Wheatus
+ MC Frontalot
It’s with wide-open arms we welcome back to Tunbridge Wells ageless Teenage Dirtbag sensations Wheatus, performing a nostalgia packed show full of 00’s hits and fan favourites at The Forum on November 7th.
Teenage years may be fleeting, but it seems ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ is for life, as Wheatus’ debut single popped up yet again in 2022, making itself known in a way never seen before in the form of a TikTok trend. The “Teenage Dirtbag photos” trend has now been embraced by nearly a million people, including celebrities such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, Mark Ruffalo, Lil Nas X, Jon Bon Jovi, Chevy Chase, and countless others, resulting in the hashtag #teenagedirtbag being viewed over 2 billion times worldwide.
So it’s been a busy couple of years for Wheatus. They continue to spend as much time as possible on the road, both for headline shows and as a support act (most recently with Everclear, Hoobastank & Living Colour on the Summerland 2021 tour) across North America. Wheatus have also made a triumphant return to festival stages, playing high profile events like Audacy Beach Fest (also featuring Muse, Jack White, The 1975 and Machine Gun Kelly) and Adjacent Fest (also featuring Paramore, Coheed & Cambria, and the newly reunited Blink-182). While managing the sudden influx of attention and press, the independent six-piece band have been continuing their ongoing project of re-releasing their debut album (in a twenty-song expanded edition featuring “lost” songs from throughout the years), creating content for their endlessly loyal fanbase on Patreon, and getting ready for whatever the future throws at them next.
To date, the eclectic rock outfit has now released six studio albums, two live albums, and multiple additional singles.
Line Up
How did wheatus escape the pre-internet music industry dark age with their lives? "A very important record executive lost his cool with me in a meeting & threatened to drop us…I took him up on it…" ~ brendan b brown.
wheatus' debut single “Teenage Dirtbag” cracked the Top 40 BBC Official Sales Chart for a second time in March of 2011, TEN YEARS after it's debut at #2 on the same chart. To say that wheatus have been through the wringer in the decade between is the original understatement. Lawsuits, lineup changes, interstate art heist investigations (yes, really), betrayals, intellectual property theft, physical violence, post traumatic front man brendan b brown could write a book. To date their first record has sold more than 5 million copies world wide. Any manager or record label would be happy to tout those stats to the press but wheatus have remained unsigned & unmanaged for the last 8 years. Unlike many of their peers from the early oughts, wheatus continue to write, record, and tour 15 years after their inception, having taken control of their revenue stream with the home made, "pick-your-price" download system fans can use at wheatus.com. They have released 5 Studio albums since 2000 and are currently in preproduction for album 6.
brendan addresses the radio silence they endured from 2002-2004 mysteriously, "…we were advised to lay low."
With a new line-up, wheatus hit the road mid decade throughout the US and UK, including the sold out UK Get Happy Tour, and their own independent University and College Tours, which once again put the band on stage in front of tens of thousands of fans, who sing along....loudly.
wheatus are currently in the midst of recording and releasing Volumes 1-8 of Pop, Songs & Death, a series of EPs available exclusively from wheatus.com as multi-format “pay-what-you-want” DRM Free downloads. Pop, Songs & Death Vol 1, The Lightning EP, is the first record to ever be released in the revolutionary new downloadable DSD format for Playstation3. Pop, Songs & Death Vol 1& 2 have had hundreds of thousands of downloads, accompanied by generous donations. Two songs from Vol. 1 were prominently featured in April Showers, an independent film depicting the events of the Columbine Massacre, directed by one of the surviving Columbine students, Andrew Robinson. Pop, Songs & Death Vol. 2, The Jupiter EP was released in 2011, and will accompany The Lightning EP as a double gatefold vinyl 12" release in the summer of 2011. Wheatus will be touring The UK in Autumn 2011.
Discography
Wheatus - album (Columbia Records 2000) Teenage Dirtbag - single (Columbia Records 2001) A Little Respect - single (Columbia Records 2001) Wannabe Gangstar - single (Columbia Records 2001) Hand Over Your Loved Ones - album (Columbia Records 2003 - UK, Germany only) American In Amsterdam - single (Columbia Records 2003 - UK only) Lemonade EP (iTunes only - 2004) Live at XM Radio EP (iTunes only - 2004) SUCK FONY - album (Montauk Mantis Records - Feb 2005) Too Soon Monsoon - album (Montauk Mantis Records - Oct 2005) London Sun EP (iTunes only - Mar 2006) Pop, Songs & Death: Vol. 1 - The Lightning EP (June 2009) Pop, Songs & Death: Vol. 2 - The Jupiter EP (December 2010) The Valentine LP (August 2013)
