Weekend and Wavves

    It’s been an eventful year for Nathan Williams. Following his critically acclaimed sophomore LP, the Wavves lead singer has experienced a public breakdown at the Barcelona Primavera festival, an (alleged) bar fight gone wrong, a high profile relationship with another indie rocker (Best Coast), and now the release of his third album, “King of the Beach.”
   
    The album has been a triumph for Williams; not only has it been lauded with praise, but it has also re-established Williams in the minds of any of his foolish hipster haters. WEEKEND was able to talk to Williams before his Sept. 14 show at Rhino’s to talk about “King of the Beach,” Rick Ross and tape decks.

WEEKEND: Can you talk about your song-writing process and how it works?
Nathan Williams: Yeah, it basically revolves around a bong and my TV. I try and just play whatever comes natural or whatever. Then whenever I play a melody or something that catches my attention, I just press record and play it. I can come back the next day and figure it out.

WKND: About a week into recording “King of the Beach,” Jay Reatard passed away. How did that affect the recording process?
Williams: It was pretty sad and bizarre — distracting. It’s weird to go on with what seems like the next big part of your life when a friend of yours, his life has just ended.

WKND: What kind of music do you listen to on a day-to-day basis?
Williams: Rap music.

WKND: Who are some of your favorite artists?
Williams: I think the most underrated emcee of all time is Devin the Dude. Right now, I’m listening to the new Curren$y record. It’s very good. I like Wiz Khalifa, the new Kanye West. I like Rick Ross’ new record, which I didn’t think I was going to. It’s really good.
    Have you heard the “Super High” remix with Wiz Khalifa? It’s amazing. Ross’ verse in it is just burning, hot, scorching fire.

WKND: You used to play with Fantastic Magic, then really started doing the majority of your recording on your own. Was that a decision or did it work out that way?

Williams: It was a little bit of both — it’s definitely easier to record by yourself just because you don’t have to gather up a bunch of people. Now whenever I want to record, I just go and record.
    I think that at that point in time it was just kind of what I wanted to do. I felt like I had full songs written in my head, with drums and bass and guitar and the background. I just kind of thought to myself, why hadn’t I done it before? And I think the reason I hadn’t was because I was scared or lazy or something. It kind of happened on accident, but I’d wanted to do it for awhile.

WKND: Do you like all the touring or do you prefer being back home?
Williams: I prefer to be in the studio all the time. Honestly I don’t even really like being home anymore. I’m so used to being on the road that it feels more like home each time I leave. I don’t know if that’s bad or not.
    If I could have a studio on the road and tour all the time, then I would be 100 percent the happiest guy in the world. But I do, I like touring. The biggest misconception is that it’s just one long fun party when in actuality it’s some of the hardest work you can do. It’s straining emotionally and physically.
    It feels more rewarding now with all the new songs, and people know the new songs and sing them. It’s been a lot of fun.

WKND: What are some of those more difficult parts of touring for you?
Williams: I see my girlfriend (Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast) once every two months. I see my family once every six months. I see my friends close to never. I live out of a bag. It’s hard work to go and tour.
    I mean it’s definitely worth it, but anything in life that’s worth it, you’re going to have to work at it a little bit. And it’s something that all of us love to do, and something that you love trumps it being hard. But it’s not a big deal.

WKND: “To the Dregs” was inspired by a Raymond Pettibone piece. How important is visual art to you and your work?
Williams: Oh, it’s very important. I think even now with Wavves, people associate pictures and ideas with music. I think it’s just a big aspect of it. Music is more than just something that comes out of speakers, it should be a whole. It’s gotta be more now. There are so many bands that write good songs — there’s got to be something that you hear, something that you see. I think all of that stuff helps, for me at least.

WKND: You’ve released some stuff on tapes and vinyl and talked about them frequently. What makes these mediums so appealing to you?
Williams: I think first because I’m a collector. I have always collected records and tapes. I really like collecting CDs too. I think that just any form of music where you can grab it is really just fun to have and own.
    Fuck It Tapes was the first tape I released with my friend Jeremy. The reason I wanted to do that was because I didn’t have a CD player in my car, I had a tape player. And I wanted to be able to listen to my own music on my way to work.

WKND: You’re opening for Phoenix a couple times this fall. How did that pairing come about?
Williams: The pairing was just kind of random. We were just starting to map out the tour, and they asked us if we wanted to go with them on a couple of dates. They said they were fans of Wavves and wanted to know if we’d do a show with them. So we got back to them, and we’re big fans of Phoenix as well. And then one show turned into eight or nine.
    I mean it just kind of happened, like everything else with Wavves.