Interview with Wheatus Frontman, Brendan B. Brown

Wheatus are an American rock band from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are known principally for their 2000 single "Teenage Dirtbag", which appeared in the films Loser and Bully, as well as the HBO miniseries Generation Kill, the Netflix original series Girlboss, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Brendan B. Brown, commonly known as BBB to fans, is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and the only remaining founding member of Wheatus, which he formed in 1995 with his brother, Peter Brown (drums) and Rich Liegey (bass).[2] Brown has also collaborated with James Bourne of Busted and McBusted (a collaboration between Busted and McFly) on several songs for McBusted's album, McBusted.

Wheatus was formed by Brendan B. Brown in 1995, on the lower east side of New York City. Brown began by writing a few songs, and subsequently enlisted the help of his brother Peter Brown on drums, Rich Liegey on bass and backing vocals and Philip A. Jimenez on various percussion instruments, keyboards, harmonica, providing samples and special effects. The band derives its name from the nickname "wedus" given to the Brown brothers by their father when they were children.[3] Then, in 1999 they hired New York entertainment attorney Ray Maiello who booked them at the Luna Lounge on New York's Lower East Side for regular appearances. Maiello helped the group and shopped their self-produced debut album to major record labels. Maiello sent demos to Kevin Patrick from Columbia Records. Maiello invited Patrick to see a showcase at Mercury Lounge and Patrick quickly signed the band to a multi-album deal. Maiello was subsequently hired as the band's manager. Their self-titled debut album was released on August 15, 2000 and spawned the band's first and largest hit, "Teenage Dirtbag", a song which charted at No. 1 in Australia and No. 2 in the United Kingdom. Their second single, a cover of one of Erasure's signature songs – "A Little Respect", also reached very high chart positions, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] The third single from the album, a double A-side of "Leroy" and "Wannabe Gangstar", didn't perform as well as expected, only reaching No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart. Another song from the album, "Punk Ass Bitch", was bought by the creators of Jackie Chan Adventures and reworked as "Chan's the Man", the end credits theme for the program's first season.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatus#Current