Photo credit: Sari Thayer
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
This was our ‘99 Chevy Suburban, with the upright bass on the roof. Everything else just fit inside. It had 350,000 miles on it when it finally died. Now we rent.
It had a fair amount of mechanical issues over the years.
But it only broke down once on the way to a show. We were outside Sweetwater, TX, heading east to Austin. We called a local venue owner by the name of Weston Pyburn, who picked us up off the highway, offered us his own van to make our show, and had his mechanic in town fix ours free of charge. You never forget someone like Weston.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
We don’t really eat healthfully on tour. But sometimes the venue catering is really good, especially in Europe.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
We try to avoid breaking strings on stage, cause we travel without a guitar tech. We change them regularly on tour. They’re like $6/pack.
Where do you rehearse?
Jake’s stepdad is an artist and sculptor. He’d been living and working in Venice Beach since the ‘60s, and was hostile to any trendy business popping up that could raise his rent. He invited us to rehearse at his studio as a kind of psychological warfare against the hip restaurant moving in next door.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
“Let me steal those thoughts deep inside your head,
I bet they’ll feel right next to mine”
Can’t remember the title.
Describe your first gig.
We drove seven hours from LA into snowy Flagstaff, Arizona to play two sets at a bar called Mia’s Lounge for $100. We only had one or two songs of our own, so we played a lot of ‘50s rockabilly and old blues.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Zac: Furniture mover/handyman. Favorite job was banjo tester/concert staff at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica.
Jake: I made cat trees from wood I found from the Woolsey fire.
Patrick: I worked as a contact tracer during the pandemic.
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?
In ten years I expect to be chained inside a coal mine owned by Spotify.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
Zac: Can you even call it a career if you still have a day job? Maybe it’s just a night job.
Patrick: That the music industry was about to crash?
Jake: Your rider is not just for the night of. Ask for things you’ll need for the rest of tour.