Juan Wauters left his Uruguayan home in 2002 to join his father, who had migrated to New York to find work a few years prior. While working in a factory, Wauters turned to music and socializing to alleviate the boredom and loneliness he was feeling in his otherwise drab working life. He met José Garcia in 2004 when they were both enrolled in a community college art class, and the two formed the sophomoric garage act the Beets, who would go on to release several albums on Brooklyn indie label Captured Tracks beginning in 2009.
In 2014, Wauters stepped out on his own with his first solo album, NAP: North American Poetry, a much gentler approach to skewed folk than the often demented Luddite garage rock of the Beets. The next year he collaborated with like-minded artist and tourmate Carmelle Safdie on a short EP, Wearing Leather, Wearing Fur. The brief collection of songs featured lead appearances from both songwriters and was issued by Captured Tracks under the moniker Juan Wauters & Carmelle. Wauters’ second solo full-length, Who Me?, was recorded toward the end of 2014 and released by Captured Tracks in May of 2015.
