Interview: Wheatus Brings Nostalgia and New Energy to Oceans Calling

When the unmistakable opening riff of “Teenage Dirtbag” rang out across the Ocean City boardwalk, time stopped. The rain was coming down in sheets, but no one cared - not the teenagers who were once on their parents’ shoulders, not the grown-ups reliving their youth, not the little kids shouting every word as if they’d lived it themselves. It was one of those rare festival moments where generations collide in song, proof that some anthems never fade - they just evolve.

The next morning, the crowds and chaos had quieted. The festival stages sat empty, the sound of crashing waves replacing the previous night’s music. On the boardwalk, I met up with Wheatus for a one-on-one conversation - relaxed, unhurried, and filled with the kind of easy humor that comes only after a triumphant show.

“We absolutely loved it,” frontman Brendan B. Brown said, looking out toward the beach. “We got really lucky with our time slot, especially with all the rain. And getting to support En Vogue and DJ Jazzy Jeff - that was a big deal for me personally. We were on a great stage at the perfect time, so it just felt right.”

What began as a modest crowd gathering near the stage turned into a packed, roaring audience by the time the band stepped up to play. “You never really know at a festival,” Brown admitted. “Sometimes you’re up against another big act, and people stay camped out. But right before we went on, I looked out and suddenly there were people everywhere. It was incredible.”

And when “Teenage Dirtbag” kicked in, the place erupted. The band’s signature anthem, first released 25 years ago, has outlived the Y2K angst that birthed it - finding new life on TikTok, in movie soundtracks, and in the hearts of fans who weren’t even born when it debuted. “It’s wild,” Brown said. “At our shows, we’ll have these multi-generational crowds - little kids, teenagers, parents, grandparents - and they all know the song. Seeing that at a festival like this was amazing.”

The set even featured a surprise cameo that tied the night back to where it all began. “Jason Biggs did a thing right before us,” Brown recalled with a grin. “We got to talk backstage, and he ended up coming out to do the hat bit from the video. Total full-circle moment.”

Even with nostalgia woven through their legacy, Wheatus is focused squarely on what’s next. “We’ve been working on album number seven,” Brown shared. “Three songs are already out - ‘Lullaby,’ which is sort of a pop-jazz-metal experiment; ‘Tipsy,’ which came from a conversation I had with Liam Payne back in 2004; and ‘Michelle,’ which is on one of our live records. The album’s still very much in progress.”

Progress that’s happening between an increasingly packed tour schedule. “We’ve been getting more calls to tour, which is incredible,” he said. “Right now we’re doing what I call hybrid touring - Gabrielle and I are doing acoustic shows together, then rejoining the full band for the 25th Anniversary Tour. We wrap up the year at Wembley Arena with Bowling for Soup, then, early next year, we head to Australia and New Zealand for the first time ever. We’re even hitting Tasmania - the closest we’ll ever get to Antarctica.”

For a band that’s seen the music industry reinvent itself countless times, Wheatus’s staying power comes down to one thing: authenticity. No gimmicks, no forced reinventions - just honest songwriting, self-production, and a refusal to take themselves too seriously. “We just feel lucky,” Brown said. “Lucky to still be doing this, to still have people showing up, and to see how the song keeps connecting with new generations. It never gets old.”

Before wrapping, the conversation turned lighthearted - and very “Maryland by the boardwalk”. When asked to pick between crab cakes or funnel cakes, the band laughed over the tough decision. In the end, we agreed: why aren’t we combining them at this point?

It’s that same mix of humor, heart, and originality that’s kept Wheatus beloved for a quarter century. They may have entered the scene as self-proclaimed dirtbags, but 25 years later, they’ve proven that being one - unapologetically - never goes out of style.