A Conversation with Wallows
After an incredible year for the band Wallows, Cole and Braeden (drums; guitar/vocals, respectively) were able to chat with me and reflect on 2019. From sharing their admiration for artists like Ariana Grande to expressing their appreciation for festivals like Tropicalia, Wallows prove to possess a very easygoing and thoughtful energy: something that translates to their music both lyrically and instrumentally.
In the spirit of 2019’s Spotify Wrapped coming out, the two band members touched on their top artists of the year. While Braeden is not a Spotify user, he’s “guessing that [his] top artist of the year would’ve been Ariana Grande or Ariana Grande,” putting the ‘Pop’ in the ‘Indie Pop’ that Wallows fans have come to love. Cole, on the other hand, shared an all too relatable story in which he’d fallen asleep on a plane listening to the band, Crumb, resulting in the band stealing the year as his top artist.
While various Crumb songs might’ve highlighted Cole’s Spotify wrapped this year, both Cole and Braeden agreed that one of the true highlights of the year was performing at Tropicália festival in November of this year. The band spoke to their excitement stemming from the fact that Tropicália felt like more of a hometown performance as opposed to a festival like Coachella. Tropicália took place in Pomona, slightly outside of the greater Los Angeles area, but still held significance for Wallows. The guys stated that “the people were way more about the music” and that “Tropicália takes the cake by 10 million miles” despite the fact that Coachella’s Disneyland-esque experience was still very memorable for the group.
Not expecting the turnout and support they received for their set as well as being able to enjoy all of the hard work they’d put into their debut album, Nothing Happens, Tropicália was a festival the band said they’ll never forget. As they spoke it was evident that there was difficulty in finding the exact words to appreciate such an incredible experience at Tropicália festival, going to show not only the humility of the band, but the pure love they seem to have for their fans as well as performing live. On top of enjoying their own performance so much, the festival was made better for Wallows as they were able to enjoy the music and performances of other bands on the lineup like Hunny and Beach Fossils.
Clearly, Wallows enjoyed the music and performances of these bands (assuredly among many others) at Tropicália, but they were a bit stumped when asked a fan-sourced question about who their dream collaboration would be with: “Wow. Ah man, it’s funny, we get asked this a lot and I never know how to answer,” Cole expressed. He let us know his reasoning behind this, letting us know he “doesn’t want to jinx” the possibility of collaborating with some of the bands favorite musicians. Factually stating that “Frank Ocean is the obvious dream,” Braeden then chimed in to reiterate that Ariana Grande would be an amazing collaboration as well as Pharrell Williams. This only made us more intrigued as to what the song would sound like (gotta make this collab happen). Wallows not only put a lot of thought into this answer, but also when asked who they felt was the ‘King or Queen’ of the Alternative/Indie music genre. Deliberation between Braeden and Cole led them to conclude that while there hasn’t truly been an artist in recent years that’s lived up to the status of bands like Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, The Strokes, etc., Mac DeMarco “was such a moment in time for so many people.” The two stated that “he’s just classic; he’s already classic and he’s not even old,” something I’m sure many of Wallows own fans would agree with.
To wrap things up, I wanted to ask the members of Wallows about an issue that many college students face: how one knows that they’re choosing the right career for them. Seeing as Cole is a fellow Trojan, previously studying Music Industry in the Thornton School of Music here at USC, he expressed how his path was very clear from an early age. “I didn’t want to do anything else” were the simple words that came from Cole, advising everyone to “find something that you would do in your spare time anyway.” Braeden also broke down his feelings on the topic: “It wasn’t even like ‘I knew’ [being a musician was the right choice], that’s just what I was doing. Literally since I was like 14, it’s been nothing but me listening to music every day and playing music. We formed this band when we were very young as well […] it kind of just led in to what it is now.” Not only did we get this sound advice from the guys of Wallows, but Cole also recommended Music Industry classes to take here on campus (Mark Goldstein’s class comes with high regard).
Speaking with Wallows about their passion for music, various thoughts and opinions on other musicians today (shoutout Ariana Grande), as well as general life perspectives made it very clear why so many people of our generation have come to support the band. On top of the fact that their music is instrumentally epic, Wallows band members seem to be so in sync with themselves and one another that their lyricism in songs like “Sidelines,” “Pleaser,” “1980s Horror Films,” and “Are You Bored Yet?” give listeners a uniquely intimate experience. We’re definitely looking forward to what’s in store for this band.
- Nina Baker-Mason, DJ
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