Delivering sunny garage pop complete with tremulous organ from Ohio, Wheels on Fire is a nice throwback to simplicity in a time where many of us take ourselves too seriously. A little surfy and saccharine in their songs saturated with “baby’s” and other heartsick notions, Wheels on Fire nonetheless carry on a cheerful disposition in their recently released EP Cherry Bomb. A few weeks back the band completed a European tour in support of the record and upon returning home for some time to talk shop with Reviewsic about the EP, their favorite local bands and who they’d want to book on their dream tour.
Check out Cherry Bomb at Kind Turkey Records
Reviewsic: Can you give us a quick recap of what the band has been up to lately?
Wheels on Fire: Yeah, we did a two and a half week tour of the states this summer and we are currently on tour in Europe. It’s been the best and most fucked up tour yet.
Reviewsic: What is the back-story on how the band came to be what it is today?
Wheels on Fire: First of all of our parents had sex and made us. Then they put us all in a crib together and we’ve been poundin’ it out ever since.
Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?
Wheels on Fire: Easy…Katie Perry, Eminem, and Whitney Houston
Reviewsic: Sting, among others, once released his lyrics on their own as poetry. Do you think that’s something you would ever do/would your lyrics hold up in that separate format?
Wheels on Fire: Hmmm, I don´t know if that would work so good. We mostly just write about girls and stuff, but that Sting guy is like a one man United Nations. Plus, he can do it for like 8 hours I’ve heard.
Reviewsic: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?
Wheels on Fire: We picked up some CDs in Holland for the van that we’ve been listing to…we got Wreckless Eric, Love, and a Trojan records comp.
Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?
Wheels on Fire: That’s a tough one, but I think Bobby from Kind Turkey has been one of the best people we’ve worked with so far. He’s really done an awesome job and we really love Kind Turkey. If we can’t work with him ever again, it would be nice to write a song for Katie Perry.
Reviewsic: Who are three of your favorite local bands? Were you involved in the local music in your hometown growing up?
Wheels on Fire: Skeleton Witch, Southeast Engine, and Wheels on Fire. Well, everybody else moved here from someplace else, but Michael has been into and influenced by the scene in Athens since he was a kid growing up here.
Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Wheels on Fire: Van Halen- Cause that’d be fun, right? James Brown- Cause he could maybe teach us to dance. ELO- Cause we love them and it would be awesome. Seriously!
Reviewsic: Tell us about the Cherry Bomb EP- Did you enter the studio with a specific intent or concept? What do you hope listeners take away from this record?
Wheels on Fire: Not really, we just recorded some new songs that we had. I guess like all our stuff, we just want people to listen to it to feel better for a while, like a drug. Just give ya a little bump.
Reviewsic: How would you compare yourselves as musicians at this point as opposed to when you first began playing together?
Wheels on Fire: We’re much better now, but we don’t really play like we’re any better. We always try to keep it simple.
Reviewsic: What are some of your favorite cities and/or venues to play?
Wheels on Fire: Hamburg, Germany is the best! Berlin is also awesome. And recently Milwaukee and Madison have been great… so many great bands and people up there.
Reviewsic: What are the best and worst band moments so far in your career?
Wheels on Fire: Worst- Probably getting our van stuck in a parking garage that was to small for the van in Koln, Germany. It was after a really shitty show and the van got wedged in cause it was too tall. The best was probably this last tour, we’ve played some cool places and met some really great folks. Playing at club Vera in Holland was awesome…it’s a venue that’s hosted Nirvana, U2, Slayer, The Replacements, and a bunch of other bands that we’ve heard of.
Reviewsic: Tell us about this the European tour- were there any dates in particular you were excited to play? What are a few items essential to your “tour survival kit”?
Wheels on Fire: Like we said earlier, Hamburg is awesome. We were looking forward the whole time to playing the last two shows there. We played both with this band the Kidnappers that’s from there. The last show was on a boat, just riding around the harbor. Tools…well, baby wipes are essential! The T.P. over here sucks and you got to keep your butt right or you just don’t feel good.
Reviewsic: What are your plans for music in the next year?
Wheels on Fire: Keep recording, we’ve always got new stuff that needs to be recorded. We’re getting a lot better at doing it at home too. Just working on that and then touring next spring.
