Hiding in a dark Brooklyn club, you’re bound to find lead singer and songwriter of New York band, Wakey!Wakey! Although Mike Grubbs may look like he’s in dire need of a warm meal and a haircut, this man can belt out an earth-shaking tune better than most.
With their first studio album, Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You, released last month the five-piece are on a high.
They produce a dynamic sound stemming from violins to guitars and drums, but it’s clear that the bands mojo lies with piano player Mike Grubbs. The distinctive sound they generate oozes with cool and never fails to pull at your heartstrings.
Mike’s definitely got that “tortured musician” thing going on, reminiscent of Athlete’s Joel Pott, his deep emotional lyrics could touch even the coldest of souls. With that being said, there is something insanely refreshing when Mike sits down at the piano and successfully merges indie-pop with his classical background.
Jumping in head first, Wakey!Wakey! are currently following up the album release with a series of live streaming events on Facebook every Monday.
In an exclusive interview Wesley Verhoeve, Family Records label president, let us grill him about working with the band and where the idea for a live stream came from. We also got to chat with Mike, getting his thoughts on One Tree Hill, and plans for 2010.
First of all Wesley, I’d love to know what attracted you to Wakey!Wakey!?
“The quality of song writing, Mike’s work ethic, kindness and commitment to his craft. The golden rule at Family Records is that I have to love both the music and the person behind it. It’s a very intensive business with a lot of possibilities for stress, it’s key that you connect well with the artist on a personal level.”
Let’s talk about live streams; they’re obviously a great way to allow the band and fans to connect. What sparked the idea of a weekly online gig?
Wesley: “To do a live stream was originally the idea of Robbie Mackey who is part of Team Wakey! and works for our distributor. We brainstormed and thought it’d be really cool to do the first one on a Monday right after that week’s One Tree Hill episode. Since OTH has gone on hiatus we’re going to jump into that time slot so that the fans have something to carry them over and give them their OTH and Wakey!Wakey! fix for the week.”
And what kind of feedback have you received from people?
Wesley: “The response has been phenomenal from fans and peers alike. Mike also really enjoyed it. It’s really great to connect so directly with fans and be enabled to take requests from all over the world. It’s really quite amazing. Another exciting thing that we could see happen live in the moment was that fans started talking together and forming a community around their mutual love for Wakey!Wakey!’s music, that warmed our hearts.”
Mike, One Tree Hill must have been a massive commitment; do you feel like you’ve gained anything from the experience?
“It has definitely shown me a whole new level of professionalism. When you see the crew working together so well, it’s inspiring. Also it’s made me much more comfortable with cameras which is handy in this profession.”
We’ve heard a few mixes of Wakey!Wakey! songs recently, but if you could collaborate with one artist, who would it be?
Mike: “I’m obsessed with the idea of collaborating with electronic artists right now. I’d love to lock myself in a room with Dan Deacon and Dave Sitek and see what happened. They’d probably start beating me up, but if I lived, I bet the music would be awesome.”
Wesley, if you were going to take a road trip anywhere where would it be and how would you get there?
“Haha great question. For the longest time I’ve wanted to take a two part road trip. The first would be taking the train from NYC across the country to San Francisco. The second part would be driving from SF up to Portland, then Seattle then Vancouver.
So, what would be playing on the stereo during this trip?
“I like traveling while listening to pop music. Some Phoenix, Jack’s Mannequin, some Timbaland produced pop hits from the early 2000’s. Depending on who I’m with I’ll attempt to put on an East Coast Hip Hop mix tape with some mid 90’s rap and cruise to that for a while. If there are long stretches of deserted parts of the country I will also bring some Sigur Ros.”
And for snacks?
“Snack wise I’d have to go with beef jerky, which I never usually eat except for the rare occasions I have to take a car trip that’s over 30 minutes long. It’s a staple in the Verhoeve travel kit.”
So, any plans to get over to the UK and Europe anytime soon?
Mike: “Hopefully by the fall. We always dream big, and setting up a tour is a huge undertaking, but I need to know what the other side of the pond looks like. Our bass player, Anne Lieberwirth is German, and she’s dying to show us her home. Also my costar India De Beaufort promises to show me the best spots in London. Who could say no to that?”
Shooting straight from a four-hour rehearsal to the Gibson Studio’s in New York, Mike sat down at the piano and belted out the latest single ‘Twenty Two’. Taking requests, old and new. ‘Blame You’ and ‘War Sweater’ were two that popped up repeatedly on the Facebook live chat from adoring fans across the world. Although the sound was slightly misty for the duration of the set, his powerful voice more than made up for it.
Wesley admitted there was room for improvement: “As far as changes go, we’re going to work on improving the quality of the sound and image.”
Mike took to the stage again performing at The Soapbox in Wilmington, NC this Monday, crystal clear sound proved any issues from the Gibson gig had been ironed out and left the crowd astounded in the little downtown club.
