By Erin Goss
For Brian Karscig, starting his new band, The Nervous Wreckords, was a bit like jumping headfirst into a new relationship. After nearly 15 years with the same band mates, the former Convoy and Louis XIV guitarist was seeking a creative outlet of his own and began his personal musical endeavor, The Nervous Wreckords.
The newly single musician Karscig recalled, “Of course it’s a bit scary, and I knew there would be some people who would support it, and some who wouldn’t, but at that moment, I was feeling a bit selfish creatively.”
Wanting to start fresh, Karscig casually recruited a few local musicians and Anthony Saffery of the British band Cornershop to begin playing together.
Despite still being in the “getting to know each other” stage with The Nervous Wreckords crew, a few big dates pushed the new band to get serious very quickly. And by big dates, we mean tour dates. Three weeks into their burgeoning relationship, The Nervous Wreckords went on tour to open for none other than The Killers.
When speaking of the band’s first show, in a sold-out arena of 11,000 people, Karscig humbly pays homage to The Killers, recognizing the rarity of such an invitation.
“We are very grateful and flattered that those guys gave us such a great opportunity right out of the gate,” he said.
Karscig, who knew The Killers from previous tours with Louis XIV, was relieved to find the band big supporters of The Nervous Wreckords, even going so far as to contribute to their debut album “Valuminium.”
“Mark (bass player) and Dave (guitar player) contributed to the record on a couple of tracks, and Brandon (singer) loved the song ‘Similar But Not the Same’ from when it was a demo….which of course is a good confidence booster!” Karscig said.
However, initially, sold-out arenas hadn’t been part of Karscig’s plan. The self-proclaimed nervous wreck explained, “The original thought behind The Nervous Wreckords was just to be ‘a record,’ take a creative break from the group I’d been in and do something new. I wanted to work with someone from a different genre musically (Anthony) to do something different with no pressure, no expectations, and just to have fun again and see what happened.”
In fact, Karscig made a vow to keep things with The Nervous Wreckords casual and not become wrapped up in concerns about where the new band is headed.
“The second I feel pressure creatively is the second I realize we could be over-thinking it, and should probably step back and re-approach what we’re doing and why,” he said.
And so far The Nervous Wreckords haven’t needed to do anything of the sort. The band has plowed full speed ahead, recently releasing their full-length debut, “Valuminium.”
The album, whose name is derived from a combination of the words “Valium” and “Aluminum,” is a clever musical effort in addition to being a noticeable departure from Karscig’s previous bands, boldly exhibiting self-proclaimed “danceable beats and 70’s guitar riffs.”
Even a quick listen to “Valuminium” will show that Karscig is definitely stretching his wings creatively and has immersed himself completely in his newest band. In fact, The Nervous Wreckords are just coming off a tour down the West Coast and will be finishing it off in style with a hometown San Diego show on none other than the Hornblower Cruises on Friday, Oct. 29.
Right now, that’s about as far as Karscig is looking ahead. Like something out of a Jack Kerouac novel, Karscig described what’s on the horizon for The Nervous Wreckords in personal experiences rather than show dates.
“Just tours in clubs, up the coast in a van, truck stop coffee, cheap hotels, getting to know each other personally, musically, and working together to achieve something we all believe in.”
For more information regarding tour dates, Karscig suggests checking out their Facebook page, though don’t expect any “inspirational quotes of the day” as he confesses the band isn’t very good at those.
