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NEW YORK โ In their early days, the Beatles were called Johnny and the Moondogs and Coldplay went by Pectoralz. The rock band Wallows is no different.
Over the years, the trio has had a number of names, from the Feaver to The Narwhals. Now theyโre taking a big step to help people remember the band: A full-length album.
Wallows is made up of โ13 Reasons Whyโ star Dylan Minnette, fellow actor Braeden Lemasters (his credits include Amazonโs โThe Romanoffsโ) and Cole Preston. Theyโve released singles independently, toured, and recorded an EP in 2018, but their debut, 11-track studio album, called โNothing Happens,โ is out Friday.
Theyโre launching a tour through North America and parts of Europe beginning in April at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Itโs been a long time coming for the trio but they agree the timing is right.
โHad we been doing well when we were kids, it wouldโve been a completely different thing,โ said Preston.
The trio talked to The Associated Press about their intro to music, choosing an album cover and finally releasing their album. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Wallows Members Have Been Together Since They Were Kids
AP: Youโve been together since you were kids. When you think back to those early days, do you feel like you were good from the start?
Minnette: Oh, weโve definitely gotten better over time but Iโd say we were pretty badass when we were 13.
Preston: We were way more confident then.
AP: What does it feel like to have what youโve been working toward finally come out?
Minnette: Weโve always known, weโre going to be an album band. We wanted our records to be cohesive, make a lot of sense and be projects that stand on their own. And I feel like we definitely reveal a lot more than we ever have in our songs.
AP: How did you get this knowledge of music as kids to even start a band?
Lemasters: For me, it was my dad. He was in bands when I was growing up and I would go to his gigs. And he showed me the Beatles when I was like 9 and it blew my mind. It just kind of happened. I started playing guitar for eight hours a day in my room at around 10 and then formed (this) band. That was it.
Preston: I remember when โGuitar Heroโ and โRock Bandโ were really big and I became obsessed. I decided I wanted to play a real instrument so started playing the drums. But I was like a nerd for โGuitar Heroโ and posted my high scores online.
Minnette: You did?
Preston: Scorehero.com. Iโm sure theyโre still up there. Drumbum1096 was my handle.
Album Covers and Band Names Are the Hardest Thing to Think Of
Minnette: My dad was also a musician so weโd sit at dinner and heโd be like, โWhoโs this again, Dylan?โ โStevie Wonder.โ Then I started discovering my own music like Kings of Leon. Also from streaming music. I know a lot of people can say a lot about the digital age of music, but I feel like itโs so easy, in the best way, to discover music now. You can discover incredible artists all day long.
AP: Your album cover looks like a simple piece of fabric. Talk about that.
Lemasters: Album covers and band names are the hardest thing to think of. We reached out to a lot of artists and they sent us really good stuff but it didnโt connect. And our manager was texting us like, โGuys, whereโs the album cover? This is two days late. Youโre not going to have a vinyl for the release.โ And I took out my phone and took a picture of the back of Dylanโs shirt jokingly.
Minnette: I was walking. Minding my own business.
Lemasters: And I looked at it and was like, โThatโs actually really cool.โ
Minnette: It looks like a cool design with these wavy lines. If you donโt know itโs a shirt itโs kind of a trippy cover. But thereโs also something about a striped T-shirt thatโs very youthful and the album is also about loss of innocence and leaving it behind.
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