Wheat (band)

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Wheat
Origin Taunton, Massachusetts, US
Genres Indie rock, indie pop, lo-fi
Years active 1996–present
Labels Sugar Free Records
Aware Records
Empyrean Records
The Rebel Group
Website wheatmusic.com
Members Brendan Harney
Luke Hebert
Scott Levesque
Past members Ricky Brennan Jr.
Kenny Madaras
Wheat is an American indie-rock band formed by Scott Levesque (vocals, guitar), Brendan Harney (drums, vocals), Ricky Brennan Jr. (guitar, vocals), and Kenny Madaras (bass) in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1996.

History

Wheat's debut album, Medeiros, released in 1997 on Sugar Free Records, was recorded by Dave Auchenbach and mixed by Red Red Meat's Brian Deck. Madaras left the group—and was never permanently replaced on bass—prior to the release of their second Sugar Free album, 1999's Hope and Adams, which was produced by Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Road Studios in Cassadaga, New York, and included the song "Don't I Hold You."

The group left Sugar Free and signed with London-based Nude Records in 2000, but the label folded soon after. Wheat continued writing, however, and in 2002, after two years of record-business limbo, they signed with Aware Records, which had a distribution deal with Columbia. Two of the songs recorded for the unfinished Nude incarnation of Wheat's third album, Per Second, Per Second, Per Second ... Every Second, survived as so-called "naked" versions on the 2003 sampler EP Too Much Time, while others were rerecorded for the Aware-sanctioned edition of Per Second, also released in '03. The track "Some Days" was included in the film Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! and on its soundtrack album, "I Met a Girl" appeared in A Cinderella Story, and the 2003 version of "Don't I Hold You" was featured in Elizabethtown.

After promoting Per Second in '03 and '04—touring with Liz Phair, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and Blake Babies and performing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Last Call with Carson Daly—only to see the album sell an underwhelming 30,000 copies,[1] Wheat decided to take a break. Brennan departed near the end of 2004 to form Duresse, which self-released the seven-song EP Elate in early '06.

Later that year Wheat, now a duo, finished writing and recording their fourth album, Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square, with Rick Lescault at Electric Ali Studios in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Preceded by the EP That's Exactly What I Wanted ... Exactly That in early '07, the album was released by Empyrean Records in May. (Aware Records never officially dropped Wheat from its roster. However, it declined its option to release the follow-up to Per Second.)[2] An EP titled Move = Move, featuring exclusive tracks and multimedia content, was also organized for release in February 2008, but was pulled at the last minute for undisclosed reasons. This caused much frustration for fans who had preordered the EP in advance, and was possibly the catalyst for Wheat leaving Empyrean Records.

In early 2009 Wheat announced on their website and MySpace that Medeiros and Hope and Adams would be reissued as part of a three-CD deluxe package that also included a bonus disc of outtakes and rarities entitled 30 Minute Theatrik (Scanning the Garden). They then completed their fifth studio album, White Ink, Black Ink, which was released in July 2009 on the Rebel Group label.

Wheat notified its fans in September 2011 that it would be releasing three singles in the coming months in advance of a new full-length. The Used 2 Be in Love Blues, featuring the title track and "House of Kiss," was first up, followed three months later by Gettin' Ready To, which includes the B-side "Feel Good Co." In April 2012 P Is for Pressure (B-side: "We Won't Be Satisfied") completed the set. All three singles feature hand-screened artwork by Luke Hebert, who became a member of Wheat around 2008, while the singles' download-only editions contain bonus tracks and videos. Then in June 2013 the band released another new song, "Black Days Away," as a free download on its website, and announced that its sixth LP was officially underway.

Gary Lightbody, lead singer for Snow Patrol, is a self-proclaimed fan of the band, typically listing their albums on any of his top music lists, including his 2007 "best of" blog post on the band's MySpace page.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

  • Death Car (1998)
  • Raised Ranch Revolution (1999)
  • Don't I Hold You (1999)
  • Off the Pedestal (1999)
  • I Met a Girl (2003)
  • Baby It's Cold Outside (2003; with Liz Phair)
  • Changes Is (2010)
  • Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (2010; free download)
  • The Used 2 Be in Love Blues (2011)
  • Gettin' Ready To (2011)
  • P Is for Pressure (2012)
  • Black Days Away (2013)

Music Video Game

  • Living 2 Die Vs. Dying 2 Live (2009)

See also

  • Aware Records
  • Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! Music From the Motion Picture

References

  1. ↑ Fritch, Matthew. "Wheat: Don't Look Back". Magnet magazine. Retrieved 2011-09-28. 
  2. ↑ Fritch, Matthew. "Wheat: Don't Look Back". Magnet magazine. Retrieved 2011-09-28. 

External links

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