In 2011, Brent Collins was landlocked. The Georgia native had uprooted and moved to Texas, leaving his beloved coastal hometown with the bluesy rock group Mantis to pursue a lifelong dream of playing music.
No stranger to the road — he was drumming in his parents’ traveling gospel band when he was 5 — Collins felt that distinct Savannah call pulling him back to the Lowcountry. A self-taught guitarist, he poured himself into songwriting, inspired by the Georgia landscape he longed for.
“I’ve always wanted to bring Savannah’s scenery into music,” the Whaleboat guitarist/vocalist says. “To portray where we’re from, where we come from.
“I became homesick, missing my girlfriend and family,” he recalls. “I was writing a lot of what would become Whaleboat songs.”
Read the full review of Savannah's Whaleboat at themusicfile.com.
Collins returned to Savannah in the fall of 2011 to play a handful of final shows with Mantis, sharing bills with Savannah’s Sins of Godless Men (formerly Howler).
“That’s where I met Sins’ Jeremiah [Stuard], and the rest is history,” Collins says. Stuard’s raw energy and hard-hitting bass lines proved to be a perfect match for the tidal, shoegazey songs Collins had been writing in Texas. He moved back home, contacted Stuard, and Whaleboat was formed.
In 2012, their “Navigator” EP caught the attention of local press and music fans for its fusion of blistery guitars under dreamy swells, Collins’ vocals calling Moby Dick-inspired lyrics from the shore.
Their new album, “Blue,” officially drops at their Jan. 25 performance at The Jinx. The single, “The Socialist,” is guaranteed to be one of the best songs to come out of Savannah in 2013. It’s everything one could want from a rock anthem — an intense core driving full speed ahead before falling back into to a chorus powered by vocals that cascade from eerie ambivalence to hook-laden melodiousness. It’s teeming with the signature reverb and delay that drenched “Navigator,” but the sound has thickened and transformed the three-piece outfit into an unstoppable wall of sound.
Even the subtly different treatment of vocals — Collins is grittier, less watery and dreamy — separates past and current recordings, yet added harmonies soften and bring out the pop elements. Collins and Stuard agree that September’s addition of drummer Donald Moats (Habitat Noise) completely transformed old songs and established Whaleboat’s powerful rhythm section for new material.
“Having Donald now has brought out the backbone of the songs,” Collins explains.
“The Socialist” is the first track that had every band member playing a role in the writing process, building off the sublimely feverish bass riff Stuard had written. A digression from Whaleboat’s characteristically nautical subject matter, Collins uses “The Socialist” to implore listeners to break out of the digital age and get back to genuine connections.
“It’s taking over our lives,” he says. “Put [the cellphone] down. Have conversations with people. Go see a show. Go support local bands. Go camping. Go swimming. Just put it down for a little while.”
“The Socialist” was recorded by Peter Seeba of Bring That Studios, the beard behind some of Savannah’s best records, and produced by Seeba and Brian Lackey of CUSSES. Together, they crafted a rock single to be reckoned with.
“They took the song and just gave us a mix that came from left field,” Collins says.
After their release show, the band will hit the road for the first time with CUSSES and Columbia’s Can’t Kids. They’re currently recording new songs with Peter Mavrogeorgis at the newly opened Dollhouse Studios and plan to spend the rest of the year writing, recording and releasing new material, and touring the Southeast.
Regardless of where their music takes them, Whaleboat will always come home to Savannah. They credit the tight-knit music community for creating a space for their own music to emerge and thrive.
Moats, who has fronted Habitat Noise since 2010, has seen a significant change in the way Savannah bands work together.
“It seems like about three years ago, everybody started talking to each other instead of just doing their own thing.”
“Everybody’s a musician here, and everybody wants to help everybody else out,” Stuard says.
“The scene will get bigger because of it,” adds Collins. “I’ve been trying to play music all my life in Savannah, and I’ve never seen the scene like it is now. Ever.”
The “Blue” 7-inch will be available on CD at Whaleboat’s Jan. 25 release party with CUSSES and Can’t Kids at The Jinx, and on vinyl in the near future (the band will be taking pre-orders at the show). For an extra dollar at the door, fans will receive a CD of “The Socialist” remixes.
Anna Chandler is a local writer, musician, co-founder of General Oglethorpe & the Panhandlers, and Savannah Stopover’s local booking manager. The MusicFile is a Savannah-based music discovery website and blog, owned by MusicFile Productions LLC, the parent company of the Savannah Stopover Music Festival. Check out more of their expert picks at themusicfile.com.
SAVANNAH STOPOVER
Whaleboat has just been confirmed to play one of the marquee shows at this year’s Savannah Stopover on March 9. They’ll share the stage with Atlanta’s Ponderosa and Athens’ The Whigs at a “Spotlight on Georgia” showcase at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 3 W. Liberty St. Festival passes are available at savannahstopover.com.
STUDENT POSTER CONTEST
Savannah Stopover is now accepting submissions for the 2013 Band Poster Competition, which invites local students and artists to submit their original artwork for special prizes and the chance to see it displayed at the Opening Night Reception with The Last Bison and Ben Sollee at the new Ships of the Sea North Garden. Check out savannahstopover.com for details.