Wheatus

Wheatus
Brendan B. Brown lead vocalist of Wheatus
Background information
Origin Northport, New York, United States
Genres Alternative rock, pop rock, power pop
Years active 1995–present
Labels Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Montauk Mantis
Members Brendan B. Brown
Matthew Milligan
Brandon Ticer
Gabrielle Aimée Sterbenz
Leo Freire
Joey Slater
Karlie Bruce

Wheatus is an American rock band from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are known principally for their 2000 single "Teenage Dirtbag" which appeared in the movie Loser and the HBO miniseries Generation Kill and was most recently used as an acoustic opening for the anti-bully film Bully, and Netflix Original series Girlboss.

History

1995–2002: Formation and Wheatus

Wheatus was formed by Brendan B. Brown in 1995, on the lower east side of New York City. Brown began by writing a few songs, and subsequently enlisted the help of his brother Peter Brown on drums, Rich Liegey on bass and backing vocals and Philip A. Jimenez on various percussion instruments, keyboards, harmonica, providing samples and special effects. The band derives its name from the nickname "wedus" given to the Brown brothers by their father when they were children.[1] Then, in 1999 they hired New York entertainment attorney Ray Maiello who booked them at the Luna Lounge on New York's Lower East Side for regular appearances. Maiello helped the group and shopped their self-produced debut album to major record labels. Maiello sent demos to Kevin Patrick from Columbia Records. Patrick came to see a showcase at Mercury Lounge and quickly signed the band to a multi-album deal. Maiello was subsequently hired as the band's manager. Their self-titled debut album was released on August 15, 2000 and spawned the band's first and largest hit, "Teenage Dirtbag", a song which charted at No. 2 in the United Kingdom. Their second single, a cover of one of Erasure's signature songs – "A Little Respect", also reached very high chart positions, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.[2] The third single from the album, a double A-side of "Leroy" and "Wannabe Gangstar", didn't perform as well as expected, only reaching No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart. Another song from the album, "Punk Ass Bitch", was bought by the creators of Jackie Chan Adventures and reworked as "Chan's the Man", the end credits theme for the program's first season.

2002–05: Hand Over Your Loved Ones and Suck Fony

The band began work on their second album in the summer of 2002, with Brendan enlisting the help of his sister, Liz Brown, and the band's merchandiser, Kathryn Froggatt, as backing vocalists. Shannon Harris of Relish, a band who had previously supported Wheatus on their earlier tours, was also added to the band as keyboardist. The album's first single, "American in Amsterdam", was heavily underpromoted after the band had a dispute with their record label over their request to lip sync on Top of the Pops. When their second studio album, Hand Over Your Loved Ones, was released in Autumn 2003, it received little or no promotion in the United Kingdom, and was never released in the United States due to the ongoing dispute. In October 2004, the band made the decision to part with their record label, and as such, formed their own record label, Montauk Mantis. During this time, they also enlisted Michael Bellar as a replacement for Shannon Harris, who had decided to leave the band over the dispute. In February 2005, the band re-released Hand Over Your Loved Ones under the new title Suck Fony. For the re-release, the album included new songs, including the new track "William McGovern", and a cover of the Pat Benatar classic "Hit Me with Your Best Shot". The album was originally only made available via the band's website, until 2007, when it was added to iTunes and Amazon MP3 after the band signed a distribution contract.

2005–07: Line-up changes and Too Soon Monsoon

Bassist Mike McCabe left the band in March 2005, shortly after the release of Suck Fony. He was subsequently replaced by Nicolas diPierro. The band subsequently began recording a new album in April 2005, and just three months later, the album's first single, BMX Bandits, was released as a limited edition 7" single. In October 2005, the band's third studio album, Too Soon Monsoon, was released via their official website. Since early 2010, Too Soon Monsoon has been made available via a "pay what you want" donation scheme via the band's official website.[3] Days after the release, Michael Bellar decided to leave the band, and was replaced by Gerard Hoffmann. A second single from the album, The London Sun, was released in February 2006, however, the release marked the departure of Nicolas diPierro, who was subsequently replaced by 19-year-old rookie bassist Matt Milligan. A further line-up changed occurred in May 2006 when drummer Pete Brown decided to give up being a musician to get married.[4] He was subsequently replaced by Kevin Garcia, leaving Brendan Brown as the only remaining member from the original line-up. The next line-up change occurred only five days later, when Kathryn Froggatt left the band due to pregnancy. She later turned her hand to a new band project, entitled Amberlove. Kathryn was replaced by Connie Renda, however, she subsequently changed her mind, and was subsequently replaced by Missy Heselton. In February 2007, Wheatus joined the UK leg of the Get Happy Tour, along with founders Bowling for Soup and Army of Freshmen and British pop-punk outfit Son of Dork, for a sold out 13 show tour. The tour sparked the departure of Liz Brown, who decided to return to her original line of work in New York. Missy Heselton also took a back step from vocal duties to concentrate on studying.

2008–12: Pop, Songs & Death

The band began recording new material in October 2007. The material's release was carried over until February 2008, when a video for the song "Real Girl" was released to YouTube. The video was written, directed and filmed by Brendan, with assistance from Heselton and Milligan. On February 3, the band made an announcement claiming that the material they had been recording would be available to purchase in the fourth quarter of 2008.[5] In March 2008, the band performed several tour dates in the United States, and also announced dates for an acoustic performance in the United Kingdom. In October 2008, the band completed a successful tour of the UK, during which some of the new material was showcased in an acoustic form. In November 2008, the band returned to the recording studio to perfect their new material, and thus, set a release date for a six-track EP, entitled Pop, Songs & Death, Vol 1: The Lightning EP. In early 2009, Brendan composed music for motion picture April Showers, a film which deals directly with the Columbine Massacre. On June 1, 2009, The Lightning EP was expected for release, however, was not available until June 2 due to a series of technical difficulties, including a server crash on their website. In January 2010, Wheatus began a worldwide theatre tour, with dates spanning the United States, United Kingdom and Austria. They were supported by nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot. In April 2010, Brendan announced via his official Twitter page that Pop, Songs & Death, Vol. 2: The Jupiter EP was scheduled for release in May 2010.[6]

2016: Busted Pigs Can Fly Arena Tour, Seventh studio album

Wheatus' Twitter bio currently states that after their tour with Busted, they will record their seventh studio album. It will take a more "80s metal direction" following the influences Brown had as a teenager. According to Brown "Album [seven] is almost ready to be recorded and we'll be working on that over the winter and hope to have that done by 2017." Brown revealed that the album's tentative title is Beasts of the Unknown and that the group had 20 songs they were aiming to record this year, until the anniversary tour came up.[7]

Members

Current members
  • Brendan B. Brown – lead vocals, guitars (1995–present)
  • Matthew Milligan – bass, electric upright bass (2006–present)
  • Karlie Bruce – backing vocals (2008–2011, 2013–2014, 2017–present)
  • Gabrielle Aimée Sterbenz – backing vocals (2011–present)
  • Leo Freire – drums (2015–present)
  • Joey Slater – backing vocals (2015–present)
  • Brandon Ticer – keyboards (2017–present)
Former members
  • Peter McCarrick Brown – drums, backing vocals, turntables, samples (1995–2006)
  • Philip A. Jimenez – percussion, samples, turntables, keyboards, harmonica, banjo, special effects, multiple other instruments (1995–2003)
  • Rich Liegey – bass, backing vocals (1995–2000)
  • Mike Joseph McCabe – bass, backing vocals (2000–2005)
  • Elizabeth Grace Brown – backing vocals (2002–2007, 2014)
  • Kathryn Elizabeth Froggatt – backing vocals (2002–2006)
  • Shannon Patrick Harris – keyboards (2002–2004)
  • Vanessa Jimenez – backing vocals (2003)
  • Michael Bellar – keyboards (2004–2005)
  • Nicolas DiPierro – bass (2005–2006)
  • Gerard Charles Hoffmann – keyboards (2005–2011)
  • Kevin Joaquin Garcia – drums (2006–2013)
  • Melissa "Missy" Heselton – backing vocals (2006–2007)
  • Constance Renda – backing vocals (2006)
  • Johanna Cranitch – backing vocals (2007–2011)
  • Georgia Haege – backing vocals (2007–2008)
  • Dani Elliott – backing vocals (2011)
  • Ken Flagg – keyboards (2011)
  • Delaney Gibson – backing vocals (2011)
  • William Tully – drums (2013–2014)
  • Mark Palmer – keyboards (2011–2016)
Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

References

Footnotes

    Citations

    1. ↑ "Band Name Origins -> W". Retrieved 2015-09-06.
    2. ↑ "Jolly Roger! | News". Nme.Com. 2001-07-03. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
    3. ↑ "Wheatus Official Website. Retrieved on March 3, 2010". Retrieved January 18, 2018.
    4. ↑ Brown, Brendan. "bbbsays: Pete". Wheatus' official forum. Retrieved May 3, 2006.
    5. ↑ http://www.wheatus.com/ Wheatus Official Website. Retrieved on February 5, 2008
    6. ↑ wheatus (March 30, 2010). "@ralasinchains gonna be May 1 almost finished w it.... ;- )". Retrieved January 18, 2018.
    7. ↑ Jones, Craig (September 18, 2015). "Wheatus get nostalgic ahead of their Thekla gig". Bristol Post. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
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