For a band that has eight albums and more than a decade’s worth of experience, Wheat doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously.
“We never have been, and still aren’t, good at the whole professionalism side,” said Brendan Harney, who formed the band with Scott Levesque in 1996. “We’re just not good at putting our name out there.” Even Wheat’s big break was of the result of a loyal fan’s intervention. The fan sent the band’s demo tape – really just a cassette tape that had four Wheat tracks on it and four tracks “of some random metal band,” according to Harney – to a friend at Sugar Free Records.
“[The label] happened to like our songs better,” said Harney.
But Wheat’s aversion to self-promotion is just a side effect of their artistic sensibilities.
“We’ve never been in love with the music business,” Levesque said. “We like creating versus performing.” The group doesn’t tour consistently, and both Harney and Levesque consider themselves “homebodies.” Both are more at home in the studio than on a stage.
Still, Wheat plays a tight live show. At DC9 on Friday night (a stop on a summer tour with The XYZ Affair), the band showed off their musical chops with tracks from their upcoming album, “White Ink, Black Ink.” Songs like “El Sincero” demonstrate Wheat’s experiments with electronic music, while “Little White Dove” and other older songs play up their straight indie rock roots. Their stage presence, as well as their sound, is a little Flaming Lips-esque. Harney’s keyboard was decked out with plastic googly eyes, and drummer Luke Hebert sported a pair of bunny ears throughout the set.
Although Wheat is supported by a constantly rotating cast of musicians (Hebert also played bass on “White Ink, Black Ink”), Levesque and Harney are the core of the group.
“We’re more flexible muscially, because there’s less of us,” Levesque said. Both he and Harney are comfortable with singing and playing a variety of instruments, such as piano.
After the release of “White Ink, Black Ink” in July, Harney and Levesque plan to keep doing what has always worked for them.
“The goal is make another record, to try and stay where we are now,” Harney said. “As long as the music is reaching someone, we’re happy. That’s what’s important.”
You can pre-order Wheat’s new album here.
