Wavves’ Nathan Williams back on the boat

By now you’ll have read about Wavves‘ Nathan Williams‘ self-destruction at Primavera Sound, an ecstacy, valium and xanax fuelled frenzy where he had a bit of an indie kerfuffle with his drummer and eventually got switched off. Massive news it wasn’t, but massive news it became.

But don’t fret, he’s back! Kind of. And so are Wavves. He spoke to Pitchfork about it. He said he’s still in touch with drummer Ryan Ulsh, and that he’d be joining him on stage as ever at his impending shows.

Here’s a kinda unimpinged transcript:

“I don’t really know what went on. It started the same as any other day. We were just hanging out. The set wasn’t until like 2:30, 2:45. We had gotten there late, so we didn’t get to soundcheck. So when we actually got up to start playing, we had to just kind of sound check for the first ten minutes. I don’t really honestly remember playing the set. I actually talked to my mom the next morning, and she asked me how it went. I said, “Good, I think.” But yeah, I don’t know, I guess I just got way too fucked up. That was basically the story. It was never anything except just a couple of bad decisions, and I don’t know. It is what it is.”

“The tour was canceled after that because a number of things. Me and Ryan were really not getting along, and that was mainly it, but that sort of stuff is kind of something I’d prefer not to get into. We just weren’t getting along at the time. That was the main reason that it all went down. But it wasn’t really Ryan’s fault; it was kind of my fault.”

“… the whole reason I left, I guess, was because it got to a point where it became so stressful and there were so many people whispering in my ear. It just got so big so quickly. I think maybe I realized it, and it freaked me out a little bit. Obviously, I handled it in the worst way possible, but it was just… I don’t know. It’s weird because it’s kind of like a personal thing, and then these business-y things are all kind of tangled in it. It’s weird to say when it is fun and when it isn’t fun. And if it isn’t fun, I guess I shouldn’t really be doing it anymore. But I do love doing it, and it is fun. But with every good, there is a bad part of it.”

So there. Interesting the amount of chaos it kicked off, wasn’t it? For someone of that stature…