Photo Credit: Dan Kulpa
Wussy is comprised of Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker on guitars + vocals, Mark Messerly on bass, Joe Klug on drums, and John Erhardt on pedal steel. In between studio albums, Wussy keeps their name out there by constantly releasing extras – rarities, b-sides, demos, and acoustic songs.
I got details on Wussy’s upcoming 5th album from Chuck, who also answered questions about sequencing the record and older songs like “Motorcycle” and “Pizza King.”
After The Show: For the new album, you recorded more songs than you’ll actually use…How do you decide which tracks make the album? How much input does Shake It give?
Wussy: This time it was surprisingly easy…Lisa put 11 of the strongest of the 16 songs we’ve been working on in the perfect order and that’s gonna be the record. Shake-It! [record label] pretty much lets us do what we want. Our patron saints, they are.
I think “Pizza King” is the one song that epitomizes Wussy’s sound. Why is it one of your favorite songs to play live?
It’s one chord and has amazing noise potential.
If any band could cover a Wussy song, what band and which song would you want?
Skynyrd – “Magnolia”
UK’s Damnably Records released Buckeye, your first official international release. How did that come about? Will they also release your new album in the UK?
George and Janis got in touch with us and were really nice so we put a record out with ’em. As far as we know, they’re releasing the new one as well.
“Motorcycle” is such a brilliant twist on a salvation song…it tells a story, and I love the third verse’s line “Rapture isn’t what I thought it’d be / but Jesus and his angels ride with me.” Do you remember the songwriting process for it?
We made the music up together and Lisa wrote the words.
How has the balance between your regular jobs and being in the band changed over the last few years? Are you able to devote more time to the band now?
Unfortunately, it hasn’t changed at all.
Music journalists love your music, but why do you think it isn’t more popular commercially? Maybe because there’s a bias against older musicians or bands that aren’t brand new?
When we got to the crossroads the devil had gone home.
Other details:
-John plays lots of pedal steel on the new album.
-The cover artwork design will possibly be black light day-glo.
-Lisa and/or Chuck will perhaps release solo records one day.
+Stay tuned for the upcoming album — Wussy.org