Photo credit: Kenzie Trezise
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
We roll in a really nice 2017 Ford transit van. It has 195k miles. We got it in 2018 when it only had 17k miles so that’s pretty wild to me that we’ve traveled that far in it.
Our old van was the “Breakdown King”. That van was this big red Dodge 3500 with big comfy bench seats for sleeping and a huge roof rack for touring cyclists. That POS broke down in Grand Island, NE in 2016. We had just finished playing our first shows in Colorado and it hadn’t gone well. On the last night of tour, the venue told us that there weren’t enough people and that we in fact owed them money. It was incredibly disheartening for us all. And 6 hours later our radiator pump stopped working and our head gasket fried onto the head and we were stuck. It was the first time some of the guys saw me cry. Haha.
That van broke down probably 6 more times and was our main source of anxiety for years. And then one day a local man here in Wisconsin gave us the deal of a lifetime on our current Transit van and we are forever grateful for him.
It also stresses me out talking about this because I am incredibly superstitious!
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
I don’t eat healthy on tour. We do eat cheaply though. In the morning I fill up on hotel breakfast because it is free. And then I drink water until we get to the venue and usually at the venue we eat for free. So I just get the most filling thing I can. Also lots of beer. For better or worse it’s what works for me. We do splurge on regional foods like Kansas City or Texas BBQ or seafood on the coasts. Stas, our drummer, will eat healthy or he won’t eat. That’s how he stays so skinny!
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I play banjo. I break my High G-String at least 100 times per year. Once every 3 shows. Sometimes more. I get that specific string in bulk and my dealer gets me some pretty good deals. What costs more is Harmonicas! I beat mine up pretty bad and my technique is not great so I have to get a new one of those at least 4 times a year.
Where do you rehearse?
I am a printmaker. I graduated from UW-STOUT with an Art Printmaking degree and now my wife and I run BIBS Printing on the side. When I graduated, I quickly went looking for a space to run our printmaking studio and I found one in Eau Claire, WI where the band also lives. We carved blocks and made prints and shirts out of that little 12’x16’ space for two years and that was fine, but then my wife got a puppy and I had to stay home to take care of it. I moved my studio to my basement and the band took it over.
It’s perfect for us in size and sound. The walls are insulated. We can leave things set up so we can get right to work. There’s a piano and an organ. There’s heat in the winter and AC in the summer. We store our touring rigs and Instruments there when we aren’t on the road. And it also has huge garage doors for us to pull the van right in and keep it safe. It was made to be a rehearsal space.
The only bad experience we’ve had was our fault. We accidentally let a rabbit get in there. We don’t know how. But it was in there and we know because we saw it. It pooped all over our stuff and ate our snacks. It got out and ran away and we had to clean up all the turds. Probably the only negative we’ve ever had.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Wow. That is a brutal question. I wrote a song called “A Boy and His Truck.” Very embarrassing song about a personified Ford Ranger and her plutonic motherly relationship with a 16-year-old boy. One of the lyrics I remember is “he had gravel in his blood” and I know Soren has always loved that line. So if he ever puts that in a song, he owes me!
Describe your first gig.
First gig as a band was at a local ski hill in Wisconsin. We played for my girlfriend at the time. Now she is my wife and the mother of my kids. Soren and Jens’ parents were there. It’s funny to think about that how that made us feel like rock stars even then. It gives us perspective now that we have planted ourselves as established musicians in Wisconsin.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
I own BIBS PRINTING. My wife and I make wood carvings with hand tools and then we ink them up and run them through our printing press. They’re like big stamps but made of wood. We do posters, T-shirts, tote bags, etc. It’s been the best ‘other’ job I’ve had. I also liked being a camp counselor for 5 years.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
I guess that our representation has gotten better and we know what we’re worth. So it’s still hard to get by, but at least we are getting by today. Whatever we make, I would like to just keep making it worth it for our fans. So I’ll keep practicing my craft. Literally practicing my instruments but also trying to learn new instruments for when we are in the recording studio. I will continue pushing the envelope with my performances making sure people leave our show saying it was worth it. Learning from the greats so that one day I can work side by side with the greats.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
There’s lots. Perspective is really important. Stay really really humble off-stage. On-stage, give in to the showman. Dave Simonett once told me that if you’re getting into this career for money… you’re making a great mistake and you’d be better off owning a bank. It takes a lot of sacrifice and even more hard work. Try to forgive your band mates as quickly as possible. Give your band mates space when they need it. Tell them when you need space. Listen to each other. Forgive yourself and love yourself. Be kind to others. Be kind to yourself.