Wet Hair are making their first trip down under to play at Frankly! It’s A Pop Festival next month. Kat Mahina had a chat with Shawn Reed to get the low down on their latest record and their upcoming Australian tour.
Wet Hair is often tagged as being kraut-pop/ acousmatic-tape music – How would you describe your sound?
I think the Kraut- Pop thing fits pretty well, we have been influenced a lot by old German bands (Cluster, La Dusseldorf, Kraftwerk etc) but its a bit weird for us to be referenced to something retro and of such a specific time and place, we take in a lot of influences but don’t want to be pegged as any one thing and don’t want to be seen as some kind of retro revival band. The tape thing doesn’t apply so much anymore, we used tape loops early on and have moved away from that at this point. I just see us a contemporary synth rock band, using retro gear, with melodic tendencies.
Your latest LP In Vogue Spirit has moved away from the more experimental music that featured on your previous releases to a more easily accessible sound, is there anything in particular that bought about this change?
We have always made music with an experimental mindset searching for ways to push in new directions, looking for new structures to work from, new sounds etc. Its just been a natural progression with Wet Hair to become what we are now, we didn’t have any mindset toward being more accessible, we don’t think about audience when writing, its not about appealing to an audience, we just create what we create and hope it translated to at least a few people being into it. We began focusing more on melody and our interpretations of pop elements because it was uncharted territory for us, it became the next step in maintaining a state of change and development. We aren’t interested in the idea of experimentalism as a genre but more as an approach so focusing more on melody etc was the next step in further experimentation. If it created music that is more accessible that’s just a by product.
What are the band’s personal influences?
I think our friends have influenced and inspired us alot (Peaking Lights, Goldendust, Rene Hell, etc). Our experience as well have helped shaped us, we have been doing DIY tours, following our own course in some kind of trajectory in underground music and art for awhile now and the experiences, disappointments, inspirations etc. along the way have helped shape what we create and who we are at this point. It hasn’t all been easy by any means to maintain and to keep pushing it as a major focus not just as something we set back to be more of a hobby.
Collectively we usually don’t have much financial backing to help things work so we sacrifice like most bands do who love it and want to make it sustainable and are always trying to figure out how to make it work, to continue to tour etc. We also live in a small town, in a mostly rural state where there isn’t a lot of art or music support so we are used to being our on our own in way. A lot of classic rock has been perhaps the most influential collectively (Dylan, the Stones, Beatles etc) on our sound perhaps in a way that doesn’t show up as much as some of the more obvious influences (Suicide, Spacemen 3, Silver Apples etc).
Have you been to Australia before/ are there any places here you’re looking forward to visiting?
I have been to Australia before, last year for this film project with Sacred Bones Records and Naked on the Vague. I spent most of the time in and near this place called the Perry Sand Dunes and in Sydney so I am excited to see many more cities and geographical areas. The band as a collective has never been to Australia so its exciting all around. We are looking forward to seeing many of our Australia friends we have met over the years, bands we have played with in the US like Naked on the Vague, the Twerps, Fabulous Diamonds etc. We are looking forward to the trip as a whole, trying to leave any expectations at the door and just soak up the unknowns of it. It was a big financial risk up front for us to take on the tour due to airfare costs but it seems like everything is going to work out pretty well. Hopefully we have time and resources to get outside the cities and see some geographical sites along the way too.
You’re playing at Frankly! part of the Brisbane Festival, are there any other acts you’re excited to be checking out at the Festival?
We are old friends with Amanda and Britt who run Not Not Fun Records and perform currently as LA Vampires who are also playing the festival. Not Not Fun put out several records for us and our old band Raccoo-oo-oon as well, so it will be nice to run into them, and a bit surreal to hang out with them not in the states but in Australia. The Twerps are good friends as well. I put out a release for them in the USA on my label Night-People we did a midwest tour with them earlier this year too, they are the nicest people and a great band so that will be fun too.
What can the Australian audiences expect from a Wet Hair live show?
Hopefully a good set, we are traveling in a minimal way, borrowing most of our gear etc, so some of the live set up might be new to us each night which will require some flexibility but I think we are up for the challenge. Recently we have gotten some really good audience reactions from new songs we are playing live, we will play mostly new non released songs on the tour so hopefully the audiences get into the new material.
What’s the best live band you’ve seen lately?
Goldendust, our bass players other band, they are really good vintage synth pop/ cold wave type of band and have a distinct sound and presence. Our good friend Jeff Witscher who does Rene Hell (on Type records) really killed it live here a few months ago, his sound, aesthetic, and live show have gotten really good.
What were the last 3 records you bought?
Running a label full time, I score a lot of records from trades with other labels, bands and stores and I am always picking stuff up but the last three I actually bought are: Dead Moon “Unknown Passage” LP reissue, Antenna ” Camino Del Sol” 2LP reissue, Rain Parade “Emergency Third Rail Power Trip” LP
Catch Wet Hair at the following shows:
Sept. 10- Brisbane- Frankly Pop Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse w/ LA Vampires, Twerps etc.
Sept. 15th- Sydney- Dome Home Night at Tone w/ Naked on the Vague
Sept. 16th- Batemans Bay- at Sister Smooth w/ Dead Gang, School Girl Report
Sept. 17th- Melbourne- Chapter Music Festival at the Tote Hotel w/ Twerps, Fabulous Diamonds, Pikelet, Bum Creek etc.
Sept. 18th- Adelaide- at the Metro w/ TBA
Sept. 23- Melbourne- Workers Club w/ Chrome Dome, Free Choice Duo, Rites Wild
Sept. 29- Newcastle- Night People Art Exhibition at Emma Soup’s Gallery
Sept. 30- Sydney- at Red Rattler w/ Kitchen’s Floor, Chrome Dome
Oct. 1- Newcastle- Sound Summit Festival at the Croatian Club
