What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
I like to make things. The guitar fell into my lap by accident at a young age and it quickly became my paint brush. No one in my family played music. Before that I thought I’d be a painter. If I had way more time, id like to make movies and do stand up comedy. When I grow up I’d like to be a mad scientist and when I die I’d like to be a ghost.
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
I love practicing the art of conversation and being with others. Austin is a hub for stand up comedy so we are always out at shows. I like to watch movies and get a ton of inspiration from the medium. The Twilight Zone has influenced me more as an artist than anything.
How long has music been your career?
I started a band with friends long before we were good at playing. Our parents said nice things to us that they could not have meant. By 15 we were performing more regularly and I identified with being a musician. Jack and I met and started playing together in high school. As soon as I could, I cut out jobs that weren’t music.
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
We grew up around Detroit Michigan. We have been extraordinarily influenced by the music and live performance that has come out of the city. From Motown, to Eminem, to the White Stripes. Raw energy is embraced by the city and it has had a huge effect on our musical taste. All of our earliest shows were in any bar around the city that would let us play even though we were under 18.
We lived in Kalamazoo Michigan after high school together in a house. We really connected to the house show scene there. Wall to wall packed basement shows where crowd surfing was encouraged.
In 2017 we moved to Austin Texas, where we live now. The amount of creativity and talent in the city is overwhelming. It keeps your ego humble and never lets you go a night without being inspired. All 3 homes have significantly had an influence on us as musicians.
Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.
Very subjective. My favorite shows are the ones with the most chaos from us and the crowd. Even if we play a little sloppier, give us a high energy crowd and we will give you one of our favorite performances.
We are harsher on our own performances than someone that sees us play. The only way to get better is to talk as a group about what we thought were the good and bad about each set and put work in.
We have had plenty of shit shows. Plenty. At the beginning it was only shit shows. It slowly gets better over the course of doing it all the time. When you suck, and you don’t want to suck, you work hard to stop that from happening. Learning proper live vocal techniques, volume control, the art of a good sound check are a few things we had to learn.
Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?
Around Austin, we love Swan Dive and always get a great sound there. We play at Vulcan Gas Company as regulars which has become a home to us. We are hoping to set up a show soon at Cboys because we like their smaller stage.
In Detroit, we like the Magic Stick and the Loving Touch.
In Kalamazoo, we loved the house show scene but our favorite bar to play was called Rupert’s. It’s since has closed.
If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?
The corn kid & Harambe. There would be 3 stages surrounding the huge crowd in the middle. Each one of us would get our own stage and our performances would all go on at the same time.
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into music?
Don’t over complicate it
If you could go back in time and give yourself advice, what would it be?
A gift is for other people
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
They are all nostalgic to me. I think of the place in time they were written. Being alive has been very cool. Even the rougher times are fun to look back on. The songs are a kind of journal.
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
We love to put a lot of energy into our live shows. We like to put Creature of Habit somewhere in the set. Mad Cow Disease is our favorite closer. We get Haunted House requested if we don’t play it.
What is the creative process for you, and what inspires you to write your music?
This depends on the record. I try to change it up. But always you have to be ready to catch the pieces that come to you. I will always be haunted by the thoughts of forgotten brilliant ideas. Always carry a pen. I have a marker I use for the shower walls. Allow ideas to come and have your net ready.
Being moved myself, I’m inspired to move others
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
Quit your job, adults are just babies that have been alive for too long, sharing is actually pretty cool when you think about it, maybe athletes should be able to take steroids?, love your mom, etc. That kinda stuff.
Do you ever have disagreements when collaborating and how do you get past them?
Yes we have had our random disagreements on what is better for a part but they are welcomed. Collaboration is a skill set. Learning how the other person communicates is vital to avoiding the ego and making decisions for the song. We try any idea and atleast make a recording of it to listen later. Every record, we reevaluate the process of how we are going from the writing to the recording stage. It was something we had to practice to find the right rhythm.
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?
We are aiming to have a bitchtastic year. Making new sounds and traveling to new planets.
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PHOTOS BY DUSANA RISOVIC
End of Interview