Wavves

WAVVES
Sweet Valley High

Despite punters at The Bakery stealing their equipment off the stage from them last year, Wavves are coming back for more! Ahead of their shows at the Rosemount Hotel on Friday, May 18; and Groovin The Moo on Saturday, May 19, Nathan Williams talks to MATTHEW HOGAN.

Californian noisy surf rockers Wavves are unlikely to forget their maiden voyage to Perth anytime soon.

Their show at The Bakery a year culminated in an overzealous crowd rushing the stage with some even pocketing the band's equipment. But Wavves leader Nathan Williams also remembers a certain audience member. "That Perth show, yeah," he exclaims. "Steve [Pope - bass] and I gave a guy a bunch of mushrooms and then this dude freaked out!

"Some guy was in our backstage area - he was like this photographer backstage and we were talking to him backstage and we gave him these mushrooms and he freaked out and ran off," Williams explains. "I don't know what his name was, but I just remember that show was really fun, and I saw him in the crowd and I said, 'Hey I gave this guy mushrooms!' I saw the look of fear on his face. I still remember, he looked like a ghost. Sorry to that guy, if he reads this...

One thing noticeably absent from their tour a year ago was their 'herb and spice' grinder. "We had trouble getting them over," says Williams. "We might not have been able to ship them or something... I don't remember. There was a law. I think that Australia has a paraphernalia law or something like that."

I thought they were for grinding herbs and spices... "Oh yeah," he chuckles. "It's my herb and spice grinder... and coffee, sometimes... We'll definitely try to bring them this time. We have like a package this time, with a lighter, grinder and papers. So hopefully we can bring 'em!"

Wavves might be bringing some new tracks with them too as they've been holed up in the studio working on the full-length follow-up to the Life Sux EP. "We just got out of the studio about an hour ago and we're working on another record with this producer John Hill, who has done a bunch of interesting stuff," he says referring the producer who is best known for working on shiny pop albums with Rihanna and Christina Aguilera, as well as Portugal. The Man and Wu-Tang.

Predicting a September release, Williams gives us a hint of a change in direction for the band. "It probably won't be as, I guess, lo-fi sounding," he reveals. "It will be different. I feel like, I mean it's not all the way done yet and until it's fully done I couldn't really tell you, but it sounds like the obvious next step of Wavves for me. But people always seem to be shocked at news things, so who knows?"

Followers may be shocked to hear about Williams new musical project with his brother. "I've just bought a house in east LA and my little brother has moved in here with me and we've been working on a project together that's kind of beat-oriented called Sweet Valley," reveals Williams, before his brother Kynan chimes in on the other line: "Nathan, there's something in the garbage disposal - you've got to pull it out man!"

"That's my little brother right there," informs the Wavves frontman. "We've done a couple of remixes, we've remixed Gift Of Gab and we're talking to some labels right now, and we have a mixtape probably coming out in the next month or two."