11/20/2023: Brendan B. Brown of Wheatus (Teenage Dirtbag)

Knocked Conscious with Mark Puls

Brendan B. Brown of Wheatus joins Mark for a great conversation.

https://www.wheatus.com/

It's hard to believe it's been over 20 years since Wheatus released their debut album and still ubiquitous single "Teenage Dirtbag.” Yes, that’s right - Dirtbag is no longer a teenager. In honor of this anniversary, Wheatus are releasing a new and expanded edition of their now classic debut album. Says Brendan B Brown, “We found demos of ten more songs from throughout the band’s history, that had such an album-one vibe that they never made it on to our more recent records. So now we’re giving them a proper chance to be heard. The twenty-song version of the album will feature the originally-conceived track listing and sequence, plus the extra ten songs that have finally found a home on a record.”

Pandemics notwithstanding, the band continues a seemingly endless tour cycle. 2019 took Wheatus on a coast-to-coast, almost entirely sold-out tour of America opening for (and then collaborating with) Mike Doughty on his Ruby Vroom 25th Anniversary shows. That tour culminated in a super-special sold-out hometown headline show where the “classic” line-up of Wheatus reunited for one night only – their first time on stage together in 18 years. After that, the current line-up flew to South Africa to play some festivals, and then headed to Europe and the UK for another six weeks of touring. 2021 saw the band travel all over America, supporting Everclear, Hoobastank & Living Colour on the Summerland Tour.

2022 saw the band explode back into the mainstream with the "Teenage Dirtbag" trend going hugely viral across social media, with over TWO BILLION views in less than a month. The song has been shared & celebrated by Lil Nas X, Brooke Shields, Paris Hilton, Madonna, Alice Cooper, Jon Bon Jovi, Chevy Chase, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mark Ruffalo, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Heidi Klum, Lady Gaga, Sammy Hagar, Nick Kroll, Mark Ronson, Lupita Nyong'o, LL Cool J, Tony Hawk, Vitoria Beckham, Machine Gun Kelly, Anderson Paak, Jessica Alba, Mick Fleetwood, Millie Bobby Brown, Sheryl Crow, Chris Pratt, and Jamie Lee Curtis... to name a very select few.

The future, as always, remains uncertain. But the band looks forward to many more shows in the very near future, including visits to every corner of the earth that's interested in hosting them.

Intro Music: "Impact Intermezzo (Edited)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Outro Music: "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" - This score is in public domain and may be freely downloaded, printed, and performed. The sound file may be downloaded for personal use. For more information see https://lincolnlibraries.org/polley-music-library/