A new Houston band on the radar
Houston’s music scene has earned its fair share of attention over the past year. There’s been national love for rapper Fat Tony and indie bands the Tontons and Wild Moccasins. Singer Mary Sarah teamed up with country legends Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard for a duets album. And, of course, the funk-soul of the Suffers has been showcased on late-night TV and NPR.
Waterparks is the latest, and potentially the biggest, new act on that illustrious Htown list. The pop-punk trio — singer/ guitarist Awsten Knight, singer/ guitarist Geoff Wigington, drummer Otto Wood — announced earlier this month that it signed with Equal Vision Records, whose roster includes rock acts Say Anything and Saves the Day. Waterparks’ puppy-filled video for single “Crave” premiered last week on Billboard and is in rotation on MTV.
“It’s very unreal. It’s very exciting. It’s crazy,” Wood, 24, says. “We feel very fortunate because we’re in a very unique position that most local bands don’t find themselves.”
And there’s even more muscle behind them. Waterparks is being managed by twins Joel and Benji Madden of recently reunited rock band Good Charlotte, who helped make 5 Seconds of Summer a multiplatinum pop force. Waterparks performs Sunday at Houston Whatever Fest.
Joel Madden, in a statement, called Waterparks “one of the best young bands we’ve heard in years. They are talented musicians, prolific writers and a great live band.”
Knight, 23, is from Cypress and attended Cypress Ridge High School. Wigington, 26, is originally from Napa Valley in California and graduated from Tarkington High School in the East Texas town of Cleveland. Wood went to Memorial High School. They met while in other bands and have an amusing, close-knit chemistry and a polished, camera-ready look.
The band played its first show in 2012 at Warehouse Live, which led to slots alongside post-hardcore outfit Chiodos and former teen heartthrob Aaron Carter. They earned a spot on a local Warped Tour date and recorded a song with Fred Mascherino of rock band Taking Back Sunday. They regularly attended shows and spent lots of nights shaking hands and meeting music fans.
“It’s the thinnest line in the world between lazy bum and band guy that’s not successful yet,” Knight jokes. He says his parents were “not psyched” when he decided to ditch college to pursue music.
“We’ve mostly been trying to just grow an audience locally,” Wood adds. “We weren’t one of those bands who’s like, ‘Let’s hop in the van and go an East Coast run.’ And play for five people and just bankrupt ourselves.”
The new label and management deal seem to ensure a much bigger audience. “Crave,” produced by Benji Madden and Courtney Ballard (5 Seconds of Summer, All Time Low), previews a 2016 EP, which the band says will incorporate “glitchy vocals,” electronic effects and hip-hop. Waterparks previously released a pair of EPs: “Black Light” (2014) and “Airplane Conversations” (2012).
Waterparks also makes a cameo in “Makeshift Love,” the comeback video from Good Charlotte. The Madden brothers have been vocal champions of the band, regularly shouting out Waterparks on social media.
“There’s listener. Then there’s the super-fan, people that are, like, really into it. Then there’s our moms. And then the Madden guys,” Knight says. “They’re super-psyched on the stuff we’ve been making.”