After having put out one of the best records of 2021, Hell To Pay, Latewaves proved the future of New Jersey indie-rock is in great hands. As the trio is readying to drop their self-titled full length on 29 September, TGEFM had a chance to speak with guitarist/frontman Mike Pelligrino about the new record, the importance of trying our best and the learning to turn your regrets into your story.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Congrats on the upcoming self titled-record, I’m sincerely still enjoying the hell out of “Hell To Pay”.What can you tell us about Latewaves for readers just discovering the band?
That’s so awesome to hear!! Our bio, for the longest time, has been “Latewaves is a rock and roll band from Asbury Park, NJ that is trying their best.” And honestly, even when we get a nice professional bio written, I think that bio suits us. We’re a 3 piece that takes influence from the grunge/alt rock of the 90’s – and our roots growing up at the New Jersey VFW punk and emo shows can’t help but shine through. We’re big fans of the motto “Take what you do seriously, but not yourself.” So you won’t see any uppity nonsense from us. Our songs divulge into some heavy stuff, I write a lot about mental health struggles, but the music itself is fun, dynamic, melodic, and energetic rock. We don’t try to be anything we’re not, because that would be forced. But we try like hell to write the best songs we can and execute them live.
What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?
In the 7th grade I went to see New Jersey’s finest; The Bouncing Souls. It was my first show. I’d seen live music before but not like this. I stood right under The Pete (Steinkopf-guitarist) the whole time and I remember feeling like I was floating. It was the most undeniable urge I’ve ever had and still exists to this day.
Latewaves is from NJ. It’s such an interesting, diverse and generally under-appreciated place that has bred so much amazing music. Why do you think the area churns out so many brilliant musicians and songwriters? How does the area feed into the music you are writing, if at all?
THANK YOU. I strongly feel the same way about New Jersey. I honestly think it’s because we’re the runt of the northeast. You’re born in Jersey just knowing people are hating on you. And everyone here has such pride about it. Like we’re all on the inside of the joke. Everyone is making fun of New Jersey but we know we have something special, we don’t need to convince you, it’s ours, so keep talking shit. I think that attitude comes out in a lot of bands from here. We’re living in the shadow of two of the world’s greatest cities and everyone hates us, so we have fight in us. Many shows we’ve played on tour – people have approached us and said “You guys are SO New Jersey.” And it’s one of the best compliments to get honestly.
The world has been going through some shit over the last few years. What affect, if any, have the cultural and political landscapes of the last few years had on your music or the live scene in general?
Personally I don’t think enough time has passed to truly know what effect the last few years has had on us. Our new music is definitely different, not unrecognizably different but nonetheless different. And I think life is what helps you create art. It’s not always so obvious as “this song is about when XYZ happened to me.” It could be a mood or a vibe that life-experiences brought upon you. And I’m sure we all felt some shit we’ve never felt before and thus came out in our new music. As far as the actual scene goes? I don’t know, I think it’s messy right now. A lot of energy is put on your online persona. I’m not gonna be an old man yelling at the clouds about it. Fine, it’s just some other bullshit we have to do that has nothing to do with writing and performing music. I’ve been at this a while. I had to play the purevolume game, then the MySpace game, then the Facebook game, then the instagram game etc. Before all that my old bands used to go to the mall with an iPod and headphones and a backpack with merch or tickets we had to sell for some pay-to-play gig (barf) and find people that we thought would dig our band and approach them in person. And it worked. So the online persona, to me, is just another variation of that. However, it’s just SO important these days. And in my brain, a good band is a band that writes good songs and can play the shit out of them live. That’s the real deal. There are still amazing bands out there, but there’s just a little bit more bullshit these days, at least upfront. I think people will inevitably see right through it. The bands from the past that are still important to us are examples of that. People are still trying to write Smashing Pumpkins songs. Nobody is trying to write Puddle of Mudd songs. So I think good music and songwriting will always prevail
We’ve all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?
If you asked me this question a few years ago I’d have a laundry list of bad moves to share with you. And yes, at the time I had massive regrets. Offers to be in bands that have gone on to get big. Partying too hard around important people, etc… but I can honestly say I’m glad we’re exactly where we are. The things we’ve accomplished in Latewaves are products of our own hard work and love for music. The songs we’ve written, and especially the new record that is about to come out, are exact representations of the experiences we’ve been through. Yea, if you’re in the music business, you’re gonna get bummed. On our last tour my pedalboard shit the bed in Chicago. It was one of the most packed shows on the tour, one of the coolest venues, some old friends came out to see us – and we had a bad set. But so many things like that are out of our control. It took a long time to get into this mindset, but I always ask myself this question; “Did you try your best?” And if the answer is “yes” – then I gotta be cool about whatever happens after that. Like I said, this industry is brutal. It’s not fair, it’s dog eat dog, it’s built upon favors and nepotism, you’re competing against kids with rich parents…hell, actors and pro athletes all want to be musicians. It’s the most desired profession ever, there’s nothing cooler than being a musician… so you really just gotta roll with it and keep going as long as you can. My mantra with music used to be “Hope for the best, expect the worst.” But now it’s “Expect nothing, appreciate everything.”
One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
We’ve been very lucky to play with a LOT of amazing bands that blow us away every night on tour ; Pollyanna, Carpool, Family Dinner, America Part Two. And living in the music capitol of New Jersey (yea I said it) Asbury Park; you’re surrounded by such amazing bands we get to play with. Have A Good Season, Beauty, Well Wisher, Halogens, Foxteeth… We’re lucky ducks to get to play with such rippers all the time.
Not to put the cart before the horse, but once the world gets its hands on the new record, what’s next for Latewaves?
Well we’re gonna announce a release show soon!! We have some runs lined up for the winter to follow the fall release of the record! Once the record is out the real work begins – playing it for the world! (And by world I mean whatever venue will put us on a gig)
Thank you again for your time. Before we say our goodbyes, was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Thank YOU. This was a fun interview! I’d just say to keep your eye out for our upcoming record. We got to work with Vinnie Caurana and Brett Romnes (both of I Am The Avalanche) who produced the record. They truly helped us bring out the best version of our band on this album. We’ve never been more proud of something we’ve done, I really hope you all enjoy it!!
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
