Tell us about your tour vehicle.
Ford E-350 15 passenger van. Currently has around 80,000 miles on it. Not sure about what kind of gas mileage it has but we can get usually get from our hometown Mahopac, NY to New Hampshire and back with about one tank.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
We’ve tried to eat cheaply/healthy on tour by bringing a cooler with cold cuts and some bread, but nothing can stop a late night craving for Taco Bell. It’s definitely cheap not so much healthy though.
How many strings and cymbals do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I change my strings once or twice a month depending on how many shows we have. D’Addario NYXL strings are about $10 so it’d probably be around $120 a year. Our drummer Matt usually breaks about 2-3 cymbals a year and replacing a Zildjian Custom crash costs a pretty penny but he’s got pro coverage from guitar center so they’ll replace it for free!
Where do you rehearse?
We’ve transformed my garage into a great rehearsal space with great rugs on the floor, some acoustic treatment on the walls and a PA system with a headphone amp so everyone can hear themselves during practice. Getting a headphone amp was probably the best thing we ever did because for a singer you don’t have to worry about hearing yourself over the band and for guitar players you can hear what you’re playing as well as what the other guitar player is playing. And drummers can have a good mix between guitar, bass and vocals.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Title: Two Years Too Late – “I wonder if I saw her, would she still have sparks in her eyes”
Describe your first gig.
Our first gig was at a small venue in CT called The Room.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Our drummer works on boilers and our singer does land surveying. They’re not really stoked to be doing it but you gotta pay the bills.
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?
We’ve been a band for almost 3 years now and we’ve gone from not making any money at shows to getting paid to perform and making money off our merch. Hopefully over the course of the next few years we’ll continue to make more and more money.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
One thing I wish we new when we started is the importance of quality. When we first started out we’d rush through recordings and rush through shooting videos just so we could put them out as quickly as we could. It’s much more important to wait until you think it’s ready and it’s the best possible song or video or whatever you’re making because 3 years down the line you might still be happy with how it came out.