It seems as though every band that comes out of New York these days, without any hesitation, are compared to The Strokes. For a band like Longwave, it doesn’t help that the band opened for The Strokes on tour earlier this year. However, these comparisons should pass quickly as the band begins to grab its own audience off of the strength of their latest album, The Strangest Things.
The album is more closely related to the college radio-friendly sounds of Unforgettable Fire-era U2 or even early R.E.M. than the garage rock that has come out of New York in droves.
The origins of the band go back to Rochester, N.Y., where singer/guitarist Steve Shiltz and drummer Mike James grew up.
“(In Rochester), you could have a band, practice in the basement, and everyone had a car, so it was easy to move equipment around,” Shiltz said in an interview a few weeks ago. He then said that having a couple college radio stations in the area was also a big advantage to Rochester. However, when he was 19, Shiltz decided to move to New York City to pursue a musical career.
“I was bored of my band, my girlfriend was entering NYU, and it just looked like an exciting thing to do,” Schiltz said. He soon hooked up with Queens-native bassist Dave Marchese and a drummer, and Longwave was born. Guitarist Shannon Ferguson joined group to record their first album off Luna Sea Records called Endsongs in 2000. It was at this point that the band’s original drummer left the group “because of the touring” Shiltz said. Mike James soon came into the fold, and the lineup was finalized. The group caught a major break in 2002 when they were given the opportunity to open for The Strokes in New York.
“I was friends with their manager back when he was working at (New York club) the Mercury Lounge doing the booking. He asked us to open up for the band at this place called the Ice Box, and they like us so much we got to open for them on a few more shows,” Shiltz said. Schiltz said these opening spots helped a lot in getting the name of the band out.
“It’s been over a year, and people are still talking about it,” Shiltz said.
Schiltz said he would like to see the band progress like Wilco or the Flaming Lips, who have good careers, despite low records sales.
“I just hope to make [current label] RCA happy, and get some real good fans,” Shiltz said. “Anything else would be too much to ask for, but not too much to get.”
Longwave plays The Gargoyle on Friday, March 28 along with the Mooney Suzuki, the Raveonettes and White Light Motorcade. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. The Gargoyle is located on Washington University’s campus.
