Interviews

Interview With Steven Keene

Photo Credit: Steven Keene

I had the chance to sit down with Americana Folk Artist Steven Keene to talk about his latest record, “It Is What It Is.”

Brooke: Hi, Steven, this is Brooke with Sonic Live Media. How are you doing today?

Steven: I'm good. Thanks for the interview. Thanks for the call! 

Brooke: Of course. How have you been holding up with the current events?

Steven: Oh, pretty good, you know, hunkered down. I still get out, but I'm in New Jersey, so it's pretty locked down still. And like New York and New Jersey are kind of the epicenter, but, it's sort of starting to, ease up. How about yourself?

Brooke: Doing good. We're in Detroit so things are starting to ease up a little bit. There is still a little social tension with the protests, but, things are starting to open up and I'm able to get out of it.

Steven: Well, that's good. I know it's crazy everywhere with the protest. I just finished a song really about it. I'm recording it tomorrow. So it's a protest song about racism. And ironically enough, I wrote it a month before this whole stuff hit the fan. It's kind of weird, but that's another tune that's going to be coming out soon. 

Brooke: I wanted to talk about your recent album, “It Is What It Is.” It’s largely considered your comeback album. What was the inspiration behind it, And how does it compare and contrast with your upcoming album "Them and Us?”

Steven: “It Is What It Is,” I hadn't really put out an album in a while and I just sorta slowly got back to writing last year and we released that in January. And that's just a collection of songs that are, I don't know, it there's a country song on there. There's a variety of songs. I'm from that folky vein, you know? As a singer-songwriter from Greenwich, I was playing in Greenwich village for years. And guys like Dylan, Leonard Cohen, that whole genre of the style of music is always what I've been attracted to. And the difference really between them and us, is it's a continuation really of just songs that are observational, and also the "Them And Us" album, the title track, which I'm recording tomorrow is, a kind of a protest song. But it's of the folk kind of vein, about racism in America.

And I wrote it ironically four or five weeks ago, before this whole thing happened. The mindset of that song is obviously about the racial separation and, the idea of "Them and Us." When I originally wrote it, it was really about politics. Republicans, Democrats, religions, against each other, sexism in America, men and woman them and us being a wall.

A divide between them and us. We all touch upon it in all aspects of our lives daily, whether it's racism or sexism or religions against each other. That song in particular just took a turn because with everything that was happening, after I wrote it, I dropped the verses that related to everything else and just focused on my last verse I just wrote last week, which was specifically about the knee incident. This one's a little bit more politically charged between that and "Save Yourself,” which was kind of a song about the tie in. There's a video out on "Save Yourself,” and it has a tie in for COVID. The record sorta took the twist on that.

Brooke: How are you promoting your album? And what kind of platforms have you been using to keep your listeners engaged with your music? Do you have any plans to tour either album?

Steven: Now it's really rough with the touring kind of aspect, obviously, cause everything is shut down and there's really not much happening. But the digital platforms everybody else is using Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple, We did a video for "Save Yourself" which is now on YouTube.

I'm in the middle of the new video for "Them and US" which is coming out great. And it's really all about the racism in America. The protests. A visualization of the sixties protests and the protests that are going on today and the walls that divide them out. So I'm excited about that album. And I'm excited about that title track in particular. 

Brooke: Are you using any sort of social media platforms?

Steven: Oh yeah. We're on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The record company's constantly updating everything and putting out photos that are new and old. When I used to play in the city. They're always doing throwback Thursdays, all the stuff of the clubs I used to play.

CBGBs, The bottom Line, the Lonestar. These are all clubs in the city that back in the day, where were the places to play. So yeah, hey're always posting basically on those three.

Brooke: Would you consider doing any live videos or live streams on Instagram?

Steven: Definitely. Yeah, I would definitely love to. That would be great. My studio that I record everything in, where I'm going tomorrow is in long Branch, New Jersey. A big wide open space with great sound. So I can always get a few guys from the band and we can always do something. 

Brooke: How has your involvement in the nineties Greenwich Village folk scene influenced your music stylings?

Steven: Back in the day in those kinds of clubs in Greenwich village, there were two or three in particular that I started out in planning that was very folky. Almost called the Speakeasy.

The Sun mountain cafe, and the other one was called the Chameleon. And these were singer-songwriter folk clubs were a lot of people were coming in and out. Like Beck. Beck and I used to play in the all those clubs together and swap songs.

That's where I met him. I met him in the Sun Mountain Cafe. Suzanne V was playing sort of in that time period as well. Shawn Colvin, those kinds of artists. Playing those kinds of clubs is how it shaped me. It was just basically that it was very singer-songwriter influence and folky influence.

The types of songs that were coming out of there were more of the folk side. Words meant more than just, heavy metal or any of that kind of music. It was just more about the word. So it shaped me and just, being able to learn how to write songs.

Brooke: What do you think of the folk music scene today? And are there any acts and folk music that influenced you now?

Steven: Hmm, good question. You know, I'm really not up on today’s folk, to be quite honest with you. I mean, I used to love Billy Bragg, and I know he's playing around a lot still. 

You know, I'm so entrenched in just my own writing and music that I know when I turn on to like Spotify, I'm listening to the old stuff. More blues, guys like Helen Wolf, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, or jazz. There's so many other guys that I'm listening to. I'm not really listening to a lot of today's music. I'm hooked on a lot of the older type music.

Brooke: What is your backstory involvement and partnership with ShoreFire Recording Studios. And what has your experience been like recording with them?

Steven: ShoreFire is a great studio. Very low key and very cool. The guy there Joe is just an excellent engineer, musician, and collaborator. And we basically produce the songs together and really do a deep dive into every mix, and the instrumentation on every song. He's been great to work with and all the players that come down there to play with me.

It's a great studio that has a really good history. A lot of greats have come through there. Bruce Springsteen actually, I think he recorded some of "Tunnel of Love" down there. I think that was the album. It's a landmark studios from New Jersey and a great place. Easy to work with and a lot of fun in that studio.

Joe's been great to work with and I got introduced to him through the record label actually. The record label and my manager pulled me down there, Jason Jordan, and introduced me to Joe about a year ago. And ever since then we started recording and laying tracks down.

Brooke: Oh, that's great. It's nice you can have like a good cohesive relationship with your recording studio .

Steven: Yeah. It's great. Great, great partnership.

Brooke: Is there anything else that you would like to share? Such as what you have planned with your upcoming album and, things that you're going to be putting out for the rest of the year?

Steven: Well, this one should be wrapped up. "Them and Us" is actually, going to be recorded tomorrow, along with three other songs. Tomorrow and Thursday. There'll be another single after that called "She Ain't Right For Me, But She's Right For Me Now" . And probably one other before that we release in August.

So I'm excited about these songs. I think some of this stuff is the best I've ever done, the best work I've ever done. And I'm looking forward to getting the album out. It's a little tough now with COVID. This is the first time we're going back into the studio in three and a half months because everything was closed down, and people were kind of gun shy about getting back in. Which is totally understandable. But I'm excited to start laying everything down and writing some new ones. So we should have a full album out by August. And then I'm sure we'll have another one out by the end of the year.

Brooke: That's great, wow! Thanks for speaking with me today at Sonic Live Media. I really appreciate you taking your time out. We look forward to the new album coming out!

Steven :  Thank you too!

soundcloud.com/stevenkeene

You can learn more about Steven Keene and check out his album and upcoming tour dates at: www.stevenkeene.com

Follow his on Instagram at: www.instagram.com/steven.keene.music

Follow his on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/StevenKeeneMusic

Follow his on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/music_keene

Interview by: Brooke Elizabeth, Sonic Live Media

Interview With Your Smith

Photo Credit: Your Smith

Sonic Live Media: Hello. This is Brooke with Sonic Live Media.

How are you doing? How was your 2019?

Your Smith: I’m good! I’m in the van headed back to Los Angeles. My 2019 was really good, I was on the road for most of it. I like to to be on the road so that was good. I got to release a new CD and a couple of singles.

SLM: Oh, very nice. I know you've been touring quite extensively and now you're on your own tour. What was it like taking on the persona of “Your Smith,” creatively and emotionally speaking? Was it like a breath of fresh air for you?

Your Smith: Yeah, absolutely. It's just relieving honestly, it just feels like you’re taking the pressure off.  I didn't fully expect that but you know when you create an alter ego or persona and can just kind of blame things on them, you know?

SLM: Well you're already a seasoned musician, it's kind of like taking on a new role. When listening to both your EPs: Bad Habit 2018 and Wild Wild Woman 2019,  I noticed that while you seem to kind of stay in a familiar territory, a lot of the sounds seemed to be quite varied from track to track. Did you draw from a number of different influences and was it a conscious decision to make the music diverse?

Your Smith: I think that’s just how I am an an artist. I like a lot of things. So when making the EP, all of those songs have been written and then I just choose the ones that I want to go together. With an EP you kind of have to pack a punch and hit all four corners. So it's an interesting challenge, you choose the four or five songs that are going to go together and complement each other but not lose the attention of the listeners in such a short amount of time.

SLM: Yeah, you want to keep it cohesive but interesting.

Your Smith: Exactly. Yeah, and really be able to efficiently stretch out so to speak. 

SLM: Do you approach the music writing process or the performance, or any other aspect differently as “Your Smith?”

Your Smith: I think yeah, just going back to it alleviating a lot of the pressure and overthinking. Because with with myself, Caroline, I like so many many things and I've been through a lot of things in life as I'm sure we all have with different types of music. So with Your Smith, you know, it's easier to be like this is “Your Smith,” this is what she looks like, this is what she sounds like, and keeping constraints off actually helps things so much creatively. It gives you focus and it gives you some barrier to stay inside of and lets you kind of relax into it a little bit more. 

SLM: You remind me of a breathy 70’s version of Sheryl Crow I don't know if she's an influence of yours…

Your Smith: Thank you!

SLM: You're welcome. You've written so many songs and you made the decision to put specific tracks in your EPs. Did you come in fresh and write specifically for and as Your Smith? Or did you use any other material you might have written in the past?

Your Smith: Yes, I didn’t use any older material. I think the first song I wrote after I knew that I wanted change it up and change my name  was “Bad Habit.” I didn't know that my name is going to be Your Smith yet. But I knew that I was kind of burning it down and starting over and I just did a reckless abandonment. What I was doing wasn't working. I was really unhappy and I got to the point of, “Now I don't even care if what I'm making does work, I just want to go back to writing music for me again, go back to writing music that I want to write.” It's not like somebody at publishing dropped me or whatever, but I was like “Drop me, I don't care, I'll go back to school or something.” Now at least I can make music that I want to make. It’s a lot of work and a lot of people to keep happy, especially when you to enter the Los Angeles echelon of the music industry. You’ve got a lot more people that are relying on you, that you need to make the money and they remind you of that daily. You learn the spirituality of why you’re a writer, why you made this song, about writing songs in your bedroom when you’re 13, what is it that makes me tick. A lot of people go through that and I’m just happy that I came out the other side of it. 

SLM: Yeah, I completely understand. I lived in L.A. for 10 years and it's a different kind of beast out there. You put so much time and effort into it and if you're not happy with the end product and it's something you’re creating, then you're really not finding a creative relief.

Your Smith: Exactly! Even if it works, it caught on, it blew up; you’re gonna be the one standing on the stage every night having to sing the songs, so you’d better like them!

SLM: Absolutely. Where performing as Your Smith, do you find that you're more free to creatively express yourself than you were when performing as Caroline And The Goodnight Sleeps?

Your Smith: Yeah, absolutely. It's so fun. I feel like when I burned it all down and started over, that it allowed me to see that I could do that and I could really just do what I wanted and it was working. It just gave me more and more freedom to continue to do what I want. Because I feel like stepping back now, a year and a half after the conception of Your Smith being like, "wow". I really feel that thing that I enjoy. I enjoy performing and I enjoy writing.

SLM: Are there any plans for an LP in the future? And would you use a mixture of the songs from the two EPs or would you record all new material?

Your Smith: I'm not sure about that yet, I really do want to make an album. You know, I'm extremely influenced and inspired by album based projects that came from the 70’s that what I grew up listening to. So to me, making an album is dream, but it's just tricky these days in music. The break neck speed at which its consumed, you kind of have to set yourself up in an advantageous spot to release an album or else it just gets over looks pretty fast. Albums are a lot of work, and they're like cold chunk of your soul you put out there. So I'm okay right now with just building things and being patient to getting to the spot where it makes sense for me to release an album. 

SLM: Your concerts are selling out, if it doesn't sell out, there’s only one ticket left. I think that speaks to the fact that fans like your music and people are coming to see you. You've also already opened for several well-known acts and have developed relationships with their fans and you've brought them over, now they're your fans. Shows are sold out everywhere all over the world, that might be something to consider when you decide to move forward this or not. You have two solid EP’s and are selling out. So I think you know things are going in the right direction there.

Your Smith: Can I just call you every morning and you just tell me that every day? Can you give me that reminder every day?

SLM: Yes, absolutely, any time! I know, it's hard when you start you start over. I mean you're in the same field, you're still in music, but you completely switched directions with it. When you're an adult and you're like, “Okay, I've made it this far, but I want to do something related but I’ve got a switch it up,” When what you’re doing isn’t fulfilling that part of you as an artist. We need to release that, you know that creative part of us otherwise, we just feel stifled.

Your Smith: Absolutely. Yeah, it's just not it's not an enjoyable feeling when you feel that way. 

SLM: It's not a feasible to do that over your life to just you know, do give out that kind of output and just not be satisfied with it.

Your Smith: I really I think feasible such as perfect word for it just doesn't seem possible. It's not realistic.  

SLM: Can I ask how old you can I ask how old you are?  

Your Smith: I’m 31.

SLM: You've had this career now you've switched gears with a different persona, but talking to you, you seem wise beyond your years. You look very young, which is a great thing. You have a confidence with this persona of Your Smith, and it sounds like it has been a really good change for you. You seem very happy and positive.

Your Smith: Thank you. Yeah, I feel I feel happy and positive. It feels good to be 31 more in you know,?!

SLM: Was there a is there anything else that you would like to say to our readers about yourself or your upcoming show in Detroit or anything about your music?

Your Smith: Yeah, I just everyone to have a great night! I want people feeling better about themselves, and to dance out the last decade!

Don’t miss Your Smith at Deluxx Fluxx In Detroit, Michigan on January 24, 2020

soundcloud.com/yoursmith 

You can learn more about Your Smith and check out her upcoming tour dates at: www.yoursmithforever.com

Follow her on Instagram at: www.instagram.com/yoursmith

Interview by: Brooke Elizabeth, Sonic Live Media

Interview With Madison Cunningham

Photo Credit: Red Light Management

Sonic Live Media had the chance to chat with Madison Cunningham, 22-year-old folk artist from Anaheim, California and talk about her debut album, “Who Are You Now” along with being on tour in support of Andrew Bird at the Masonic Temple Cathedral Theatre in Detroit next week. 

You're rolling through your tour in stride, what kind of things help to ground you during the the constant touring? Also, what do you do when you're in your downtime to keep you level-headed between all the hustle and bustle? 

M. Cunningham: I try to run every day. It helps gets my mind clear and I feel the adrenaline rushing, It’s a very good feeling. I always try to have a book with me on tour, so I can just kind of stay involved in the singular story line because my mind's used to always be changing. Oh, and good coffee. That really keeps me on the ground! 

Do you like to search out new coffee places to explore new cities, or is it something you bring with you on tour that you can't live without? 

M. Cunningham: I am not at the level of bringing it with me; but yes, I do seek out coffee shops in whatever city I go to sing and see which one has the best pour overs or black coffee! 

Your debut album, “Who Are You Now” is very rich sounding with an old soul feeling. I know you're 22, yet you seem so experienced. Your music is so cohesive and smooth, like someone who's been creating records for decades, It’s very reminiscent of Carole King. 

I was listening to it to a specific song “Plain Letters,” and it sounds very person-specific. Do you care to share any details about how you wrote that song or if it's personal at all? 

M. Cunningham: Yeah, I was reading Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar,” and was just really overcome and moved by the whole story and the way she told it. It came together in about a day and a half and I realized that it was about her and her life and sort of sympathizing with what she went through. The line, “I hope you find a weakness that you're stronger than,” kind of like I felt like I wrote that for myself, but also for Sylvia, wherever you are now, I hope that you found a weakness, found an illness that you're stronger than. I think we all I wish that we knew how to overcome that and that was kind of where the song came from. 

Wow, that's that's very moving that you were able to pull that from a book because the song sounds like it happened to you feels very personal to you. 

M. Cunningham: Thank you. It’s very easy to personalize a story that I’m reading. I always do that when I'm reading a story or novel about a character. I feel that they’re me or I can quickly imagine what it would be like to suffer the way the character suffers or to celebrate the way the character celebrates. So, I feel that all my songs are whether they're about someone, about me, they tend to feel like I'm seeing the myself anyway, 

Do you find that you write from more of an empathetic point of view rather than sympathetic? 

M. Cunningham: Yeah, that's a really good question, I haven’t really thought about that. But yeah, probably both I would say. I mean for me I'm young and I have experienced a lot, maybe more than some and then I've really not experienced anything at all. So for me, when I write songs about people like Sylvia Plath, I feel like I'm learning from them and from their experience. I don't think it should be about you telling someone how it is all of the time. I feel like it should be that you're learning from them even if you're the narrator. 

Do you prefer to write in the studio or on the road? 

M. Cunningham: I prefer to write at home actually, to be next to a window of natural light and and write that way. Writing on the road is harder than I thought. It can be fun, but it can be distracting. You're in a new city and people have a different way of living and moving. I'm also trying to focus on the show. So writing, you’re just in a different headspace and I find that easily at home. 

On the new album, songs “Pin It Down,” and “Beauty in Cliques,” are more well-known tracks of yours, they’re just blowing up on Spotify. What is song that’s not as well- known, that you'd like to share with your newer fans? Also, maybe something that's more personal? 

M. Cunningham: I really like performing a song called “Something to Believe.” It’s one of my favorites on that record to sing live. It just it's very buoyant and there's a lot of room for movement and exploration. It’s just easy to sing, slower, a really enjoyable one for me and personal. I wrote it for my husband. We were just recently married! 

“Song In My Head,” is really special, I’d really like to play live. It weaves in memories that I had of my parents and how they kind of give you a half-written story and that their life has kind of given that lineage to you. With your life you get to kind of finish it. I really need to start playing it, I think its my favorite! 

You were playing music in high school, but you you seem very intelligent and very bright, you know, some could go to school anywhere and pursue anything else. When was it that you you finally decided to pursue music full-time? And if you weren’t going to do music and you were going to pursue college instead what might have you what direction might you've gone? 

M. Cunningham: That’s a really good question. I mean, I'd considered going to school. I've been playing music since I was a kid and I considered going to school for that music. Something changed, I met my mentor, who has produced everything that I've ever recorded. Tyler Chester said “I would say that you that you are better off just moving to LA and kind of just really being thrown into the fire and figuring it out.” There’s definitely 90% hard work and then there's 10% percent luck. That 90% is so crucial in order to achieve the luck. So it's an interesting game. I like I really started to dig in and take music seriously by the time I was in my first high school band and like 15/16 because I realized I saw how seriously they were all taking it and I thought “I want to do this, I want to do and I'm going to be committed to this!” I end up like signing with the label when I was 20 almost 21, not that long ago at all and that was unexpected. I didn't seek that out, it just happened and I don't think I could have ever forced it. 

Yeah, and being at the right place at the right time with the right people. 

M. Cunningham: Absolutely! That's the most crucial part, finding your friends and finding the people who actually care about you and not just about what you can produce. 

Yes, it can be difficult, but you're young and you're very talented. So, if things changed for you, it would it's never too late to go back to school but you have this chance now and this opportunity now, it's your passion. I think it's very brave of you to just go for it! You have a level head on your shoulders and you know, I'm sure you've you must have heard throughout your life that you're an old soul. It’s great that you know what you want and you’re going for it! You’ve got a lot of elements with guitar piano and your backing band it’s all very beautiful. I’m excited to see you perform next week. 

M. Cunningham: Thank you I appreciate it I’m looking forward to playing in Detroit next week! 

Don’t forget to pick up your tickets to see Madison Cunningham at the Masonic Temple in Detroit on Wednesday, September 25, 2019. 

You can learn more about Madison Cunningham and check out her upcoming tour dates at: www.madisoncunningham.com

Follow her on Instagram at: instagram.com/madicunningham

Interview by: Brooke Elizabeth, Sonic Live Media

Interview with DREAMERS

DTE Energy Theater

Clarkston, MI

July 5, 2019

Nick Wold – lead vocals, guitar

Marc Nelson – bass, keyboard, vocals

Jacob Lee Wick - drums, vocals 


By: Brooke Elizabeth with Sonic Live Media

I had the chance to sit down with L.A. Alt/Pop Rock band, Dreamers before their show at DTE Energy Music Theatre here in Michigan to ask them a few questions about their upcoming tour and their new record, “Launch Fly Land.”


You are on tour with 311/Dirty Heads. Who else are you guys excited to get on the road with?

Nick: Well, we're really excited to do our first British tour after this. We've been wanting to get out to the UK and Lollapalooza. But right now we're just getting started on this one and we're super stoked to be here.

I caught you guys a few months ago at The Shelter down in Detroit. What's the difference between playing smaller shows like that compared to a huge amphitheater?

Nick: We have played every size of show from tiny nothing bars, to the big 10,000 Cedars. They're all kind of the same to me in a way. It's weird, it feels like we're always just with each other and we're trying to bring our all and just blast our energy out.

Jacob: The most important thing to us is the energy of the crowd. If that's there, then we have a good show. 

So you put it all in no matter the size?

Nelson: It's a better show if you have like a small crowd that is just going nuts.

So its more about the energy of the crowd?

Dreamers: Yes, definitely!

What are the most memorable cities that you guys have played at?

Nick: We've been doing all US and Canada shows and we’re starting to branch out into other countries. We've had great shows in Phoenix, Chicago, Seattle, New York and Detroit. Everywhere really, it's hard to pin point just one.

Jacob: A memory that comes to mind of El Paso, Texas, walking into Juarez, Mexico, across the bridge or Montana was the last state on my list of states to visit. 

Nick: We haven't played in North Dakota, Alaska or Hawaii yet. 

You guys have been playing some new material on the road,  how have the fans have reacted to the new songs?

Nick: We got to play some of the new songs on our last tour and it's been super great. We just we just released our second record, “Launch Fly Land.” I think the response from our fans has been overwhelming. It’s great and we're just debuting a bunch of the new songs on this tour. 

Are there any songs that you are particularly excited about playing off the new record? If you were going to suggest a top song or two to your new fans?

Jacob: Yeah, “Die Happy.” All the new songs really, just because it’s been two years now in this album cycle and with the new songs, it just feels like a new band. 

Nick:  Yeah, I feel like we have upped our game and its new and it's fresh. And yeah, it's been super fun.

Nelson: There's even some we haven't played yet that we were going to end up playing on this tour. 

Nick: Such as “Take Me Home,” a personal favorite of mine. 

Jacob: “Something To Be Alive.”

Nelson: “Wanna Stay.”

Your first tour, two years with your first album, how did that affect your songwriting with the second album?

Jacob: We were on the road the whole time we were writing a second record, flying back and forth out to L.A. writing. So I think a lot of the writing was influenced by what we were experiencing on the road. Writing about topics that felt like current events to us, trials and tribulations that we've all experienced. 

Nick:  Yeah, that's why we ended up calling it “Launch Fly Land,” it's kind of this concept about journeys that we go through in life. Not just the journey of being on the road, but just going through stuff and coming out of it a better person. We all related on different things that were going on in this crazy period of our lives, so that was the concept for the record. The first record was written mostly by me before the band was even fully formed. I was living my practice space in New York, just writing songs from this one period. This record feels like it's totally from a different period, after we've been together and wrote a lot together.

Almost like another lifetime?

Jacob: Yeah.

So you all shared in writing this album?

Nelson: Yeah, Nick is still the primary writer, but there are songs we’ve written as a band. 

Jacob: “Wanna Stay,” and “Screws,” are songs that we were apart of.


The first tour can be really hard on a band: emotionally, physically and mentally. It's nomadic kind of lifestyle, but it seems to have brought you guys a little closer together. I don't feel any friction between you, it doesn't feel like anyone's trying to outdo another. I felt that way when I saw you guys first play. When you see a band for the first time and how they connect that stage, their album can sound like one thing and then on stage sound like something completely different. So I hadn’t heard your album, I'd only seen you guys live, then I listened to your album. Like I said though, it feels and sounds more like a cohesive energy. 

Nelson: It's awesome. 

Nick: Yeah, we're definitely a band of bros. Tour life is not for everyone. It's crazy.

Jacob: Being on the road away from home is hard on personal relationships you know. Yeah, so a lot of relationships suffer from that. So people around you have to really connect with them. 

Nelson: It's like being married, every day you’re with the same people. You spend so much time with the people you’re in a band with, it’s really important to have a good relationship with them. There's a degree of work that it takes to maintain those relationships. These guys know way more about me and my life that they never wanted to know.

And yet you're all still here!

So other than your UK tour, is there anything else that's coming out that you guys want to talk about or share with your fans?

Nick: Yeah, just take a look at our song “Die Happy.” It's on the radio right now. That's our soul in that song and we have a whole record out, but we’ve already got new music. It's coming!

Jacob: We just recorded again. 

Nelson: We realized we were going to be on tour now until next year. 

Where did you record?

Jacob: We recorded out of this house that supposedly Weezer used to live in and a couple of others.

Do you prefer recording in a house over a big studio? Maybe it gives you more of an eclectic feel?

Nick: We did our first record at Sound City, which is this legendary Studio where Nirvana recorded “Never Mind.” That's really cool too, and in a totally different way. I think now we feel like we're just more in control, like it's just us kids with no parents and when we can do it more DIY.

Jacob: When you're in a house, you have more time to think too, and there’s a kitchen!

Anything you guys would like to add?

Jacob: Yeah, call our hotline, 1-833-DIE-HAPY and leave us a message!


Catch DREAMERS with their new single “Die Happy” off their new album “Launch Fly Land” as they open for 311 and The Dirty Heads across North America this summer!