Photo Gallery: Wakey!Wakey!

Click the photo below to view our photo gallery from Wakey!Wakey! at Great Scott in Allston, MA.

Interview: Michael Grubbs of Wakey!Wakey!

Wakey!Wakey! is the best accidental thing to happen to music in a while. With deep lyrics and unique instrumental song structure, we can't get enough! Frontman Michael Grubbs is a well known character on the hit TV show One Tree Hill, which he says he owes much of his exposure to. With a lifetime of music and theater under his belt, he's ready to take the United States by storm. He took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to sit down with Mixed Tape Media and chat about how the best things in life can happen out of being spontaneous, how things have changed since appearing on One Tree Hill, and how to survive in today's crazy music industry.

Interviewed by Ellen Leonard, July 2010

(photo courtesy of Victoria Jacob)



Where did the band name originate from?
Wakey!Wakey! started off as a project. It wasn't really intended to be a band. I was playing, and I had a bunch of friends that were writers, and we decided it would be cool to do a big collaborative piece. I made a huge list of song names and passed it along to all my favorite lyricists, all my favorite teachers, and all of my favorite composers in order to have everyone write pieces based around these song names so that we could curate it together and make a set of songs out of it to have a big art show. Of course, it never actually happened because I was a little too lazy, but I had already booked the show. I literally sat down the night before, put together five or six songs that night. At the time that I wrote those songs, I was going through some crazy stuff with a relationship, my job, and there was all this crazy shit going on with Bush being re-elected, so I really wanted to be able to write political songs, but I also had all of these other things going on in my mind. I've never been a good political songwriter, I've always been better at writing love songs, so I basically wrote an entire album of love songs to the government. It was almost like a breakup album to the government, and I named it Wakey!Wakey! as a hint. When you first listen to the album, you would think the songs are just love songs. When you listen to them closer, then you realize they are about current events. After I released that, I wrote "Almost Everything" later on and at that point it was really just purely a love letter that had nothing to do with the government, but the name was too well known to change it, and we decided to stick with it. McDonalds has it on their wrappers for hashbrowns, did you know that?


I did not!
*laughs* Someone calls me once a week and tells me that, they think it's a cross reference. It's not!


You play a bartender on the hit TV show "One Tree Hill", which has such a knack for finding new musical talent and launching it. How did you end up on the show, and how have things changed since then?
The way I got cast for the show is really funny, actually. I was at a bar hitting on a girl. It was an open mic in Brooklyn. At that point I wasn't really playing often, but I knew a lot of people who were there, and there was this really cute girl that I wanted to talk to, so I went over to the guy that was running the open mic and asked him to put me on. I wanted to find a way to chat this girl up. So I played songs, and it turned out that the really cute girl was someone who worked in television. She came up to me after and said she worked in television and would love to bring my friend out to see you play. I didn't think it would actually happen, but of course I gave her my phone number since I thought she was so cute. Two weeks later, I was actually on a date, and I got a call from her asking me to come to the open mic at the exact moment because she had Marc Schwan there, who is the creator of One Tree Hill. At that point I had no idea who he was, and I didn't know anything about One Tree Hill. She convinced me how important it was that I talk my way out of the date and get there, so I did, and Marc ended up waiting there for around three hours for me. I finally got there and played "Brooklyn" and "War Sweater", then we sat and chatted. We got along really well, Marc's a really cool guy, which is funny because most people who work in television are complete douchebags, so I was really surprised that he was so cool. He told me how great the songs were and that he would love to use them on the show. Again, I thought it wasn't going to happen, but low and behold, a couple of months later, "War Sweater" was on the season finale! So when I finished the new album, I called him up and told him I wanted him to come so I could play it for him. We were friends at this point and would visit each other. He came out to New York, we sat down and I played him the album, and he said he wanted to do a bigger release. He decided to write me a role into One Tree Hill as a bartender, and then reveal halfway through the season that you're actually a musician and have all this stuff happening. I replied with my usual "sure you are buddy, no problem, I'll believe it when I see it", and next thing you know, when I was on tour a few months later, he called me asking what was I doing the next week. I told him I was off tour on Tuesday, and he said "great, I'm putting you on a flight on Wednesday, your character is gonna be starting off the season now so we need you on set". Next thing I knew, I was down at One Tree Hill taping the episode. I guess the rest is kind of history. Being on the show, we've been exposed to a whole new group of fans that I would have never been able to reach before, especially so quickly. It's been really amazing. The people that watch One Tree Hill are people that are looking for music. They not only watch it for the story line, but the music too. It's great having a fan base that really truly loves music, and are actually there to hear the songs.


You have been on a new tour for a couple of weeks now, how is it going?
It's been phenomenal. The audiences are so much bigger then we have ever played to, and they are super into the music. It's great. A lot of times they sing along to every single song. It's not like just the songs that have been on the show. They've actually researched our album and know the lyrics, and are truly excited to be there. We're stoked to find so many people across the United States are are so into our music. It's just been mind blowing.


The song "Light Outside" has a pretty awesome music video. Can you run me through the concept of the video?
You know what's funny? That video was actually made by Andrew and Carissa Gallow, who my manager found online because they did this beautiful video for a song called "Winter" by Sufjan Stevens. They did that video for their friends, it's incredible. We called them up and asked them to make a music video for "Light Outside", and they came up with a wonderful story line with a guy who is moving into a house, and he sees this one mirror with a reflection of beautiful girl, then there's a process of him trying to get to her. It speaks a lot to depression, or people that are kind of caged inside themselves. I think it's a beautiful interpretation of the song, and I was really blown away when I saw it for the first time. It was very moving.


In May the video for "Car Crash" premiered and was #3 on the iTunes charts, where were you when you got that news and what was your reaction?
We've been so lucky with the charts. It seems like every time we have a song on the show, it shoots way up. All of these times we've managed to hit the top of the charts, it's been phenomenal. When my character played "Brooklyn" for the first time, and we watched it and thought it was cool, then all went out for pizza. While we were hanging out, I got a text from my manager saying that Wakey!Wakey! is the number five search in America right at that moment. After that, we watched it climb the charts. It was astounding, it's something you never get used to.


Speaking of iTunes, an app debuted a few months ago that is a Wakey! Wakey! alarm clock, where fans can wake up to the bands music or a spoken message from you. How did this come about, and have you tried out the app yet?
have actually! It's awesome! It's weird though, I can't really wake myself up by talking to me... It was a real trip. I've always been an iPhone user, I love my apple products. Apple's been good to us, they've used our songs in their tutorials and things like that. So when they came to me with the idea to put together an app I was like "lets do it"! I think it's pretty funny that Pamela Anderson also has an app called Wakey Wakey that's basically the same thing. I get alerts when people search Wakey Wakey, and I get so many that are for Pamela Anderson Wakey Wakey iPhone app. *laughs* I can't believe she took my iPhone app! I guess if it's Pamela Anderson I'm totally okay with it.


Maybe you should merge it!
Maybe we can work together on something. Once I get people, I'll have my people call her people.


If you had to describe your music to someone who may not heard of you before, how would you describe it?
We actually used to try and make up the longest, most complicated name that we could for it. I think the best thing we had was "post-indie baroque pop". It's pop music with a very classic song structure, but a little bit more unusual instrumentation. How about just "it's like waking up on a Sunday morning in a good mood"? *laughs*


What advice do you have for budding musicians and actors out there?
Stick to it. It's really hard to make it in this business, and every day I feel like it gets harder. The only thing I can say is to stuck to your guns and make music that you believe in, and people will react to it. If you make something that you don't believe in, then it probably won't get a reaction. You also have to be prepared for the reality that you might make the most beautiful album in the world, and no one will ever hear it because things are screwed up right now, and nobody knows what they're doing. Don't expect anyone to do the work for you. Don't give up.

Catch Wakey!Wakey! on tour near you:
7/9/10 Mohawk in Austin, Texas
7/10/10 Rubber Gloves in Denton, Texas
7/12/10 Mississippi Studios in Portland, Oregon
7/13/10 Sunset Tavern in Seattle, Washington
7/14/10 Hotel Utah in San Francisco, California
7/15/10 The Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles, California
7/22/10 Great Scott in Allston, Massachusetts
7/23/10 Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York

Stay tuned for our coverage of the show when it hits Massachusetts!

Photo Gallery: The Fray

Click the photo below to view our photo gallery from The Fray at Boston College's Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA.

Interview: Joe King of The Fray

Piano-rock band The Fray is an amazing global pop powerhouse. With many hit singles under their belt, an upcoming string of dates with U2, and hot off of a mini-tour of Australia, they seem to be taking turns holding the world in their hands. (See what was just done there? A lyric reference to the band. Yeah, I went there.) Joe King sat down with MixedTapeMedia.com for an exclusive interview to talk about gardening, finding the "perfect balance" between CD releases, and what's next for the band.

Interview by Ellen Leonard, April 2010

Joe (left); June 2009
Photo by Ellen Leonard


You guys just did some shows in Australia, how is playing there different from playing gigs here in the US, if at all?
It's different in the way that we played for a little bit of smaller places, like places that hold four-thousand to five-thousand people, where in the US we have been playing bigger places. They sing along the same and have the same energy.

You are home for a bit now, what types of things do you like to do on your downtime from tour?
I garden. I have a little strip by my house and I grow blackberries, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, peppers. Every time I get home, I'm so excited to see how much the peppers have grown. (laughs) It's kind of cheesy, but it's fun.

It was recently announced that the band will be playing a few shows on U2s next tour! Where were you when you got that offer and what was your reaction to the news?
My manager called me and said that we were gonna be playing some U2 shows, and I was floored. I had seen a couple of the shows earlier on U2's last tour. I went to Chicago and then New York. I was in awe of the whole thing in a way, to imagine that I'm going to be on that stage with that band. I gotta say I'm gonna be more nervous for those shows then I have been in a while. We're playing a stadium! We've never played a stadium! They're the biggest band in the world, it's the biggest tour in the world, and we're opening for one of the best bands in history.

Well, congratulations! I must say, I love the song Without Reason from the Reason EP. Any chance you guys will ever play that song live?
Wow! We're kicking around the idea of playing some of the old stuff on this tour, for at least one of these shows, and playing some things that we've kind of had on the shelf for a while and forgot about. That's interesting, thanks for the suggestion!

The latest music video for the song Syndicate has a great abstract feel to it. What exactly is the concept of it?
We actually wanted sort of a live, hidden camera effect. All of the stuff going on is all on camera, meaning there's nothing graphically done to it post shoot. Mark Pellington was an amazing director, he's done all of the Pearl Jam videos, and he had the idea of all of these different looks by using live performance with individual performances and in camera effects. We liked the raw feel of it, it's all in front of you with no trickery. It really captured the energy of the song.



What was it like filming it?
It was actually really fun! You don't know what it's going to look like at all because you just see colors and lights, with different things are in front of the camera. I had no expectations. Some videos we've shot, you know exactly what it's going to look like while you were shooting it, since they edit it so much and do so many takes from so many different angles. But this one, I was pleasantly surprised.

Are you guys currently working on any new music?
We are! Has it felt like a while?

Kind of!
Oh no! I guess that's a good thing in this day and age. You can't tell when is too long, or too short really. It feels like you need to find a perfect balance. Some artists release something every year, and you feel like they literally just released something, then you kind of get lost in all of it. It's been a year for us, but we've been writing a lot. We have probably twenty songs recorded and demoed, and hopefully we can have them done by the end of the summer, and hopefully in the fall we can go into the studio.

Has the writing and recording process for this new material been any different then it has in the past?
It has. I kind of personally needed a creative challenge. For me, it was like a different peak of songwriting. I had always written our songs with guitar, and presenting the chords. You get in a rut if you stick to the same approach. I've been writing on all different types of instruments, from drum loops to synths creating a sound I heard then building a song off of that. It's been really exciting. For me, creatively it's been fun. I don't know if it's going to translate into a record that our fans are gonna love, but I'm excited about it!

You guys have had so much success and many hit singles, do you ever feel pressure writing new material?
Sometimes but not much any more. I felt that pressure more so with this second record. Now I feel like I can strip everything away, I can change it up, I can approach a song differently. There's really nothing holding us back right now. I actually feel more at ease writing now then I ever have.

What can we expect next from The Fray?
Besides playing with U2? (laughs). Here's a question for YOU: We have been debating whether to release an instrumental EP, or a covers EP, with 3 or 4 songs. Which one would you rather hear?

I would love a covers EP. Reason being, when I saw you two summers ago and you did a cover of Hips Don't Lie by Shakira, it was a highlight of the show. Also, your cover of Heartless by KanYe is amazing too.
Thank you so much! You may see one of those from us next.

Great! Thanks so much for your time, we look forward to seeing you on this next string of US dates!

Catch The Fray on tour near you:
4/17/10 Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ
4/20/10 Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY
4/23/10 Villanova University in Villanova, PA
4/25/10 MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, CT
6/16/10 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland CA (with U2)
6/20/10 Qwest Field in Seattle, WA (with U2)
6/23/10 Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, AB (with U2)

Coming Soon: Interview with THE FRAY!

We will be interviewing The Fray in just over a week! Do you have any fan questions for the band? E-mail them to us here before 6PM EST Saturday, April 10th.

Live Review: Chevelle Live - 2/8/10

Chevelle - Live at House of Blues in Boston, Ma


click the photo to go straight to our gallery from the show!

**** - 4 out of 5 stars

Review by Ellen Leonard
February 8th, 2010

Chevelle was set to rock the House of Blues, and you could tell as soon as you entered the venue with their black backdrop that donned the band name. As soon as the lights went down, so did the black backdrop, and under it was an orange one with a skeleton hiding behind some trees from what appeared to be a flying saucer. The name Chevelle was brightly lit in white under the drum set, and the band was about to take the stage. The crowd roared and pushed, trying to get that inch closer to the stage, and the band entered as they started the song "Sleep Apnea", the opening track to their new album "Sci-Fi Crimes".

The fifteen song set included songs from new and old CDs, and the fans sang along to almost all of it. The band brought a great energy, and there was mutual love from the fans. This band has been one of my brothers favorites for years, and after seeing them live, I now understand. They sound just as well live as they do on the CD, if not better.

You may need to revisit this band, as they had hits in the early 2000's with "Vitamin R" and "Send The Pain Below" as notable singles. "Jars" is the single from the new CD, and keep an eye out for it, because Chevelle is about to take you by storm!

Photo Gallery: Sick Puppies

Click the photo below to view our photo gallery of Sick Puppies, who opened for Chevelle last week as the House of Blues in Boston, MA!