Teenage Dirtbag on tour: Wheatus founding member confesses shock hit

Wheatus frontman Brendan B. Brown confesses his Teenage Dirtbag shock ahead of nationwide tour. See the details.

New York band Wheatus rose to fame following the 2000 release of their chart topping hit Teenage Dirtbag.

More than two decades on the song still resonates with a global audience – but frontman Brendan B. Brown revealed he never anticipated the fame it would generate.

Ahead of the band’s nationwide tour and Gold Coast leg with Pandemonium Rocks festival – the only remaining founding member told the Bulletin he was apprehensive in the lead up to the song’s release.

“I knew it was a strong song and had a good narrative, but I had been around the music industry enough to know that wasn’t all it took – that it could fall through the cracks,” he said.

“If anything when I finished writing it and we got it ready, I started feeling a little bit apprehensive. I was like, ‘oh no I hope this one doesn’t get screwed up, because it feels really special to me’ – but we got lucky.

Brendan B Brown (front) with former Wheatus members.

“I feel like the luckiest idiot from Long Island.”

Mr Brown said it was heard by “the right people” and all these years later the most important thing to him was how listeners “see themselves” in the track.

“If you can insert yourself into the narrative and make it about your life,” he said.

“That’s much more important than whatever it meant when I wrote it.”

The band released another four studio albums following Teenage Dirtbag, which featured on their debut self-titled studio album.

But the singer/songwriter confessed trying to replicate the song’s popularity would be “awkward” and he never felt “compelled” to do “another Teenage Dirtbag”.

“I think that would be awkward,” he said.

“I’ve had a lot of fun making a lot of other kinds of music that’s special to me and the kids we meet on the road who like those newer songs.

“Those relationships are really firm and those are the ones we play in front of all the time – that’s who we’re working for.”

Mr Brown said fans could expect the band’s first studio album since 2013 as soon as they’re “off the road”.

Wheatus. Picture: Supplied

Wheatus will perform at the debut Pandemonium Rocks festival on Saturday April 27, but the event hasn’t been without problems in its lead up.

Major internatonal acts including headliner Placebo, Deep Purple, Palaye Royale and the Dead Kennedys pulled out sparking concerns over the fate of the festival

The line-up reduction saw Pandemonium Rocks organisers Apex Entertainment, headed by Gold Coast promoter Andrew McManus, move the event from Doug Jenning’s Park to the smaller venue of Broadwater Parklands. It has since been downgraded to a single-stage event.

Other performers still going ahead on Saturday include Alice Cooper, Blondie The Psychadelic Furs, Wolfmother, and Cosmic Pyschos.

Tickets to the event are still available.