan Williams added Pope in 2009, before the recording of their third album, King of the Beach. Prior to that Pope had lived in Memphis and backed similarly catchy, late garage-rocker Jay Reatard. Pope’s childhood friend Alex Gates joined Wavves prior to Heights and takes a more active role on the latest album after moving to Los Angeles last year. Gates and Pope saw some of their first shows together.
“Then we were in punk bands in high school and now we’re here,” Pope laughed. “It’s weird. Nobody should be friends this long.”
The album’s a reaction to the ’90s alt-rock vibe of Afraid of Heights. Their first album for Warner Brothers (after one on indie Fat Possum), Heights reached #81 on Billboard. Perhaps in reaction to 18 months of touring those songs, Wavves wanted to go in a different direction. They recruited producer Woody Jackson, with whom they’d worked on music for Grand Theft Auto V.
“I didn’t want to make a retro-sounding record,” Pope said. “This one we wanted something unique that not everyone’s heard, and Woody happened to really hate Weezer and Nirvana. So he didn’t want to make anything that sounded like that, even though it’s obvious to compare us.”
They recorded at an old Hollywood studio that was once home to Paramount Studios and radio shows in the ’20s and ’30s. The vibe was good, and Pope says you can hear it in the running time of V compared to the last album.
“The last one’s like 45 minutes and this one is a half-hour,” said Pope. “I think we were just in a better mood and more energetic while recording it. More excited to be recording it.”
The album is crisp and well produced but not overly polished, never sacrificing the crackle of the live playing. Over the years Pope’s refined a kind of performance ethos to maintain show energy and intensity.
“I don’t really like taking breaks between songs. Silence on stage drives me nuts, and none of us are really good at talking,” he said. “So if we’re not starting another song, I just try to keep some feedback in there. Silence is awkward and you don’t want the energy to go down in between.”
Pope’s happy to report the reefer-friendly Wavves offer a much different touring vibe than his previous outfit. Things grew so bad with Reatard, that Pope and former Wavves drummer Billy Hayes quit the band mid-tour. Reatard died three months later of cocaine toxicity. Was his friend’s end foretold during that tour?
“I don’t know,” he said. “There were lots of ups and downs the whole time. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but Billy and I just kind of got sick of touring with him. We were still friends, but touring wasn’t fun anymore.”
By comparison Wavves are a breeze—or maybe a vaporizer.
“Everybody is really easy going. It’s definitely not a vacation—it’s still work—but it’s always pleasurable. Nobody gets in fights, nobody hates each other,” he said, noting that marijuana does make it easier. “I can listen to horrible music for 12 hours in a row and enjoy it… This trip it’s mostly been Billy Joel and like modern country, like Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw.”
That’s why the moment they leave the van, he said, they’re ready to turn it up.
Wavves headline the Rave on Thursday, Sept. 24 with Twin Peaks and Steep Leans.
