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Q&A // NATHAN WILLIAMS, SINGER AND GUITARIST OF WAVVES > Because we have questions. Celebrities have answers.
WAVVES, a pop-punk, beach-grunge super-trio from San Diego, has spent the beginning of this year in Oxford, Mississippi recording their album with producer guru Dennis Herring. After joining Fat Possum Records and releasing their new album King of the Beach in August, lead singer and guitarist Nathan Williams, bass player Stephen Pope and drummer Billy Hayes have been surfing the open road, touring all over the country and playing their surfer-punk indie rock sounds at equally grungy venues. Williams, 24, and brainchild of the band, talked with Jayplay about dropping out of high school, growing up as a soccer rat and how he fell into a project that's evolved into what's now known as WAVVES.
Jayplay:
Any highlights from the tour so far?
Nathan Williams:
We played a show at the Glasshouse in Pomona that was pretty cool. I hadn't been there since I was a kid. Just a bunch of insane kids losing their shit. There have been a couple sinkers along the way, but we haven't had a show that people didn't like.
JP: How was recording with Dennis and putting your concept into someone else's hands? Was it a little freaky for you?
NW: It was a little weird. It was like handing your baby off to a babysitter. Throughout the mixing and recording process, I was sitting right next to Dennis. I was a little bit annoying, but if I wouldn't have been there it wouldn't have turned out how I wanted.
JP. Who were your influences for King of The Beach?
NW: Nirvana, a lot of alternative music like Green Day and a lot of pop punk stuff. The Beach Boys is obvious because of the name of the album, but I also think The Beatles, particularly structure-wise and melodies.
JP: 'Take On The World' is optimistic and grasps a musician's dream of spreading music as far and wide as possible. Would you agree?
NW: It's funny because whenever anyone asks me about that song they're like, 'Why were you so depressed?' No, not really. I talk about how I'm the shit a lot on the album, but yes, sometimes that's just how you feel. It's weird when people ask me if I'm depressed and if I'm going to kill myself. If I keep getting asked those kinds of questions, I might.
JP: I heard you say in a video interview that the band, 'got as big as it did on accident.' What did you mean by that?
NW: I recorded some demos and I wasn't going to show them to anybody, but I showed my friend Jeremy who runs a label in New York and he really liked it. I just kind of let the song sit there and it just snow-balled.
JP. What were you like in high school?
JP What were you like in high school?
NW: I dropped out of high school in tenth grade.
I wore whatever the skateboarders I watched wore, so cargo pants and skate shoes and Kid Dynamite t-shirts.
I just dressed like a southern California kid.
JP Did you grow up taking guitar lessons?
JP Did you grow up taking guitar lessons?
NW: No I never took guitar lessons. I got a guitar when I was 11 and just wanted to play music to meet girls or something. I kind of just screwed around with my friends and played soccer my whole life.
Then finally when I was 17 I was like, 'Ok fuck this. I can't do this anymore.'
JP: Did you want to go to college?
NW: Yeah. I had scholarships to a couple of schools but I didn't feel like college was for me. And if you look at how much Major League Soccer players make it's like $30,000 a year, so I think I chose pretty well.
LESLIE KINSMAN
Surfin' USA: Nathan Williams and his band, WAVVES, are currently on tour promoting their recent album, King of the Beach. Williams became a singer after dropping out of high school, opting for the mic instead of his once-loved soccer cleats.
Contributed Photo
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lica of Naismith's rules hanging on the wall at Amyx Barber Shop, 842 1/2 Massachusetts St.
He said the copy has been there
Edited by Alex Tretbar
SUSTAINABILITY
KU EcoHawks convert donated car to electric
Kansas Libraries will use the car to deliver on-campus mail
Josh Petty always liked tinkering with machines when he was
younger. He'c
out
younger. He work on his mom's broken awn mower until it was finally running smoothly.
right now — no tires, a battered back fender and a missing front end. The EoHawks removed the Jimmy's engine last week.
Wires and tubes are exposed that some people will never see in their entire lives. Blue painting tape marks the wires and tubes — the gas pedal line here, air bag wires there.
Instead of a gas engine, the Jimmy will be powered by a main electric motor and two auxiliary motors, Petty said. The motors
EcoHawks' GMC Jimmy project. The group is working to convert the car into a fully-electric vehicle. Petty said the group hopes to save the project completed by the end of spring.
Now he has a bigger project. Petty, a senior from Olathe, is team leader of the KU
The full conversion is estimated to cost $55,000.
"It's that hands-on learning that makes them the best engineers."
Other funding for the project is coming from the EcoHawks' budget and sponsors.
But for now, the conversion is a work in progress.
The 1997 GMC Jimmy, a small sport utility vehicle, sits propped up on car jacks in the KU EcoHawks' garage on West Campus. It's a definite change of scene from the police impound or where the Jimmy sat for two years before being donated to the EcoHawks.
Student Senate passed a bill which gave the EcoHawks $2,500 to use for the conversion project.
CHRIS DEPCIK EcoHawks advisor
The car looks a bit dilapidate $ ^{2} $
will run using more than 1,000 rechargeable batteries. The batteries — similar to those that cordless drills use — are about the size of AA batteries.
Just as each system in the car's engine has to work in unison, Petty said the group members have to work together as well. The 12 students working on the project have a different area of focus.
"I love the fact that we aren't just doing theory," he said. "We're not just sitting in a lab. We're not just on the Internet or reading books."
Jon Kalinowski, a senior from Wichita, is focused on power steering. He said he enjoys the freedom and hands-on learning that the project provides.
The students have to research.
theorize and then put their work into practice.
After the car is finished, KU Libraries will use the car to deliver on-campus mail. The campus mail route includes main and West Campus buildings in addition to continuing education buildings on Kasold Drive. On a typical day, the KU Libraries mail vehicle travels about 22 miles.
Edited by Lisa Curran
"It's that hands-on learning that makes them the best engineers," said Chris Depcik, EcoHawks advisor and assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
There shouldn't be any worry that the Jimmy won't be noticed. Petty said the EcoHawks hope to paint the frame lime green and the body white.
Petty said the electric vehicle would be able to travel 80 to 90 miles before a recharge.
"It will almost be a billboard for the idea of sustainability," Lars said.
LARRI-BMX seeks the city's approval of a plan to construct a course to fulfill Lawrence's BMX interest.
Lars Leon, associate librarian for KU Libraries, said the libraries encourage sustainability. The electric vehicle is another step in that direction.
LAWRENCE | 3A
New biking club proposes local BMX racetrack
Classifieds...9A
Crossword...4A
Cryptoquips...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...10A
Sudoku...4A
makes sense in historical context
Check out The Wave for up-to-date stories on Kansas football, including the scoop on new redshirt freshman Erick McGriff and commentary on fan attendance this season.
INDEX
Columnist Luke Brinker explains that the apparent jump in 18- to 24-year-old voters in 2008 actually wasn't all that dramatic. By comparison, Baby Boomers were driven to the polls by factors such as the draft.
Find extra football coverage in The Wave
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