LI's Wheatus celebrates two 'Dirtbag' decades
Twenty years ago an alternative rock band from Long Island made some noise in the music industry with a song that struck a nerve with teenagers across the globe. Wheatus’ hit song, “Teenage Dirtbag,” from its 2000 self-titled debut album turned them into instant rock stars.
“I didn’t know it was a hit when I wrote it, but I knew it was a really good song with a strong narrative,” says band founder and lead singer/guitarist Brendan B. Brown, 46, who grew up in Northport. “I thought it was worthy but not guaranteed to succeed.”
Today the band is celebrating its debut album’s 20th anniversary by re-recording it for a deluxe edition set to drop in October. It features a new version of “Teenage Dirtbag,” which gets released as a single on Aug. 15.
However, the story doesn’t begin there. Brown had a few misses before scoring with Wheatus. He played lead guitar for melodic alternative pop band Hope Factory where he opened for Joan Jett in the summer of 1996.
“Joan was kind to us,” says Brown, who graduated from Mineola's Chaminade High School in 1991. “We were just goofy boys who were in awe of her being a rock god. It was one hell of a lesson.”
Moving on to skate-pop band Mr. Jones, Brown was a guitarist, background vocalist and songwriter in this project put together by a management team.
“I got cut out,” says Brown, who worked a day job at Morse Micro Solutions in Syosset at the time. “My lyrics were replaced by stuff I wasn’t really feeling. It wound up being something I wasn’t a part of anymore.”
Wheatus on set with actress Mena Suvari for the "Teenage Dirtbag" video. Credit: Montauk Mantis Productions Inc.
SINGULAR SOUND
Next time around Brown started to develop his own project with a signature sound all of which he would control.
“I was finding my voice in the music and using a lot of hip-hop undercurrents in the way the drums and bass are used mixed with thick AC/DC-Metallica style guitars,” he says. “I had been in and out of the studio enough to see what it took to make a quality song and a unique recording that sounded like nobody else.”
However, Brown's approach was to play heavy riffs through a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar.
“I was trying to get past shredding into the songwriting world of guitar,” he says. “I went back to my first favorite guitar player Willie Nelson. He played a Martin acoustic guitar through an amplifier. I started messing around putting heavy overdrive distortion on an acoustic guitar.”
The results were a blend of his wide variety of influences.
“I call my music heavy eclectic rock. It sounds as if Metallica, Cheap Trick, Talking Heads, LL Cool J and Prince made a record together,” says Brown. “I like to take all my influences and melt them down. There’s a lot of failure in it. You tend to make a bad recipe more often than not. But when it does work, it’s super fun and it doesn’t sound like anything else.”
Brown began building a band when he partnered with multi-instrumentalist Philip A. Jimenez of Huntington.
“We really loved being in the studio together and feeding off each other,” says Brown. “Phil would correct the things I was overlooking and I would suggest things neither one of us considered. It was a good trade of energy.”
By adding his brother Pete on drums and Rich Liegey of Floral Park on bass (who was later replaced by Mike McCabe of Smithtown), the band started playing gigs at Mercury Lounge and Luna Lounge in Manhattan from 1998-1999.
“The response was strong,” says Brown. “We seemed like a bit more developed than we actually were. The music was ahead of itself and even our ability to play it.”
CONTRACT WITH COLUMBIA
The band, which was named after Brown’s father’s nickname for his children, caught the eye of Columbia Records, who signed them in the fall of 1999. Surprisingly, Brown insisted on self-producing the album and even used their budget to buy equipment to record themselves.
“We had been working in the laboratory for such a long time that we didn’t want to have anybody else’s stamp on it,” says Brown. “We were very fortunate with the way things worked out by just being allowed to make the record we heard in our heads. Most bands don’t get that chance. It’s rare. We lucked out.”
But, how did the band pull that off?
“It was a weird combination of Columbia loving the songs and not really getting it at the same time,” says Brown. “They fell in love with something that was alien to them. I don’t think they could have told us what producer to use if they wanted to.”
The first single, “Teenage Dirtbag,” made it to No. 7 on the Billboard alternative rock chart and was chosen as the opening song to the Jason Biggs-Mena Suvari 2000 summer comedy, “Loser.” The actors even appeared in the video where Brown proudly wore a Commack T-shirt.
“I had the riff for ‘Dirtbag’ since college,” says Brown. “I was lying on my back strumming the guitar on my futon thinking about combining the music of Metallica and Cyndi Lauper.”
BIGGER OVERSEAS
While the record was doing well in America, it exploded in Australia and England where it went multi-platinum.
“We were a collage of American music that England and Australia could maybe accept as a pastiche,” says Brown. “But in terms of what was going on in American radio we were not with it. It was an eclectic mix that didn’t necessarily get plugged into what was going on at the time. I think we were confusing.”
Wheatus parted ways with Columbia Records in 2004 but over the past 20 years “Teenage Dirtbag” has become a youthful anthem of angst.
“We weren’t in everybody’s face. We went through some years in the wilderness having made a small but meaningful impression,” says Brown. “People had to go and find ‘Dirtbag.’ Maybe we benefitted from that little bit of time in the wilderness. The song never got played out and was a bit elusive.”
RE-RECORDING DEBUT
The band decided to re-record its first album for the 20th anniversary when Brown realized the original master tapes were gone.
“All of the master tapes went to Columbia and none of them came back. If they didn’t switch them over to a new format with a proper transfer, then those tapes are destroyed or lost,” says Brown. “We wanted to make ourselves whole again so we meticulously went about recreating the album while we can still do it.”
The new version of the debut, dubbed “Wheatus 2020,” will feature 23 tracks digitally and 20 on the vinyl edition. B-sides like “Pretty Girl” and “I’d Never Write a Song About You” are included as well as demoed songs in the vein of the first album.
“I’m very excited about having reconstructed something we thought was lost and worked so hard at recreating,” says Brown. “We did everything the same way and wherever we could improve we did. We took a scientific forensic approach. It was almost like re-creating a crime scene.”
GOING THE DISTANCE
For over 20 years, Brendan B. Brown has kept Wheatus going with a variety of different lineups including more than 25 members.
“The vibe in Wheatus is everybody is always kind of in or out of the band. It’s whoever is available and willing to go on tour,” says Brown. “I’m lucky because I’ve found people who understand that I’m kind of a weirdo who works hard on rehearsals drilling things 100 million times. But when we go on the road we do it in a safe sustainable way. I work hard at making people happy that they showed up.”
While the pandemic has sidelined touring for 2020 and possibly part of 2021, Wheatus is keeping busy recording a covers collection and a new studio album.
“We are all getting tested so we can get back in a room together safely,” says Brown. “We are going to nail these cover songs down in a way that’s super respectful toward the music. As for our new studio album, the vibe is super heavy like our last two singles released, ‘Lullaby’ and ‘Tipsy.’ ”
Fear not, a tour to support “Wheatus 2020” will occur at some point.
“My dream is to have the new Wheatus open for the reformed old band [multi-instrumentalist Philip A. Jimenez, bassist Mike McCabe and drummer Pete Brown] playing the first album,” says Brown. “We want to take our time and do it right by hitting the road showcasing the best of the beginning and the best of what’s happening now.” — DAVID J. CRIBLEZ
David J. Criblez is a reporter for Newsday's exploreLI, covering entertainment-related events from local music to stand-up comedy to festivals.
