Brian Wilson slowly walks through the doors of Capitol Records with his head hanging down. He is dressed in a light blue plaid shirt with loose, comfortable-looking black pants and bright orange kicks over white socks. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” the first track off the Beach Boys’ classic 1966 record Pet Sounds, plays in the lobby. A security guard dashes over to open the door for him, but Wilson doesn’t look up. He walks past the guard and around the corner and takes the elevator to the ninth floor.
Wilson lounges in a black leather chair with a piano behind him. “Hi, it’s so nice to meet you,” he says to me as he reaches out his hand. He looks at me with his crystal blue eyes and smiles. “Can we do the interview here?” he asks.
“Sure,” I respond as I sit down next to him. He crosses his left leg over his right, and his shirt lifts up, exposing his belly button.
Over the past year, Wilson has worked on his upcoming eleventh solo album No Pier Pressure, to be released on April 7th through Capitol. It’s his first album of original music since 2008. The album is a mellow and mostly midtempo set of tunes more contemporary in flavor than much of his latter-day output. Part of that freshness is due the extensive list of younger collaborators: Kacey Musgraves, She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, and fun.’s frontman Nate Ruess among them. Wilson also wrangled original Beach Boys members Al Jardine and David Marks and ‘70s compatriot Blondie Chaplin to contribute.
Midway through the interview, someone brings Wilson a plain bagel to munch on while he sips on a can of Diet Coke. I can tell that he is having an internal struggle between wanting to eat the bagel and paying attention to my questions. He looks down at the bagel, then back at me, and then down at the bagel again. He takes a big bite.
He repeats himself often, and he asks me to repeat questions several times. When he feels uncomfortable, he claims he can’t remember or doesn’t know. Maybe he really can’t remember. After all, the man is 72 years old, and he has been through a lot. He answers with quick, deliberate responses and doesn’t like expanding on anything much. But he’s sweet and kind, and I can tell he’s probably so sick of talking about his life.
GQ: What are your greatest fear and your biggest regret?
Brian Wilson: Fear? Uh, death. And regret? Taking drugs. I wish I hadn’t taken drugs.
You used to write songs on a lot of uppers—
No!
You didn’t?
No, no, not now. I used to.
Right, so is it difficult writing sober now?
Oh, it’s much easier. It’s much easier.
How has your songwriting process changed over the decades?
Uh, it slowed down a little bit. The ’60s were really fast and energetic. The 2010s are slower, you know? It takes a longer time to make a record for me now. It took me a year to make my new one. The most difficult part is the chords. Finding the right chords for the song.
You recently worked on a song with Frank Ocean. Why did it not make your new album?
He didn’t want to sing. He wanted to do rap. He surprised us. We didn’t know. He wanted to talk a rap talk on the track. We didn’t like it, so we cancelled it. He cancelled out actually, is what he did.
What made you choose to work with female musicians on this new record? It’s not something you have done that much in the past.
I know. It was a thrill. Zooey Deschanel and Kacey Musgraves are both wonderful, wonderful performers. We had the songs written with them in mind. I had heard a lot from them before we met them, and we were pretty familiar with their voices. They learned the songs real quick. They are real fast learners, and I’m very proud of them.
You claimed in a Rolling Stone interview in 1976 that writers run out of material. Do you still feel that way?
Yeah.
Even though you’ve just made a new album? How come?
I can’t answer that question. But most of it’s been done before. It’s really hard to try something new. It really is.
Do you ever jot down your thoughts or feelings in a notebook to inspire a song later?
No, I have it all in my head. I don’t write anything down on paper.
Do you ever think about Phil Spector? Does he still inspire your music and sound?
He still inspires me. His records turn me on and make me want to write music.
Who are your favorite artists today?
Artists? I don’t have any favorite. Chuck Berry and all the oldies, people from the ’70s. I like them. I don’t listen to current music.
Next May will mark the 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds. How does that feel?
Very nostalgic. It’s a good album.
What would you say your favorite album of the Beach Boys is?
Probably Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) because it has some good rock and roll on it.
If you could say something to your departed brothers Carl and Dennis right now, what would you say?
I would say, “I love your singing. I love your songs. Thank you very much.”
