How Wallows Powered Through Quarantine With Group Texts, Iced Coffee, And Jams

In this age of self-isolation and quarantine, it's never been more essential to check in on each other and to connect. This goes for artists, also, who have been social distancing alongside us: livestreaming concerts and hangouts, creating their own talk shows, and... Well, that's what we want them to tell us, with Remote Access.


As of mid-May, the last time Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston — known with each other as pastel pop-rock musical group Wallows — had seen each other in person was if they filmed a music video in March. The visual, which brings their jaunty tune "OK" to colorful life, doubles as a showcase for the trio's fellowship. They shot it in an individual day in Los Angeles, cruising around in a van, jamming, scooting around on Heelys, and eventually ending up on a soggy couch beyond a fast-food joint. Then the world shut down.


The COVID-19 pandemic led performing artists en masse to cancel festivals and tours worldwide, including Wallows, who'd to ditch a run of headlining shows. At the same time, amid all of the uncertainty, the optimistic refrain of "OK" took on an entirely new significance. "The lyric 'Can we get up and attempt to feel OK again?' [Was] attempting to spin a positive message," Lemasters told MTV News. "We never forced that message on the song, nevertheless it just happened to take on this weird meaning at the time."


But Wallows leaned into the resonance, despite self-isolating in three separate locations. (The categorize text is on fire; "I feel like I probably send at least 300 texts to these guys a day," Minnette mentioned) Last month, they connected virtually to record an acoustic take of "OK" and also a sparkling cover of The Beatles's "With A little bit Help From My Companions with all proceeds going to Feeding America. They've also been getting creative in quarantine, chipping away at new music with collaborators Sachi DiSerafino and John DeBold and connecting by way of the FaceTime to share ideas. Although they can't physically be in the same room, the digital catch-ups help keep their body language — crucial to in-person creation — intact.


if they discussed with MTV News recently, Minnette was only a number of days into a new venture of purple hair, a move for which Lemasters and Preston voiced their support. They also agreed with another one of their bandmate's thoughts near the end of our call: "I converse with you guys more right now than I do on tour!" Visualize more of their quarantine camaraderie below.


MTV News: "OK" came out right as tours and festivals were getting canceled and social distancing was beginning to be encouraged. How different was releasing a song in that situation?


Minnette: Just for a second before it came out, we were like, "Should we wait?" [But] if anything, people want something throughout this time ... Anything we can do to give people music throughout this time and be as efficient possible as the thing that's been exhilarating to me throughout this time is as soon as once a new album comes out. There's not several coming out now, so as soon as something does, it's really exciting.


MTV News: The "OK" video is a hangout video, though for the past few months, everyone's had to do virtual hangouts. It's nice to watch it and remember what that's like. Although was it exhausting to have to film it in an individual day?


Minnette: Honestly, that shoot was so much fun. I never felt exhausted. It was literally 1 a.M. And pouring rain in the shot where we're on that couch. You can't really tell, although it was raining, and it's 1 a.M. And cold. We're holding this wet fast food, or whichever, yet it was still so much fun. I especially have a good memory of that in my mind because it was the last time we saw each other. I haven't seen Cole and Braeden since we shot that video, and that was two days before they really put in stay-at-home orders.


Preston: I was so exhausted that whole day because, I mean, all of us were in Heelys at one point, nevertheless me and Braeden, 'cause we're not necessarily singing the song, for a lot of the shots, it seemed like, "Go Heely back and forth, around, and go on the Heelys over there." And Braeden's really good at Heelying, nevertheless I am not at all. My calves were absolutely shredded soon after that day.


Minnette: Me also! I learned how to Heely that day. It's a workout. I left my Heelys there! I was so excited to have my adult-sized Heelys, and I abandoned them. I would've been Heelying all around my residence this whole time. If I was the dude with purple hair Heelying around the neighborhood while in quarantine, that would've been insane [laughs].


MTV News: Some of that footage of the making of the video ended up in the "With A little bit Help From My Companions video, also. Where did a lot of that footage come from?


Lemasters: We didn't hope to go the route of having our companions sing the song with us and have a whole FaceTime session, or whichever. So we thought it'd nice to compile videos from tour and things we've done with our companions from our musical group circle, just showing us all hanging out and having a good time. It just makes you realize how much you appreciate your companions and why much you miss them in times like this in case you can't really visualize them.


MTV News: once you recorded a socially distanced acoustic version of "OK," I imagine the logistics have to be worked out up front to prepare it go smoothly. What was that process like?


Preston: It is weird because — if there really is a streaming service that does this, somebody tell us about it, nevertheless nothing happens actually in real time. Naturally we can't literally play the song live and have it sync up completely because it would just be a nightmare. So I made a rough track count-in along with a metronome, and then we determined what would each do, and then they played along to those on video and then came back to me. I edited that in and did my part to that. So it was just a step-by-step thing. Not also challenging nevertheless certainly sort of annoying to do.


Minnette: We have another coming out, also. Same setup, same system. It's all Cole — Cole does the dirty work for Wallows.


MTV News: Is there a way to, mention, jump on Zoom and do some sort of sort jam session?


Preston: That just sounds, like, so high-tech to me. Like, that is the scary future Elon Musk takeover happening to me [laughs].


MTV News: You guys are a creative unit, and also you rely on body language and eye contact whenever you're making music. Is it weird to not have that?


Minnette: We've been on a lot of FaceTimes. So, yes, nevertheless I can still visualize their facial expressions if I have a bad idea. I can still visualize them, like, "You don't like that idea." We can still do that because of FaceTime.


Preston: Not to bring acting also much into the mix, although because Dylan and Braeden have been working on assignments in the past, we're already used to sort of having to do stuff once all three of us aren't in the same city or the same place. We're weirdly lucky in that sense, that we have experience being apart.


MTV News: What do some of these facial expressions look like?


Lemasters: Mine would honestly just look like me thinking.


Minnette: No, no. I know your you-don't-agree-with-me face. You're routinely sort of smiling. You put on a face like you're supporting it, however it's so obvious that you're not.


Lemasters: And I know in my head I'm not selling this at all, that I'm interested.


Minnette: Cole, you routinely have the same face.


Preston: Yeah, I have only one face.


Minnette: I never know whenever you think something's good or bad ever.


Lemasters: Cole, you look up in the sky while you don't like something.


Minnette: [imitating] I'm going to pretend that I'm thinking about that.


MTV News: What's been your quarantine routine? Wake up, iced coffee, getting into a pattern — what's been going on?


Lemasters: The lyrics to that System of a Down song ["Chop Suey!"]. "Wake up!" "Why'd you leave the keys upon the table? / You wanted to!" I have no idea what those lyrics are. Um... What do we do? Wake up, go and get coffee...


Minnette: I call Cole and Braeden. "Morning, bros!"


Lemasters: I have been watching [YouTube channel] Vsauce, a lot of Vsauce. I watch First Take on ESPN [with] Stephen A. Smith, a lot of basketball highlights. I'll go for walks in my neighborhood.


Preston: I have the initial hour of my morning exactly the same almost every day, which is: I wake up, and my cat is screaming to be fed, so I feed the cat.


Minnette: Me too.


Preston: Then I make coffee. While my coffee's brewing, I go into Animal Crossing and I do my day-to-day rounds, 'cause there's very mundane tasks. You need to find the fossils, you have to shake the trees, converse with the villagers, whichever, get the nook miles going. All you Animal Crossing people know exactly what I'm talking about. And then right after that, I just sort of wing it.


MTV News: Dylan, you determined to dye your hair purple, what, a couple of days back? How come?


Minnette: Yeah. My hair was just getting long and unruly and awful. I know that I wanted to change it at some point, so it was time.


Preston: Me and Braeden are sitting here with our long-ass unruly hair [laughs].


Minnette: You guys can actually grow your hair out! Mine, like, the only thing that begins to grow increasingly is the sides of my hair. So my head is beginning to get, like, [mushroom-shaped].


Preston: you should get that hammerhead vibe going.


Minnette: It looks really sick, honestly. It looks really good.


Preston: He's doing the [disapproving] face! [all three laugh]