Jeremy Wheeler – The Bang!, comics, movies and life in the Midwest.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Jeremy Wheeler over a few cold ones and talk about his life in Ann Arbor, MI and all the things he’s currently involved in. Jeremy has the kind of easy nature and laid back disposition that instantly puts you at ease. The first thing you notice is his trademark goggle-style glasses, then the “ah, fuck it” hair style followed by the sighting of a collectible or two on his person (is that a Batman belt buckle?) Then you notice that the man almost never stops smiling, except when he’s looking off at the ceiling searching for the precise way to answer the latest question.

We traced some of his current projects back to his days in high school and followed their progression (and his) on to his days at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, the lack of a decent scene in Grand Rapids, his fortuitous move to Ann Arbor and everything that’s happened there since. He isn’t shy about the downs as well as the ups, and never fails to give credit where credit is due, acknowledging (and often heaping praise upon) those around him who have not only made an impact, but continue to help make him who and what he is today; an artist, a DJ, a movie critic, an entrepreneur, a visionary and a risk-taker. He’s neither short on opinions nor breath, so grab a cold one and settle in for a round with Jeremy Wheeler.

STI: This is Derek Batting with Street Team Interviews and I’m here with Jeremy Wheeler.

JW: Hello!

STI: We’re talking about The Bang! and I’m sure a lot of these people have no idea what The Bang! is. What is The Bang!?

JW: The Bang! is an audio visual dance explosion. We strive to make the best time possible. It is a place where all are welcome. Many people dress up according to the different themes we pick and stuff like that and we do it — it’s a monthly event. We do it mostly at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor and we have been doing it there since 2002 but we actually create The Bang! in 2001 in the basement of a dorm at a place called The Halfass, or the Halfway Inn.

STI: The Halfass.

JW: [laughs] The Halfass, but –

STI: As it’s commonly known around here.

JW: Yes, exactly, as it’s known here in A2. Yeah, so…

STI: So it’s what, seven years old now?

JW: We just celebrated our 7 year anniversary in November.

STI: Excellent. I’ve heard it described as everything from simply, “sexy” to “Deadly dance party madness” to, my personal favorite, “A dance dance superfest that will never rest!” What say you?

JW: [laughs] Uh… just [pauses] outrageous. If you wanna have one word, I would explain The Bang! as outrageous. It’s a dance night like no other. I don’t know if anyone out there is doing a dance night like this. It’s not your typical DJ environment. We decorate, we build sets, we have a rabid fan base who are fantastic and every time, they surprise us with what they come up with, the outfits that they do — that they put together and wear or just their fine, foxy selves. I’m consistently entertained and impressed by the people that come out.

STI: Over the past seven years, how has The Bang! evolved?

JW: Well… One thing how it hasn’t evolved is we’ve always used mix tapes. It’s always been a mix tape driven dance party. In the beginning — and we’ve always tried to decorate a little bit, but in the beginning there were mostly blown up posters of designs I had made or something and one great thing that we’ve always had is we’ve always had the logo which stems from one of the most overused typefaces around, Impact, but for whatever reason, it stayed with us and has been great, so whether it was at the Halfass or whether it’s at, you know, the Blind Pig to this day, the logo was always in your face and it was always there. As we’ve added a light show, we’ve added –

STI: Huge backdrops!

JW: Huge backdrops. Thirteen foot backdrops, large sets whether it be a shark’s mouth or a pirate ship or many various spinning things.

STI: I believe I was there once for a Back To School Bang! with a huge yellow school bus.

JW: Yeah, yellow school bus with either spinning wheels or non-spinning wheels depending on if our motors are working the night of. So yeah, we’ve added plenty of light shows and more and more decorations. I’m more and more impressed with the things that our crew comes up with and the crew has evolved. It was my partner in crime, Jason Gibner, and I, we started it. We both come up with the music, we both come up with the visuals for the video that plays everywhere and we still use VHS.

STI: The notorious videos.

JW: Yeah, the notorious videos. We still use VHS. I record half of it and he compiles the other half. But then we’ve added various, like, crew members over the years and they’re usually, you know, friends of ours. At the beginning, we definitely had friends helping us and stuff like that, but now we’re really kind of, like, bona fide and we do have these people that come with us every time and their just as invested as we are.

STI: Speaking of everyone who makes The Bang! happen every month, do you want to give a shout- out to, say, Gibner and the whole crew that makes it work?

JW: Absolutely. Jason Gibner and I would not be where we were, where we are, without the people who help us. We have a crew of carpenters, we have a crew of lighting technicians, we have an engineer on our team, and we have decorators. We’ve had people come in and out of our Bang! crew that are connected to many different scenes whether it be the electronic scene with Lauren Hill or other fellow DJs like Ayron Michael Nelson or our resident rock & roll guitarist Chris “Box” Taylor. It is kind of like a family thing. We’re very happy to have them on board and not only that, but we’re happy to help give them a means to survive. I mean, this has become a business, and because of that, we’re really happy that the people who are working with us, we love them and we care for them and they bring only their best to every time. So, I’m happy to give them props.

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