Photo Credit: Elizabeth Lintonen
The Wrecks
A warm breezy air floated through the Summerfest grounds under a baby blue sky. Aaron Kelley, The Wrecks’ lead guitarist, dressed in a white jumpsuit with a red flame print climbing to his knees, plugged in the amps and tuned his guitar, while Nick “Schmizz” Schmidt, bass guitar, checked the mics. A near perfect summer day greeted the band Friday afternoon in Milwaukee. When The Wrecks took the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage at 4 p.m., they’re met with deafening cheers and adoration.
The energy of the show was addictive from the moment it began. Love for The Wrecks’ music was undeniable. “It blew my mind,” says Schmizz. Nick Anderson, lead singer, says, “It felt like a headline show. It felt like everyone knew all the words. It felt like everyone was into it.”
Wearing colorful jumpsuits and in constant motion, The Wrecks played the set with all the swagger experience brings, pouring themselves into every song. Starting with “Out of Style,” one of the most upbeat tracks from their first album, Infinitely Ordinary, Schmizz made conscious eye contact with audience members, and Billy Nally, drummer, played with infectious passion. The performance had all the elements of a headlining show, feeding an audience hungry for more.
The Wrecks are no strangers to Milwaukee. “Milwaukee is the first city we ever played in that I remember hearing anyone sing the words to our songs,” said Anderson. They recount playing the Eagles Club at The Rave many times. Kelley is a Wisconsin native, having attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The band’s 10-year journey has developed into a lyrically enticing, genre defying alternative rock career, an honest show of what makes live music worth experiencing.
Vulnerability plays an important role in The Wrecks’ work. In both his songs and onstage persona, Anderson pulls every lyric, every note from personal experience. The result is songwriting that is uncomplicated and deeply honest. It is hard not to feel as though Anderson is giving pieces of himself to fans in every performance, especially when he picked up an acoustic guitar and delivered some of his most heart-wrenching songs including “Normal” and “Ugly Side” solo, leaving not a dry eye. “I don’t feel as vulnerable, I feel confident, because I know that I’m saying exactly what I mean and people are going to receive this in the exact way that I mean it,” said Anderson. “All of a sudden, the puzzles aren’t so puzzling.
“When I get back to my roots with songwriting, which come from writing what I’m going through and using music as an outlet to get through something very difficult, that is when I write what I think is my best, most honest music,” he continued.
“When I realized this is what I wanted to do forever? I was like 11 or 12,” said Schmizz.
“I was always creating stuff. I’m driven by the reward of the thing that I made. Not necessarily to show people, although that part is awesome,” Anderson added. “The reason I love music, and the reason I’ve always known I’d do it, is because it gave me the reward. Ever since I cracked that code I was like ‘oh, this is what I want to do forever.’”
With a well-received sophomore album, Sonder, out now for three weeks, the band is surprised by the amount of requests they receive for the brand new songs. “There’s a few songs on the new record that people have been like ‘why aren’t you playing this?’ and it’s like, we didn’t even know you liked it that much!” saaid Anderson.
The set list at Friday’s show consisted of an almost equal blend from their first and second albums, as well as their first and second EP’s We Are The Wrecks and Panic Vertigo. Finishing the evening with arguably their most popular song, “Favorite Liar,” the band took their hour and a half set and turned it into a personal, gritty, and mesmerizing performance. The fans in the audience left in tears, throats raw, and on cloud nine. “I don’t remember being this happy on tour ever. And I’ve been very happy on tour,” says Kelley. And for fans of The Wrecks, that happiness goes both ways.
