Name  Nick Wheeler

Best known for  Being an All-American Reject and a coffee snob.

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Current city  Nashville, TN.

Really want to be in  In Italy learning to make pasta like in Season 2 of “Master Of None.”

Excited about  We’ve been working on our new record (the first in over a decade) for the last year and a half, and it’s finally out… So I’d hafta say our latest album, Sandbox. I’m also pretty stoked on my new espresso machine (I’m learning how to make latte art… It’s so fucking hard!)

My current music collection has a lot of  Lots of college alt-rock (basically anything off of The Singles soundtrack).

And a little bit of  Instrumental guitar jazz from the 60’s (basically just Wes Montgomery) 

Preferred format  Vinyl feels the most important in my hands, but I sure did love my CD collection growing up. Plus you don’t hafta turn the record over half-way through with CDs. Streaming sucks… I’d rather listen to HitClips.

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: 

1

Hysteria, Def Leppard

This was one of the cassettes that got me into music to begin with and made me want to learn to play the guitar. It also taught me a lot about instrumentation, counter-melody and making sure every single part on a record was a hook.

2

Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins

This was one of the first CDs I ever bought with my own money. I spent hours staring at the liner notes, and I picked up every guitar magazine that came out around this time because I was just bewildered by the tones as well as the alternate tunings on this record. I’m still moved by songs like “Mayonaise” and the quiet/loud transitions in songs like “Hummer” and “Soma.” The guitar playing on this album has definitely informed a lot of the decisions I make as a musician and as a producer.

3

Monster, R.E.M.

A lot of people would scoff because I didn’t choose Automatic for the People or Green, but I discovered R.E.M. when this record came out. The video for “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” was my introduction to the band, and the glam rock sound of this album was mesmerizing. But what stood out most was the simple, but effective choices Peter Buck made as a guitar player – always serving the song, never calling too much attention to himself yet still creating such memorable parts.

4

Clarity, Jimmy Eat World

This was one of the albums (along with Stay What You Are by Saves the Day and Something to Write Home About by The Get Up Kids) that not only inspired me, but made me desperately want to be peers with the artists themselves. I had just dropped out of college, my band was touring in a van on the weekends and this one got played a LOT on those long night drives.

5

Go Farther in Lightness, Gang of Youths

This one snuck up on me to be honest, as I don’t often get moved by a lot of “new” music. But I was hearing a lot about these guys and decided to check it out one day. Halfway through the second listen, I had an emotional reaction to the album, the music, the timbre of his voice… And I was ecstatic that the Australian band happened to be touring in the states at the time. I got to see them at The Basement East in Nashville with only a few hundred others, and it’s one of my most memorable live experiences to this day.

Honorable Mentions

The Bends, Radiohead

I don’t celebrate their entire catalog, but I fucking love this Radiohead album top to bottom.

Rotting Piñata, Sponge

Sponge was one of the first concerts I ever attended, I crowd surfed for the first time to “Plowed,” and “Molly (Sixteen Candles)” remains one of my all-time favorite songs. I love how heavy and driving the song is, even though all of the guitars are so shimmery and clean.

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