Photo Credit: Jane Greenwood

Wheatus frontman Brendan B Brown recently sat down with Taped to chat about the band’s Christmas EP, the upcoming extended edition of their iconic debut release, and their most recent UK tour.

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Where did the idea of a Christmas EP come from?

Brendan: We had discussed putting together a Christmas EP for over a decade. The timing of our tours and budget made it impossible for it to work. You have to start around June or even May. We were either prepping for a tour or actually on tour. This time, we toured so much in 2023 that we found our situation more even than previously. There was this idea that (Teenage) ‘Dirtbag’ could be turned into a kids Christmas song. I have been so close to ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ for so many years and it makes it some way impossible for me to see it from some other angle. I asked Gabrielle (Sterbenz) if she could take a swipe at recreating it as a kids Christmas song. It hadn’t occurred to me that Christmas was always in the song (referencing to Noelle). She came back to me after three days with this idea, I recorded it that night and by the morning it was finished.

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What was it like thinking about a Christmas song so far in advance of the Holidays?

Brendan: Very bizarre. There is something so quirky about Christmas records. They are just a little, off. Maybe because they are recorded on the opposite side of the calendar. I thought it would be easier than it was but it was challenging. I would be in the studio downstairs and then come back upstairs, it was 87 degrees Fahrenheit and the birds were chirping. None of it made any sense. Although, I am very enthusiastic about the Christmas holiday.

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How different was the recording process compared to the band’s previous releases?

Brendan: It was very different from our typical process. When we make a record, we turn off the touring and promo side of the band off, and all we talk about what we are doing. On this occasion, as we didn’t have the time we usually would to do a record, we all did it individually. Joey Slater (backing vocals) prepared and recorded the entirety of ‘You Make Me Believe In Christmas’, which is the second song on the EP, and did it in the style of the debut album but as a Christmas song. Way before recording the Christmas EP, we were planning on doing a string quartet version of the first record. My friend Andrew Scrap Livingston who is a classical cellist and a genius, and he arranged a four piece violin, viola, cello and second violin and then contacted a band called The Rhythm Method, who shred string quartet music and in about four hours he had nailed this complex, beautiful, totally professional string version of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’. It is well out of my league to do that on my own. After listening to all four songs together there was something still missing. I started thinking about ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ and ‘Little Drummer Boy’ which are songs about the less fortunate. It has been bothering me for years how this country treats its borders and separating families. I thought that the record needed that.

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What has the reception been like so far for the EP?

Brendan: It’s really awesome talking to people about it online. I wasn’t sure how people would feel about us retrofitting ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ to a Christmas song. I think in particular kids are going to be able to rock out and not talk about the message behind the original version.

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The EP came out during your UK tour, did you get chance to play any of the Christmas songs live or is it still a little too early in the year for that?

Brendan: We did play ‘Christmas Dirtbag’ once. We did it in a meet and greet when it was requested. It would feel a little wrong to play the Christmas version then the original version live. Maybe one day though. We have always taken that approach to the set list that it’s the audience who get to decide what of our music goes into the show they paid for.

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You are set to release an expanded edition of your debut album. What extra material will feature on this version?

Brendan: First of all it is twice the size. The original ten minus ‘Punk Ass Bitch’ and the cover (A Little Respect by Erasure) are all there. The B-sides ‘Pretty Girl’ and ‘I’d Never Write A Song About You’ have taken their place, as originally intended. I have a list of songs that didn’t make the album, songs that I sounded like they belonged on the album over the years, and that is why they weren’t recorded because it felt like we were going back to something we had already done. This was the opportunity to record and release that alternate universe version of our first album. Songs like ‘The Deck’ and ‘Fairweather Friend’ all came before ‘Hey Mr Brown’ and ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ when I was in college.

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How does it feel like going back in time and rediscovering old songs to then bring them to light again?

Brendan: It’s like remembering to play the guitar that way. It’s our other self, entirely different in a way. The band was originally named ‘The Barking Spiders’ and that idea were never followed through on. It’s like wearing a costume and being our other self in a way. Some of the songs have no parallel on the record such as ‘Dead Again’ and ‘Dark Day’. They are quite dark and sad, and I’ve always been drawn to records like that such as ‘OK Computer’ by Radiohead.

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Wheatus have just completed their UK tour. How does it feel when after over 20 years you are still selling out shows across the pond?

Brendan: The truth is, we’ve wanted to do regional touring from the get go. I remember March 2001, the label and our management at the time were talking about where we could tour. The tour they wanted us to do is the one most bands and artists do where they come over for 2 weeks, play 8-10 shows and go home. I thought, I am not flying to a country 6000 miles away, with two tonnes of gear, with a hit on the charts to play nine shows. That doesn’t feel like an AC/DC tour to me which I am modelling this on. After some push back we were able to organise a thirty date UK tour, which was interrupted by the September 11th attacks. We lost about a month because of that but still managed to play from the end of October right through until nearly Christmas in 2001. It has always been regional touring for us. We have played Loughborough, Scunthorpe, Peterlee, Blackpool, Carlisle. We played a town called Tarbeth in Scotland on this tour; it was one of the best shows we have ever played. We played a youth centre in Newry, Northern Ireland. Most of the kids there, their parents had died in the troubles. It was really intense. For me that is better than any gig at Brixton Academy or in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow etc. I don’t want to do that tour, that tour is boring. You don’t spend enough time on stage kicking ass. Oddly we have become a regional band in the UK and Europe, it’s wonderful.

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A huge thank you to Brendan B. Brown for taking time out of his morning to chat with us, and we look forward to seeing the band on the road again soon.

Wheatus’ new EP ‘Just A Dirtbag Christmas’ is out now and available across all streaming platforms HERE.

The self-titled debut album’s expanded edition is scheduled for release 1st December 2024.

The official music video for ‘Christmas Dirtbag’ can be found below.