Photo credit: Luke Rogers
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
We just upgraded actually, but 99% of our touring life has been spent in a 2008 Ford E-350 – she was our home. We replaced the alternator 3 times, the horn stopped working, AC went out after a while, lots of new batteries and new tires and a few hundred oil changes. She was easy to work on and reliable. We rode in that van for 6 years with little to no issues at all. But time and miles take their toll, we were lucky to have taken her out across the entire country before we had to upgrade. Now we’re in a cozy 2018 Ford Transit T-350 with much more room and much less worry.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Chipotle is like church for us, but it can be a bit pricey if we go overboard. If we’re really on a budget we grab some easy-to-eat things from Costco like big salads and wraps to store in a cooler. Otherwise, we try and stick to the “2 salads” rule – it’s as simple as it sounds, just get the salad and you won’t be mad and feeling bad the next day.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Ballpark let’s say around $100, but Jack (our guitar player) doesn’t use an E string so it keeps the costs down. We keep big packs of strings on us on the road and they run us about $50 a pack, it gets pricey but we buy in bulk to keep it cheaper.
Where do you rehearse?
We cut our teeth in an old industrial warehouse in Detroit that was half abandoned. For $250 a month we could rehearse anytime we’d like in a cement cube that someone died in (literally) – we were broke college kids and probably didn’t pay half the time, and they didn’t really ask, so it was a win-win. Lots of jams till 4 AM, lots of laughs, lots of whiskey, it was a sacred space. Now we rehearse at The River House space, it’s like the Taj Mahal in comparison but still gives us the space and time we need to be dumb kids making weird noises for a bit.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
The first song we wrote as a band together I think was “Fast Train,” but the song was much different back then. Much weirder and messier than it is now. If we’re counting as kids, it’s called “Perfect Ten” and it’s as bad as you can imagine.
Describe your first gig.
As middle schoolers, we played a gig at the Static Age in Romeo, Michigan. We were thrown on as the first of 7 (the good old hardcore days booking 7 bands for a night). We were there 2 hours early, the sound guy didn’t come until later that night so we played for a few of our friends while we sat on the stage and played. But our first real show as Brother Elsey was at the Magic Stick in Detroit, it’s crazy to think about the difference between those shows. Happy to see where it’s ended up so far.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
We all still work in service, bartending and manual labor. Music is a tricky thing to make money from so far but knocking at the door and it won’t be long till we can say these were our last real “jobs.” I’d say it’s hard to have a favorite of something you don’t really want to be doing, but our current jobs are our favorite ‘cause we know they’ll be our last.
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?
Our income has changed dramatically, but it’s all relative. Over the last 5-10 years it’s gone from paying to play some gigs to festival slots/guarantee-based headline shows and corporate gigs. It’s enough to justify our dreams now, not that they really have to be but it’s nice to say, “Hey, this thing is really working,” and look around and see it all actually coming together.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
People will only take you as seriously as you take yourself. You need to find the work to get the work. Find your place in it all and realize there’s no rush to get it done, what comes for you is always gonna be there. There are so many instances of luck within this business, but it doesn’t come to you right away. Fall in love with the process and the process will show you that love tenfold. We always tell ourselves to trust the process and stay the course. Nobody is destined for what we are, nobody will have the path we’ve had, nobody is luckier than we are. There’s no room for comparison and jealousy and angry competition. Your luck will come when you’re ready and able to accept it, no sooner and no later. Just stay the course.