Rogue Wave has been around since the early 2000s, making their start in Oakland, California. Their lead singer and songwriter Zach Schwartz, whom we recently interviewed, founded the band upon losing his job after the stock market crash. Six albums later, the most recent being Delusions of Grand Fur, the band is travelling the world and spreading the music people adore.
A: Zach. Hi, nice to meet you. So, for those who don’t know Rogue Wave, how would you describe your band?
Zach: I don’t know, haha. They’ve been calling it Indie Rock for a while now. It’s Rock & Roll. It’s American Rock music: Rock, rocking, guitars, 60s, 80s, Present. You know sort of psychedelic, ambient, melodic, sometimes loud, sometimes not. It’s American. We’re an American rock band. The end of rockers.
A: I mean it’s the best type, right?
Z: I don’t know. It’s sad-It’s fallen out of fashion, actually. So we should be a Pop or Hip-Hop group, you know? That’s the pulse of the nation right there.
A: Oh my gosh, don’t make me cry!
Z: Guitars are a little, they’ve fallen out of favor… a bit, to a degree.
A: That is true.
Z: But you know, bands I was into when I was in college, they weren’t, you know mainstream. Trends come and go, and some things go underground, and rock music has gone underground a little bit. Worse things could happen.
A: It started underground too, but so has everything else.
Z: Yeah, music is evolving.
A: Mhmm!
Z: If you listen to Animal Collective or something, or Kendrick Lamar, you can kind of hear how music is evolving. Hopefully if artists like that are involved into a good place, the caliber of those kinds of artists is more common than uncommon right now in term of what’s popular. It’s cool that artists like that are widely accepted cause those artists are so forward thinking and interesting, and always changing.
A: Yeah everything is changing so much.
A: Indie is a chain off of rock. Indie itself has started getting its own little sub things. It started out just meaning “independent”, but now it’s so much more. Just like Pop, but I mean, pop has already, always been
“popular”. BS right?
Z: Pop now just means “unlistenable”, haha.
A: Right, yeah.
Z: Pop music was actually kind of cool. Pop music was great in the 80s. It was really good pop music. Now it’s just “know the game”. They should call it that instead. Just pummel me in the head so I don’t have to think about anything happening in the world because the world is too painful to think about. So entertain me with things take away my pain.
A: Oh my God, right? Haha. You know, rock always stood for the underground, the rebel, fighting the freaking man…
Z: It used to stand for that, but that has changed. I mean, there are still bands that stand for that. That band Savages, they’re a great band, and I think they’re a great example of that kind of rebellious spirit, kind of doing whatever they want, being subversive. And kind of being able to- And Kendrick Lamar also. Those artists where that’s the true Rock/Hip-Hop spirit of truly making other people follow you. There are some artists in there, but a lot of mainstream rock, just, it doesn’t necessarily follow that same spirit. Some artists do, but music has changed and a lot of that is because of the consolidation of media companies and the power of major labels. It intentionally waters down mainstream music so that it is non-threatening.
A: Mhmm.
Z: That’s a choice that’s been made with rapid media consolidation. It’s a choice to have music not be threatening. Anything that threatens the establishment, that wouldn’t do. That can happen when you have so much corporate control over music.
A: Very true. I actually have a gig myself tonight
Z: Coffee gig?
A: No haha. I’m at some wine-mom-design studio.
Z: Wine- By the way! Are you familiar with this trend: “Paint and Sip”?
A: No
Z: Okay, somebody told me that people will, like couples, will go and drink wine or booze, and paint together, and they paint the same thing. Are you familiar with this?
A: No
Z: I couldn’t believe- I thought somebody was messing with me. Apparently that’s a real thing. I think there should be like a “Stitch and Puff”, where you kind of get high and crochet…
A: Haha
Z: I think that’s cooler!
A: Right, that is cooler! I feel like I would want to knit, but just because how soft it is I wouldn’t even knit. I would just be touching the yarn the whole time.
Z: I will say one of my favorite trends is, and it’s not like a new trend. I know it’s been going on forever, but how there are these renegades hitting people, like instead of graffiti, they’ll just stitch up a whole stop sign pole or something. Have you seen this?
A: No
Z: So their way of tagging neighborhoods is putting embroidery on stuff.
A: That’s fun!
Z: I know! It is fun! I love it!
A: Like if you get caught for vandalism or something, what do they do? It’s like “Oh it’s a beautiful cloth, thanks.”
Z: “I made your community more beautiful, arrest me!”
A: Yeah, right! That’s great! The world is a good place for little reasons like that. It’s the little things, the little bands, the little artists, the little everything like that…
Z: Sometimes it is… depends on the day. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes the world’s really bad. Like if you’re at the Istanbul airport at the wrong time, or at a gay night club in Orlando. Not always a good time for someone. But sometimes it’s a good day when you’re safe, and quiet, and supported.
A: Yeah…
Z: Some days are better than others I guess. That’s what we learn. Are we- is this an interview? I don’t know.
A: This is an interview, I guess- A conversation.
Z: Yeah, I think we’ve established a few things.
A: Honestly, I think interviews are better this way, but-
Z: It’s a podcast format.
A: It’s a podcast format.
Z: Just let it go!
A: Yeah!
Z: Don’t ask the boiler plate questions like: “Hey, what was the motivation behind writing this song?” cause no one cares about that.
A: That is true.
Z: That’s not gonna matter to anyone. Who needs to know where it was recorded? How it was recorded? What were you thinking when you wrote the song? How long it took you to record? All the trials and
tribulations of getting the next- no one cares. They just want to hear it and feel something, and hear that you were raised in a cult, or some narrative that makes them feel there’s a story to follow and some mystique, and you know, some tortured, weird past.
A: That’s true.
Z: And if you cop to that past, that narrative will follow you the length of your career.
A: That’s true. It’s just whatever you put out; whatever you want to put out. Let people buy into it.
Z: Here’s a thought I was thinking about this the other day. I think it should nationally be mandated that all restaurants should serve breakfast all day.
A: Ugh, thank you!
Z: I don’t think they should change over in the kitchen at 11 am, screwing people who just want to have some eggs. This is not, this should not be difficult and reviewed about it. If you serve breakfast in your restaurants, you should serve it all day. I don’t feel like you should be punished later in the afternoon simply because you didn’t get there at the right time.
A: Yeah, because you woke up late, no waffles for you.
Z: Or maybe something came up. Maybe you were at a job. Maybe you’re working, and you don’t get off your shift until 10:30 am. All you want are some eggs, and then you get to the place at 10:45 or 11, and they’re like “Sorry, we’re having a changeover. You can’t have breakfast anymore”. I don’t think that’s right. I think that’s discriminatory to people who are getting there late. I think we should have breakfast all day, I really do.
A: Don’t just serve the early birds.
Z: Because don’t you feel- tell me if I’m wrong. When you go to places that serves breakfast, and they serve breakfast all day, don’t you feel a little more love in the room?
A: Of course I do! Breakfast is my favorite thing. Like this is music to my ears right now!
Z: Yes! Breakfast is the best meal of the day. Lunch is a joke! I think they should just get rid of lunch cause lunch is a waste of time. And just focus on great breakfast, hearty breakfast, and dinner. And the rest is just window dressing and should just, you know, have stuff to keep your metabolism going, just little snacks. But just focus on quality breakfast and dinner, you know?
A: Yeah, I feel that.
Z: That’s what we need to do.
A: Mhmm.
Z: These are the kinds of issues I will be bringing up when I unveil my larger national platform…
A: Oh yeah…
Z: …for the next election.
A: The band was just a gateway.
Z: Yeah, yeah. The band was a fake.
A: You’re just like Donald Trump. You’re just gonna sneak your way in through main media and be like BAM! Politics. Thank you.
Z: Well, I don’t think I ever want to be mentioned in the same sentence-
A: Oh I know. That was a terrible thing to say. I’m so sorry.
Z: Yeah. I mean, we are similar in the sense that he and I are both alive.
A: There you go!
Z: That’s where the similarities kind of, uh, end.
A: Yeah
Z: I’m not a misogynist, serial liar, racist, xenophobic, disgusting tw*t of a human.
A: Got any more?
Z: I got a lot more, but that’s all.
A: Haha. Just gotta limit the time we spend here.
Z: I know!
A: Yeah, right! Haha, oh my gosh.
Z: It’s for attention; we should just ignore him.
A: That’s like one of the taboo things to like- it’s a taboo thing to find out that someone is a Trump supporter. There’s like a hush that falls upon the room. You’re like “oh my god…”
Z: Yeah.
A: A Trump supporter…
Z: But you know, it’s everyone else’s fault, you know. It’s like that Rolling Stones song ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, you know? “Who killed the Kennedy’s? It was you and me.’ I mean, we create these people in the media. We allow anything with like- If you don’t like hearing about the Kardashians, then don’t report on every single thing that they do. It’s like a lot of these problems, we make them problems because we keep pointing- He’s a creation of the media. He was propped up by the media. So many things we glorify would go away if we ignore them.
A: We fuel the fire. Yeah. It’s crazy
Z: Mhmm. It’s true. I had such a good time talking to you.
A: Oh yeah, totally!
Z: Yeah! This has been good!
A: Yeah!
Z: So you are living in Chicago, yet this is for a station in Savannah?
A: Yes. I go to Savannah College of Art and Design, and so this is for SCAD Radio.
Z: You know, we were in New York recently doing an interview for XMU, you know the satellite station?
A: Mhmm.
Z: And we did an interview with a woman. We went into a room- we flew to New York to do this session to do an interview with this woman, and she was in LA. We flew all the way across the country. We could’ve just flown for an hour
A: Oh my gosh. Just like: “Oh. Great. Thank you for that.”
Z: It happens. She was very nice, so it was worth it.
A: Oh good. Did you enjoy New York when you were there, or did you just have to leave?
Z: I always enjoy New York. I don’t think I would do well as a New Yorker, but every time I visit, I absolutely love it. I love being in New York. We try to doing more tours. We try to do a show in Manhattan and a show in Brooklyn. We get to just extend our stage. So, same thing with Chicago. Actually, we try to really make it last as long as possible so we can hang out.
A: That’s good. Chicago’s the best, honestly. I haven’t been to New York, but I feel like just being from Chicago, I have to say it’s the best. It’s the best.
Z: Wait, you’ve never been to New York in your life?
A: Not yet. One day.
Z: How old are you?
A: Nineteen.
Z: Do yourself a favor and go to New York.
A: I will! I mean, I have to! I love Broadway, and just everything is in New York. “Come to New York”.
Z: Yeah!
A: I mean, it’s just a given. I’ve been to Colorado and Florida, and Georgia, and a couple other places. I’ve got time.
Z: Well, the world is a big place.
A: Yeah, it’s the best places you’ve been.
Z: Father Time will take that away from you.
A: Totally.
Z: Okay, umm, I need to go.
A: Okay. Well it was a pleasure talking to you.
Z: So nice talking to you!
A: Yeah awesome! Okay, well, have a nice day!
Z: Alright, bye!
A: Bye!
Make sure to check out Rogue Waves’ latest album Delusions of Grand Fur. Now available on iTunes.
