Wheat harvests a new crop of ambient pop
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Massachusetts ambient popsmiths Wheat have seemingly changed identities with every album. During their 13-year run, they've been mealy-mouthed indie-rockers cut from the Pavement cloth on their 1998 debut Medeiros, dream-pop boundary-pushers downing the Flaming Lips Kool-Aid on 1999’s David Fridmann-produced Hope & Adams, and squeaky-clean would-be adult-pop stars on 2003’s overly polished stab at mainstream success, Per Second, Per Second, Per Second … Every Second. Leaving the major-label world behind five years ago, Wheat is once again as weird as it wants to be, although its new album, White Ink, Black Ink, restores some of the propulsive pop melodies that were absent from its predecessor, landing Wheat in the indefinable gray space between outré indie and hummable pop that’s always been the band's wheelhouse. Lead singer and guitarist Scott Levesque talked with The A.V. Club in advance of Wheat’s Aug. 28 show at the 7th St. Entry about his longtime partnership with fellow group mainstay Brendan Harney, life on the genre fringe, and sage advice from Daniel Johnston.
The A.V. Club: At this point, five albums into your career, do you start work on a new record with your past body of work in mind?
Scott Levesque: Yes and no. For us it’s always a process of trying to bring the music into focus, but the music is always changing. To my mind, each record is like a different little tweak of the focus knob. The process is never the same, but the goal is. I’m always trying to make an amazing record I don’t already own. I have thousands of records, cassettes, mp3s, CDs, and whenever I get the urge to make another record it’s usually because there’s a sound in my head I want to hear and I can’t get it from listening to all of the music I have, so I have to go out there and make it. [Laughs.]
AVC: Wheat’s music moves between avant garde and pop. How do you maintain that tension?
SL: I’ve never been a really technical musician, so I just think about it in terms of what sounds I like rather than genre. I’m always interested in the fusion of different musical worlds. I’d rather be on the fringe of genres than stuck right there in the middle. I have some amazing friends on opposite sides of the musical spectrum. I have a friend who worked on the last Jonas Brothers record, and I’m friends with the Lighting Bolt guys, and I have equal respect for them. Those divisions really don’t matter to me, and they don’t matter in the music I make. Maybe it would be better if it was more focused in one direction or another; life would probably go a lot smoother. [Laughs.]
AVC: Brendan Harney’s been your musical partner for more than a decade, though numerous other members have come and gone from the band. What is it about your musical relationship with Brendan that still makes him your go-to guy?
SL: I think we’re both good at letting the music go wherever it needs to and not worrying about others' perceptions. Our stuff is just better with each other involved. It’s a nice mix of personalities. But everyone we worked with really shaped it too, from my friend Luke [Hieber], who has been playing bass with us the last couple of years, to the engineers and mixers. I think it’s harder to make good music if you’re closed up and trying to do it all on your own.
AVC: Wheat’s had a bit of a rollercoaster career, yet you guys are still standing. What do you attribute your longevity to?
SL: A few years ago when we were touring off of [Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square], we did this double interview with Daniel Johnston for the BBC while we were in Scotland. At some point the interviewer turned to Daniel and said, “What advice do you have for Wheat?” He paused for a second and then said, “Keep on rocking!” And man, that’s my advice too. All the bullshit aside—dealing with A&R guys, getting signed—none of that matters in the long run. What happens with people is that they get so concerned with the outward junk—“Who likes it? How are the reviews?”—they lose sight of why they were making music in the first place. I was reading this magazine article recently and we were listed as an “up-and-coming indie band.” And I was like, “Hey, we’ve been around for more than 10 years, but that’s awesome, we’re still on the up!” [Laughs.] When I think of what I’ve put into music and what I’ve gotten out of it, I’ve done more than okay. All things considered, I couldn’t be happier.
