We met the creators of WAVE GANG

“I just feel like Kim Kardashian is Batman, yo.” Sam Piland (CC ’17) nonchalantly streams the infamous sex tape onto his dorm room wall from his computer.

Also on the screen is a Google search of how to properly draw a basketball, and a TextEdit document of notes for his unfinished rap song “Wavey Boys.” Roy Vlcek (CC ’16) enters the room, fresh off of an intense phone call, and we both begin to watch in a mix of amazement and confusion as Sam continues one of his trademark introspective moments.

“She’s just a hero, and I feel like this is her origin story.” Indeed, every hero needs a good origin story.

Piland, left and Vlcek, right, having a champagne powwow

Roy and Sam, roommates and New York natives, are the founders and chief ambassadors of an underground collective known as WAVE GANG, a name that Roy passionately credits to New York rap legend Max B. Taking inspiration from the popular slang term “Wavey,” and aesthetic queues form Vlcek’s 2014 documentary New Wave New York, WAVE GANG operates primarily through a Facebook group, and according to Piland’s mission statement, is “meant to be a community of builders, of thinkers who put the product, the TRUTH first.”

Shenanigans on campus

Despite only having been active for a few months, WAVE GANG currently boasts over 700 members, and is home to up and coming artists like Eletro-R&B outfit JIL. In a private, first-look screening of Vlcek’s upcoming film, WAVE (We All Very Experienced), I got to talk to the duo about their collective, future projects, and the fears and challenges associated with being an aspiring artist in the world’s most stressful city.

As its founders will be the first to tell you, WAVE GANG is a work in process. “It’s almost like a political party, like a think tank,” says Piland. “More than anything, we just want it to be a community where people can just throw shit out, where everybody can throw their spices into the pot and really see what a melting pot yields us.”

The combination of these overarching goals and the contributions of the group’s various members have served to establish the WAVE GANG community as a sort of Craigslist for aspiring artists, where one can commission album artwork, find actors for a short film, or even find paying jobs. These transactions are gradually developing relationships between some of the most talented young intellectuals in the city, and have also given way to important discussions about art, education, and the world we live in.

Though there is an undeniable heir of confidence about them, the WAVE GANG team captains are deeply humble. The pair interact with the chemistry of an old married couple, often bickering and interrupting in a way that represents their genuine love for one another and the passion they have to achieve their goals. Both Vlcek and Piland stress the importance of relating to the people around them, and credit the internet as one of the most critical tools in this effort.

“Everyone has to deal with the struggle of being. That’s how we can relate to one another. Thanks to the internet, I can attempt to grasp how far reaching and varied this ‘being’ can be. I have a bed to sleep in… Might as well surf while I’m in it. Just peep any of the many suicide blogs on Tumblr. You can look at that stuff, just the tip of that iceberg, and see yo… people are agonizing every day.”

Roy adds, “The way that [our generation] digests information is just a fundamentally different perspective. Only princes could be as educated like people on Facebook are about their peers! This idea that education comes from [only] one voice is false, and we need to respect the ability we have to empower each other by sharing our experiences.” Despite the benefits of the internet, WAVE GANG also acknowledges that there are some undeniable downsides to operating primarily through an online community. As Vlcek insists, “there are so many ways that people can communicate with one another that really mean nothing.” The main goal of this group is to facilitate people interacting in a more substantive way.

As it currently stands, anyone that wants to be a part of the WAVE GANG collective is welcome. However, this will likely change in the near future. “Our information is too accessible right now,” Vlcek says, “I want to make people work for it.” The group is looking for “people with tact,” potential members who will be actively committed to advancing the wave gang movement. Recruiting valuable contributors has been a difficult task for the duo, and some of the public response to WAVE GANG has conviced Piland that, for now at least, “people don’t understand.”

Vlcek relates the disconnect between WAVE GANG and some of its audience to people’s understanding of art in general. “If you engage with any work of art, you can find some of yourself in it. So for the people who don’t understand what we’re about, I would encourage them to look at themselves, and the people that they’re around. That’s the main question I want people to ask: are the associations you make based on the people who are going to help you grow the most?”

Without a doubt, growth has been abundant for the gang. Vlcek’s WAVE, a vibrant and colorful representation of New York City through as it is seen through the eyes of its young creatives is set for release in the near future, and has already been submitted to several film festivals. The film features a soundtrack that was composed entirely by WAVE GANG musicians, including his father, who was once a studio jazz artist.

Meanwhile, Piland is directing visuals for Brown Sam, JIL, and Vaughn PM, and working on a musical project of his own (which he says has “five working titles”). It’s difficult to articulate, but there is a palpable sense when spending time around Vlcek, Piland, and the rest of the group that the two refer to “wave gang ambassadors” that everyone is loved and appreciated, something that Vlcek attributes to “the ‘gang’ mentality to always bring the best out of each other and be honest.” Whether it’s for artistic connections, intellectual stimulation or simply a community of people who genuinely care about one another, it is clear that one stands to benefit greatly from joining the gang. Any way you look at it, the wave is on the horizon.