Andrew Dwiggins of

 Greenwheel

What/who inspired you to become interested in music? Is it something you have always wanted to do or did you just stumble onto it?
I was really bored one summer, I was 13, and I knew my mom had an old relic guitar in her bedroom. I took it out and just bashed the strings for hours. A couple of friends showed me some chords, and from there I learned songs off the radio.

Did any of you go to college? Or did you just go after your music career right after high school?
I went to a community college that was close by. We all agreed to give the band a few years to see if anything would happen, and it did :)

How did you all meet to form greenwheel/ any story behind the name?
Marc (lead guitar) came to the music store I was working in one day and asked if I wanted to jam. We exchanged numbers and were totally into each others' musical style, so we jammed a few times a week. I knew Ryan had a great voice b/c he and I lead the drunken singalongs at parties. Brandon goofed off in class together all the time, and I knew he played bass. The 4 of us jammed together untill we found Doug (we stalked him on his lunch break in the mall) and soon after we called ourselves Soma Holiday.
Greenwheel, unfortunately, doesn't have a story behind it. We needed to change our name (then Soma Holiday) b/c some other bands had rights over it.

Are you guys from the city or did you move to the city to make it as musicians?
We're from the 'burbs. We had to play in the city to get a bigger audience, so that's how we gained a following. Our first gigs were backyard graduation parties. Hey, we got free beer!

What advice would you give to a band trying to make it? Any label advice?
Concentrate on your music. Focus on your songs, melodies, lyrics, arrangements. Have fun and network with anyone who could help you later. DO NOT badmouth other bands. It's bad karma, and it'll bite you in the ass one day. Surround yourself with hard working people you can trust.

What sets you apart from other up-and-new-comers?
We focus a lot on the quality of our songs/lyrics. If it's not honest, or we don't feel the songs when we play them, then we don't play them. I think there's depth to the music that's universal enough to hopefully stand the test of time, genres, or fads.

Whats the weirdest thing a fan has done for you?
Well, there are these really sweet girls from Ohio that always bring us ring pops :) I always get the grape ones. They rock!!!

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
In a ghetto fabulous mansion with Playboy bunnies everywhere!!!

What bands have you toured with? Favorites? Any band you want to tour with in the future?
We've toured with...Flickerstick, Rubyhorse and Injected. I can't pick favorites b/c there's something to be learned from each band we're with. All of those bands have great guys and are amazing to see live.
I, personally, would love to tour with bands like the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, Tonic, Incubus, and Prince.

What has been your biggest break so far?
Why, doing this interview of course ;)
We've been blessed with a lot of opportunities, but none more flattering than a small critique in Rolling Stone Magazine. How cool is that!?!

In your words how do you describe the sound of your music?? (When I tell people about you they always ask and i just hate comparing you to "popular" bands )
People have a need to catagorize things, so bands are no different. I think people do that so they can justify to themselves why they like a band or not. My influences expand every day, just like the rest of the guys, but we were really into A Perfect Circle and Counting Crows when making the record. Hope that helps :)

What are your goals for your music career?
To always be pushing ourselves creatively, and always being honest with our music. We don't want to make the same record twice, b/c the bands we admire are constantly evolving into something more unique, expressive, and cool. That's the type of band we want to be, and that's all we really think about.

I see that you are on the Spiderman and The Fast and Furious soundtracks......how excited were you about that?? I know i was ;-)
We're always psyched whenever we get a chance to have that kind of mass exposure. It's helped us tremendously.

What is the hardest thing about touring? Has touring been good for building your fan base?
Getting sleep and staying healthy are two difficult things to do on the road when you don't have a tour bus. It's so much fun, however, that it's difficult to complain. Touring has helped us get a decent following in some markets, but more importantly it's made us a much better live band.

How supportive has your family and friends been?
They're awesome for us. We've always got excited voice mail's whenever something cool happens, and now that we're getting radio exposure everyone's really psyched.

Any last words?? Feel free to say anything!!!!!
"Water is the essence of wetness." (Zoolander)


Special Thanks to Andy for doing this interview with me!! For more information on tour dates and the online street team go to Greenwheel's official web site at www.greenwheel.net. Don't forget to pick up their debut album Soma Holiday in stores June 25th!!!!!!

- Rebecca

May 28, 2002