Robin Wilson looks back for Gin Blossoms' recent music, Genesee tour stop
When singer, songwriter and guitarist Robin Wilson returns to the suburbs Saturday night for a “New Miserable Experience Live” performance with '90s alt-pop outfit the Gin Blossoms, it won't be his first time performing at the historic Genesee Theatre. The Waukegan venue is actually the home of a career highlight for Wilson.
Following the untimely death of Smithereens vocalist Pat DiNizio in 2017, Wilson, who grew up as a fan of the alternative power pop group, jumped in on lead vocals for them, opening for Dave Davies of the legendary U.K. garage rockers The Kinks at the Genesee in April of 2018.
“It is so awesome singing for The Smithereens,” said Wilson of the experience. “I just cannot tell you how satisfying it is to get to front one of my favorite bands.”
Wilson has stepped in alongside fellow power pop singer Marshall Crenshaw, sharing Smithereens lead vocal duties on tour, an arrangement which could lead to the first new Smithereens music in almost 10 years.
Despite touring heavily all the while, the Gin Blossoms released the band's first new music in almost a decade with “Mixed Reality” in June of 2018.
The group worked on the record, the Gin Blossoms' sixth studio album, with famed producer Don Dixon and engineer Mitch Easter, who teamed up on the first two R.E.M. albums in 1983 and '84 and had a hand in creating the '90s alternative boom from which the Gin Blossoms would emerge. However, the pair is just as influential in the power pop world, having worked on projects from artists such as Marshall Crenshaw and The Smithereens.
Dixon and Easter's work on “Mixed Reality” took place in 2016, pre-dating Wilson's Smithereens' involvement. But it made them a perfect fit for a band that cut its teeth creating a catchy jangle pop sound during the grunge revolution of the 1990s.
“It was incredible. When we were first signed, Don was one of the names that we threw out there for potential producers. So to actually do it (almost 30 years later) was incredibly satisfying,” said Wilson of the full-circle experience. “We had good songs. We were focused. It was one of our better all-around recording experiences.”
Emerging from the '90s major label boom period, the Gin Blossoms have been forced to adjust to a changing music industry in the streaming era.
The group self-financed “Mixed Reality” at a time when it's become harder to monetize recorded music. But Wilson hopes fans won't have to wait 10 years for the next batch of new tunes.
“We're talking about recording next year and we're discussing whether or not to just record a batch of songs and then release one or two every month for a while, or something along those lines,” he said. “People really just don't buy records anymore. At one point, I wanted to include CDs with our VIP packages, our meet-and-greet packages that we do at every show, and our manager said, 'Nobody has CD players. There's no point.' So we're not really sure about how we're going to release the music.”
The Chicago area has always been a strong market for the Gin Blossoms. During the band's '90s heyday, the group recorded a live set at Metro for release in 2002 on the DVD “Just South of Nowhere: Live in Chicago” and captured a set this past February at House of Blues which Wilson hopes will see release soon.
The singer is also quick to point out that the group sold about 300,000 copies of the 1992 breakthrough album “New Miserable Experience” in the Chicago metro area alone, more than anywhere else.
In the '90s, the group was a frequent presence in the suburbs during package tours at what was then the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park.
“I used to complain to my bandmates that we never played in Chicago, we were always playing 25 miles away,” joked Wilson.
Saturday in Waukegan, the group will perform the “New Miserable Experience” album, with hit singles such as “Hey Jealousy,” “Mrs. Rita,” “Until I Fall Away,” “Found Out About You” and “Allison Road,” in full.
Twenty-seven years after the initial release of “New Miserable Experience,” Wilson sees “Mixed Reality” acting as a bit of a companion piece to the band's most successful album.
“When I was writing for 'Mixed Reality,' I felt very in touch with my younger self and I feel like I was able to channel a 23-year-old Robin, but with all of the experience of a veteran songwriter. And I feel like I was sort of tapped into Doug Hopkins' mentality. And his style. He obviously had a very big influence on me as a songwriter, and I feel like I was able to sort of connect with the spirit of his songwriting,” said Wilson of the co-founding Gin Blossoms guitarist, who penned both “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You” but took his own life in 1993.
“I hadn't listened to 'New Miserable Experience' in 20 years or so. And I found a renewed appreciation for it. It's a really good album.”
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Gin Blossoms: 'New Miserable Experience Live'
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28
Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan, geneseetheatre.com
Tickets: Start at $35