Breaking Wavves

Nathan Williams just wants to get in,
get it done and get out

MOTHER NECESSITY: Nathan Williams

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Whether Nathan Williams, the multi-instrumentalist behind San Diego’s Wavves, likes it or not, his musical vehicle has been shoved under the ever-widening umbrella of lo-fi, or “no-fi” or, to use my new personal favourite term from the blogosphere, “shitgaze.” Along with budget rockers No Age, Times New Viking, Psychedelic Horseshit and a slew of others, Wavves have been slapped with the ghetto production tag.

“I guess people need labels to help them understand the music,” says Williams. “Now it seems to have turned into some sort of weird indie rock marketing tool, but I think those bands you mentioned, and myself, have really just recorded that way out of necessity more than choice. It’s not like it’s a new thing either, because bands like Sebadoh and Guided By Voices were doing it in the ’90s, and a lot of people before them.”

For all the lack of polished production on Wavves records, the songs lying underneath are as close to pop gems as you can get. There is something to be said for Williams’ hands-on approach to making records. Like much of the current crop of budding bedroom producers, Williams has been extremely prolific, recording two full-length records in just one month.

“I really want to just get into a recording environment, get the songs down and just get out. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, your first musical inclination is the best one, and the more you start fooling with it, the further away you get from what your original outcome was meant to be.”

With Wavves already garnering a heap of attention, Williams insists that his original plan for the band, despite so many eyes on him, has not changed one bit. “I don’t make records for other people to listen to. I make records that I want to listen to, and that’s about it. That may sound selfish, but in the end, I have to make the songs work for me. If I make a recording I really like in the future and people don’t like it because it’s not lo-fi enough, that would just be stupid.”

WITH GANGLIANS, LITTLE GIRLS AND
TONSTARTSSBANDHT AT
FRIENDSHIP COVE ON
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 23, 9 P.M., $12