Photo credit: Annie Zegers
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
The three of us pile into a Subaru Outback with 125k miles on it! Thankfully we haven’t had to make major repairs but have definitely had to deal with a lot of repairs on our old tour vehicle which was an awesome Chrysler Town & Country called “Vancine” (aka Frankie).
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
We definitely prioritize eating as well as we can while on the road. When it comes to “fast” food, we always look for a bowl or salad of some kind, or when we find that’s not available, we look for the favorite local deli sandwich. What is unique to us, is that we make a point to seek out really great dinners. We love and appreciate culinary artists so we seek out restaurants that showcase local mastery.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Great question! Max breaks maybe 50-60 guitar strings in a year? Those run about $7/pack. Avery breaks around 5 fiddle strings a year and those sets are $20/pack. Sasha has broken maybe 3 bass strings in our entire tenure as a band, which is good because those sets go for closer to $100/pack. Broken strings or not, Max and Avery tend to change their strings once every two months or so, and sometimes more depending on the wear on the strings.
Where do you rehearse?
These days we rehearse in one of our apartments in Brooklyn, or most often we’ll rehearse at Max and Sasha’s music school in Crown Heights – Crown Heights Music School. This is also where we recorded the new album! Thankfully, no crazy experiences there (other than the general craziness of renting a commercial space in NYC). We do make a point to get out and walk the riverwalks and hike the mountains all around this precious Earth, and we tend to practice our vocal harmonies while on our treks. It’s great breath-support practice and the outdoors are our favorite rehearsal space!
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
This is definitely the hardest question here! It’s hard to remember at this point. One of Avery’s first songs was a rock number called “Hero” written for his mom. One of Max’s first songs was a take on Blink-182’s “Down” where he rewrote the lyrics to be about his CCS teacher’s daughter–who he was in love with. Sasha’s first completed song is “Quietly Heartbreaking” which made the cut on our 2022 album Sleeping Dogs!
Describe your first gig.
We started out busking on Newbury St in Boston, MA, but our first official show was at a rock club in Jamaica Plain (Boston neighborhood) opening for our buddies Grey Season. Max’s dad was our biggest (and only) fan there and it was your classic “two bands on the bill and they play for each other” kinda show. Beyond that, our first regular gig we had where we really cut our teeth was playing 3hrs every Thursday night at The Village Tavern in Salem, MA. It was a good place for us to experiment and practice performing, while also starting to garner fans! Huge shoutout to that crew and that era for helping us become what we are today.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Max: Barista/Coffee Shop (last) – Line Cook (favorite); Sasha: Elementary (preK-4th) Music Ed teacher (last) – Nanny (favorite); Avery: Haberdasher/Hat Shop (last) – Youth Gymnastics Instructor (favorite)
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?
Thankfully, it has improved over the years! As we’ve built up our team (esp. working with our booking agent Trish at Myriad Artists), we’ve been able to play bigger shows across the country and now the world. We’re fortunate to be a well-oiled trio so we’re able to keep costs lower than bands with more members. We’ve seen and been blessed with incredible direct support from our fans in the form of crowd-funding, merch sales, and ticket sales that have really made this slow-and-steady rise of ours possible.
It’s hard to know what to expect in the next 5-10 years, but based on the past 13, we’re hopeful it just keeps getting better and better! We’re definitely planning on continuing to record as much as possible, keep playing shows, and to continue our work as Cultural Ambassadors with the U.S. State Dept. The money comes and goes, but the music lasts forever.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
The more you create, the better those creations become. It’s every artist’s prerogative to second-guess/doubt whether or not something is “good enough” to share. One of the key things that we’ve learned is that while it is important to be true to your gut and personal standards, it’s also important to not overthink the validity of the Art. It’s all worth it and all compounding in benefit. If you really find you’ve outgrown something, it’s always possible to take it down. Create, Craft, Release, Repeat.
Another nugget of wisdom that we’ve learned is that Time is your friend! One of the hardest parts about releasing said work is the “hurry up and wait” feeling that comes between scheduling a release to the release date itself. If you can abate that eagerness and focus on comfortably building hype for the scheduled release, you end up giving the project enough of a runway to be set up for success to reach as many folks as possible. Same in the creation side of things. Some pressure can be good, but overall, (especially when it comes to independent artists) we have found that consciously taking our time to make what we love goes a long way in the life-span of the work.