Blogs > Indie Outing (the secret jambands roots of indie rockers)

Indie Outing: Wavves

Indie-Jam Connection: Onetime Jay Reatard band member and current Wavves bassist Stephen Pope is honest about his connections to the Grateful Dead and jamband worlds: “I was a punk kid growing up but I was also a stoner so a lot of my friends were into the jam scene,” the Memphis native admits. “They played me the Grateful Dead growing up and went to Bonnaroo every year.” Pope learned about the Grateful Dead though his high school crew and got especially into the Grateful Dead, who he now listens to regularly on Sirius_XM’s Grateful Dead Channel. He also acknowledges that he’s learned to appreciate Phish and STS9 and he even tried to see Phish at MSG this past New Year’s but was unable to secure a ticket (perhaps some indie-jammers looking for Wavves tickets can help him out this year).

Notable Jamband Moments: Pope not only helped bridge the indie and jamband scene but also the rock and hip hop worlds when Wavves recently collaborated with Wu-Tang Clan member GZA. The bassist sported his best Grateful Dead tie-dye for both the on-screen collaboration and accompanying photo shoot. He also gave props to his old high school jamband crew when Wavves played Bonnaroo this past June and put his old pot dealer on his guest list

Lot Talk: “I listen to Sirius_XM’s Grateful Dead channel all the time in my car—I especially like [their early stuff] like “St. Stephen,” Stephen Pope, Relix