Funny, sexy, thumper!! I love both of these divas, and this song shoots me back to when I first discovered EDM as a teen. When I saw this performed live, it unlocked dance moves within me that had gone undanced for years and years. SYM1 is really fun to see live and is putting ON for the pop girlies and gays in the TC, and for that I stan!!

Ooof this is a sexy enchanting song. I adore both of these artists so much and have since they were babies in the scene lol. Kamilla Love has vocals that make me feel like I'm levitating. The minimalism in the production is fabulous, and I feel like a snake who has been successfully Charmed.

This song is a forehead kiss on my inner child. Anita is beyond. I've been a fan of hers for the longest time, and she is such a beacon of creativity and passion. Every show of hers is jumping around w/ the Community and yelling, and that's magic to my heart.

Syd's songwriting teleports me thru dreamscapes. Such a wonderfully warm-hearted, beautiful human. This song is very special to me, not only because I played on it, but it's such a loving acceptance of self and nurture. Ghosting Merit has an incredible grounding effect and alchemizes truth and acceptance in my body. Get familiar!!!

Stunningly real, honest, and heartbreakingly good. Mike Kota is a joy to know, follow, witness. I've had the pleasure of knowing Mike since GLFI [Good Luck Finding Iris] days, pre-everything, and wow, what a generous, kind spirit!! Lush vocals, lush guitars and production. Gorgeous songwriting - tear jerky! Don't sleep!

Get your tickets now for 26 BATS!, Flip Rushmore, The Briefly Gorgeous, and Kiernan! ​

Al Norman (drummer): "Weekend" by Last Dinosaurs

​One thing I really like about them is how joyous and light their songs can be, despite how much energy there is. Also within that, there is a lot of range dynamically that everyone is doing instrumentally. Yeah, shout out to Last Dinosaurs. I like them a lot. Their drummer is so good.
​

Kailyn Grider (lead vocals / guitar): Alex Lahey

Both me and Johnny [Devitt] really liked her when we were first playing music together. I really dig her music a lot and I feel like it has similar energy to us, but ... It’s not nearly as technical sometimes, so it’s a good reminder for me when I need to step back from getting too crazy on all the syncopated parts and try to make a catchy, fun-to-listen-to song.

​All of Alex Lahey’s songs are really fun to listen to, so I feel like that always really draws me in when I’m thinking in terms of vocals and lyrics and stuff. She really inspires me in terms of the vocals and core energy and enjoyment aspect of the songs.
​

Johnny Devitt (guitar): "Fall In" by The Cloud Nothings

It kind of just amps me up and hits a perfect place ... It's a really frantic-sounding song that also has a lot of melancholy emotions in it. It hits a certain coordinate point for me that gets me wanting to write all sorts of songs, but specifically songs that hit that middle ground that can be big and loud and fast and still have a lot of heart and emotion—a lot of happy sadness in there.

I pick up my guitar whenever I hear this band, and specifically this song. In some of the new material that we are writing right now, that influence absolutely shows up. In a couple of our new songs, I definitely have taken direct inspiration from them. This year I have really gotten into their self-titled album from 2011, and a lot of the guitar work on our newer shit is directly influenced by that album in particular.
​

Maddie Thies (bass): "Hear Me Out!" by VALERAS

They are a band that, like The Briefly Gorgeous, is so rhythmically tight and clean and does so well to create a lot of energy with so many dynamic and thematic changes. I definitely take a lot of inspiration from the way bass weaves through their songs from simply holding down a section to being right there with the guitars.

I’ve come back to them so many times when considering my own parts. My goal is always to write something that is supportive and sounds like it is meant to be there, but is still something I have a lot of fun or pride in playing. I think they do that very well.
​

The Dead Century, Flip Rushmore, Lucid VanGuard, and Zippo Man are playing the Turf Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday, May 18. Ticket information is here. 

Nick Check and Rob Muehlbauer of the Dead Century got on the phone with Alex of Flip Rushmore to discuss their new album, The Well, and less-than-friendly concertgoers.

​---

Alex: I was promised a story about a machete.

Nick: This happened a long while ago. We were in California at the time. We had just started playing live in earnest. We were playing wherever we could. Peoples' garages. House parties. Farmers markets. Anywhere in between.

So we found a bar, which I'll leave unnamed. But it was a bar in La Mesa, California, which would have us play now and again. It was a really small place, and it filled up quick, but it was always a bit of a sketchy venue. People were always walking in and out, probably moving drugs out back.

One night, the bartender, Irish Mike, he was acting really cagey. Really nervous. We knew something wasn't quite right. He was talking to the other bartender, Allison. Our spot came on. We went up to play, but we were keeping an eye on them the whole time. They were getting cagier and cagier.

Alex: Was there a look in their eye, or something?

Nick: They were fidgety. They were on the phone a lot. Checking the windows, pulling the shade back. Checking the back door. I didn't know if the feds were gonna roll up.

Some dude with a machete walks in the back. He's got scars on his face, and he's got one arm. I don't know if he was born that way, or if he lost a fight to another dude with a machete who was faster on the draw. He walks to the front, the stage area. My brother, John Paul [Check], plays bass and likes to wander around. He ends up face to face with this guy as he walks in. John jumped the farthest I've ever seen in his life to get out of this guy's way.

Irish Mike pulls a knife out from under the bar. Allison pulls a knife out from under the bar. We started vamping on a song. We just got quiet and ran through the chords. I was trying to find a segue to "Peace, Love, and Understanding."

Irish Mike wound up taking the guy out to the front of the bar, by the busiest road. I think he wanted the traffic to be able to see whatever was going to happen. He went out with a big stack of cash, and machete guy and Irish Mike sorted it out. I wish I could've been part of that conversation.

Alex: That was a rare moment to be able to soundtrack.

Nick: It's true. I don't know if Tarantino could've done it better.

Alex: So, you were in La Mesa, living there? From there?

Nick: Yeah, it's a neighborhood in San Diego. My folks live out there, and JP went to high school out there. We've bounced around a little bit. At the time we were a three-piece outfit at that point. I played guitar. JP played bass. And we had a drummer, also named Nick. When JP finished school, we set up shop in St. Paul.

Alex: Had you guys lived in Minnesota previously?

Nick: We both went to school here. I've been here long enough where it feels like home in a real sense, but I definitely am a transplant.
​

Flip Rushmore is celebrating the release of their new EP, Choose Your Villains Wisely, at the 7th St Entry on Wed., Aug. 10. Friend Dog, comprised of Vinnie Donatelle, Lauren Anderson, and Nate LeBrun, is a featured guest on the bill. Vinnie, who spoke with us in 2021, got on the phone with Flip's Alex Smith for a follow-up interview as he balances between Friend Dog and his much more high-profile Americana trio, The Last Revel.

Alex: Alright, we need to talk about the John Mayer thing. The Last Revel is opening for him [Aug. 21] in Wyoming? I know you have a big following out there. How did the booking come together?

Vinnie: That was out of the blue. There’s a venue in Paradise Valley called Pine Creek Lodge, where the show is happening, that’s pretty near and dear to our hearts. We’ve hosted a couple mini music festivals out there. And Ryan [Acker, of The Last Revel] actually met his now-wife at Pine Creek. 

The day after we played there this summer, there was some massive flooding along the Yellowstone River that destroyed a lot of property and basically closed West Yellowstone for the season, which really throws a wrench in the economy out there. All the folks who depend on that tourism are kinda SOL for the season again after getting beat up by COVID, too. 

So John Mayer, who has a ranch out there, decided to put together this show and hit up our friend, Chip, who owns Pine Creek Lodge, and asked if he could set up a couple shows there to fundraise. Chip, of course, said, “of course,” [laughs] and that led to John Mayer’s team to say, “Ask two of of your favorite bands to play,” so Chip called Ryan.

Alex: I assume you knew you weren’t getting pranked because it was Chip calling you, but what was your reaction to the news?

Vinnie: Well, he tried to call us at like 2 in the morning, when we were driving home from a festival. And we were, like, dude, slow your role. We don’t know what this is about, but it can wait until tomorrow. So when Ryan talked to him the next day, we all just kind of froze and said, “that’s insane. There’s no way that’s actually happening.” But sure enough…

Alex: What kind of venue are we talking about? What’s the cap on that place?

I think it’s 1,000. 

Alex: So pretty intimate for something like that.

Vinnie: Yeah, and 1,000 is a lot of people in that space. We played to 500 or 600 people before. That felt really packed. It’s basically a small little resort with a nice kitchen that has a bunch of storage container rooms surrounding a stage. People rent out these cabins if they want, or just drive up to the shows. That’s the gist of it.

Alex: Of course, that’s all Last Revel stuff. I’m curious because Friend Dog was filling this vacuum for you when The Last Revel hit pause [in 2021]. We talked about it last year, like, Friend Dog was going to be something for yourself. Something new. How does it fit into your musical life in the moment?

Vinnie: That’s a tough question. To be honest, this year has been so insane with The Last Revel coming back together that I’m still trying to catch myself up to everything happening. I don’t think any of us in The Last Revel thought we were going to be received the way we were this summer, when we first got back together. Under that auspice, it was like, “Everybody’s got their solo projects. This is just a passion project on the side to rekindle an old friendship. Just see where things go.” But the momentum from this summer makes it seem like more than just that.

That opens up Friend Dog to be a lot lower pressure to be any one thing. I feel a lot more comfortable having this project be whatever it is in the moment. It looks like a number of things. Actually having solo performances and putting together a band for certain shows. Also being able to build newer arrangements … if I want to sit down and play a 45-minute set of looping fiddle over itself, I feel pretty comfortable doing something like that. This is entirely more of a push toward creative experimentation.

That being said, the set that I have for [Wednesday], I’m just really excited to share it. It’s pretty rock ‘n’ roll in a way that’s not really like what I do with The Last Revel. And in some ways the influences kind of blend.

… These are a bunch of new songs that I feel good about. I’m really interested in seeing what the pressure of playing them onstage will do to them. And I don’t feel hung up about perfecting them until I get to that point. I feel confident enough in myself and the musicians I’m playing with to throw around new ideas and be somewhat improvisational.

Alex: What’s your history with the band you’ll have onstage with you Wednesday?

Vinnie: Lauren [Anderson] is playing bass. She was actually playing bass in The Last Revel for a few years and performed on the [Friend Dog] EP. Nate [LeBrun] got in the picture last summer. I’ve known him through friends of friends for awhile now. We started playing music together around the time I released the first Friend Dog EP [last year]. 

Alex: You’re obviously in a much more high-profile trio at the moment. You mentioned getting to flex that rock ‘n’ roll muscle a little bit in Friend Dog, but what are some of the differences when you’re playing with this group vs. The Last Revel?

Vinnie: The Last Revel, everybody has already hit the road and cut their teeth pretty hard. We’re all at a similar point of view in our career. Whereas, Friend Dog is less that. Everybody’s coming from a different perspective, and … there’s more of a beginner’s lens coming at the Friend Dog project, if that makes sense.

Alex: And I think that includes you, to an extent, because your history is not with the guitar so much as other instruments. And last year you alluded to that, saying this was going to be a chance to try something new for yourself. Is that a proper interpretation?

Vinnie: Yeah. And both projects have collaboration, but when working out songs with Friend Dog, there’s a lot more of “eyes on me” perspective. Lauren and Nate want to know what I want the song to lean into, or what I’m hearing, vs. right away bringing their own interpretation of what the song could be.

Alex: Sure, sure. I’ll just give you one or two more here, for both our sakes. Transcription is always so annoying. And the last time we talked, I think we went for 45 minutes, and now you’ve got a novel about your life on the Internet.

Vinnie: [laughs] I appreciate it.

Alex: So a couple times you’ve said you’re going through a lot at the moment, with The Last Revel resurgence and how well that’s gone. Like, you haven’t had a chance to catch your breath. With all of these big shows coming up, is there a light at the end? Do you feel like you’re gonna finally feel like you’ve got it figured out again?

Vinnie: Shit. No. [laughs] I feel like, maybe I’ll … I don’t know. I don’t think so. There won’t be a point in the near future where everything is set up so perfectly and neatly that all I need to do is show up and plug in. But that’s kinda the business we call show.

I see this fall kind of narrowing some things down. We have a lot of irons in the fire with where we want 2023 to go, but I think, also, recording is going to be on the forefront of both Friend Dog and Last Revel. We’re going back up to the UP of Michigan to record the second half of an album we started recording this summer. Then in November I’d like to go back into the studio with Lauren and Nate to record more Friend Dog songs. Whatever that turns into being. Hopefully release those over the winter.

But, I mean, at this point, it’s like, take all the opportunities that come. Be mindful about not overextending yourself. And that’s kinda all I can really do at the moment.

Flip Rushmore is celebrating the release of their new EP, Choose Your Villains Wisely, at the 7th St Entry on Wed., Aug. 10. Lazenlow, comprised of Gillian Needham, Mike "Ghost Channels" Ryerse, and Mo Bluntz, is a featured guest on the bill. Gillian and Mike got on the phone with Flip's Alex Smith to discuss Lazenlow's Entry debut and much more.

Alex: I’ve seen allusions to an album being mixed. 

Mike: I’m in the finishing process. Which many know: five percent finishing takes 95 percent of the time. I’ve been fine-tuning stuff, then putting it away for a week, then fine-tuning stuff. Right now, it’s 10 songs. We worked on around 20 songs for this particular batch and cut it down to 10 we feel really strongly about. It’s definitely our most electronic-leaning record. We put the guitar to the side. It’s still there, but it’s electronic first. Four to the floor. Beats and stuff. But still very much our dark style. We’re super excited about it.

Alex: Do you track everything at home?

Mike: Yeah, so, Gillian and I are engaged. We live together, and I built a studio in one of our guest bedrooms.

Alex: Congratulations!

Mike: Thank you.

Alex: When did that go down?

Gillian: He asked me on New Year’s Day, actually. The first day of our vacation. We’re getting married next year in September. So, we’re excited. We’re having our engagement party tomorrow [before press time]. 

Alex: So, if you’re tracking everything in your own studio, doing all the mixing work. Do you need to step away for awhile before re-listening, or are you listening to the same song for several days in a row?

Mike: No. I think the first few weeks when you’re doing the intense stuff, yes, it’s every day. But it’s been a really important part of my process, to stop listening to it for a couple weeks. Don’t even think about it. Then pick a weird scenario. Put it on headphones. Listen in the car. Our lil’ old record player we have. Bluetooth. It’s important to switch things up because it keeps it fresh, like you’re hearing it for the first time. It’s very important to shelve stuff, and then come back to it, because you don’t know what it sounds like when you’re too close to it.

Alex: That makes sense. You guys seem very invested in visual content. TikTok. Twitter videos. Which, you know, OK, other people do that, too, but I feel like it’s something you emphasize.

Gillian: We’ve gotten some coaching from Mark Mallman. He’s been a mentor for us, as far as creating content and how to corner that market. “At this point, if you’re not using TikTok to promote your music, you’re doing it wrong,” is how he presented it to us. There isn’t a lot of original music getting posted on there. It’s not necessarily to promote our own music all the time, but to get peoples’ attention of who we are. Mark says if you use your own music, it shoves you down to the bottom of the algorithm [laughs], so it’s just another way we’ve tried to gain traction with people who don’t know us. 

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Get your tickets here for Flip Rushmore's EP Release Party featuring Friend Dog and Lazenlow. And be sure to stream Flip's new EP, Choose Your Villains Wisely, on Spotify or wherever else you listen to music.

Alex: It’s been awhile now, but you *had* been keeping up a blog. Pre-COVID. Your last post was almost a document from just before the Dark Ages. You wrote that you’d had a “really stressful 2019” and you were like, “2020, please be kind to me.” Uhh ... Did you make it out OK?

Faith: God. I remember writing that. It was 2019 New Year’s Eve at my parents house. Just chilling with them. It was kind of a sassy “fuck off 2019” and “2020’s gonna be my year.” All in all, I made it out OK. I got done with (dental hygienist) school and I was able to transition into a dental hygiene role at the office I was working in.

Not to say that it didn’t have its horrible moments. Of course it did. But I’m really a privileged human being, and I’m grateful that my loved ones stayed safe and I was able to stay safe while working in the dental profession, because that’s a little more high-risk of a job. I got to play a couple shows outdoors. All in all, I’m grateful for the good things that have happened. And I’m happy that the bad things are in the past.

Alex: There were a lot of bands and artists who were riding some strong momentum coming into last year. People with entire tours lined up. Album cycles. All that. On a local level, I’d place you in that basket. You were riding on a high professionally—at least from the outside looking in—and you had a new album lined up (Take Care, which came out in October). Did you delay that at all? How did COVID affect some of your business decisions?

Faith: Let me preface this by saying that the music business side of things is my least favorite part of being a creative type. The industry has changed so much, even since I started playing more than 10 years ago. Streaming services and how artists make money. I could go on about that forever. 

I struggled with business decisions *outside* of the pandemic [laughs] so it was kind of like, “I don’t know what to do.” But in regards to (Take Care), I had written most of that in 2018 when I was releasing my second album, so I was really ready to just let it go and just put it into the universe. To tell you the truth, with music business decisions over the course of my quote-unquote career, it’s been moreso like, I throw caution to the wind … there’s definitely *some* calculation, but at the same time, I’ll be like, “November is when I want to put this record out. So I’ll do a single in September and October and let’s hope things go well.”

Take Care was about a breakup from 3 and a half years ago now. I’m over that. I didn’t want to hold on to these angry songs that I’m not even mad about anymore.
​

Alex: I think the pandemic underscored how incredibly complicated the business side has gotten … it just feels exhausting trying to figure out … not only what you should be doing, but weighing that option against five other options. A lot of the simplicity seems to have evaporated, and maybe it’s better to not care and do what you want. Honestly, some of the artists who do that end up getting big anyway because people tap into that energy.

Faith: You hit the nail on the head with that. Do I want my music to be successful and reach people? Yeah, of course. That is always a goal. But the thing that I’ve said for the past few years is, if I can sit down in my bedroom with a guitar and write a song and be proud of it, that’s why I do it. I just love writing music. If somebody hears it, awesome. And if it means something to someone, even better. Maybe it makes somebody run a little faster or getting a little mad at their ex or whatever. Fun. That’s great! I love it. But I’m not out here calculating, like you said. It’s not the Zach Galifianakis .gif with the numbers all around him. "What do I need to do to make it?" At that point, you’ve lost. What’s the point? Are you doing it to be famous or cool, or are you doing it because you love it? That’s how I see it. Maybe that’s weird.

Alex: I’m sure everyone would love to pay the bills with music. And it’s part of the equation for everyone … you know, “I don’t love the business side, but if I can somehow figure out an angle financially”—especially for a solo artist, where you have fewer mouths to feed, or whatever—I can see the motivation there. But, you’re right, if the only reason you’re making music is to make money … first of all: terrible decision. But then beyond that, if you *need* to make money on music to survive, the number of people you know personally who can do that, you can count those people on, like, two hands, maybe. 

But, I don’t want to belabor this [dies internally at how long he’s been monologuing] … Let’s dissect genre for a minute. You put out a Shania cover last month. You’ve done some country tribute shows before. And I can definitely hear some country elements in your music. A little bit on the Enough album. A slight country western tinge to some of it. And then the opening track of Take Care has a hint of it. “I Don’t Want to Get Arrested” has that outlaw Carrie Underwood feel to it. The main question I have is: How country is Faith Boblett?

Faith: [laughs] That’s so funny because when I first started writing music when I was 13, people would say, “You have such a great voice for country.” And I would literally be like, “Fuck you. Never say that to me again.” I was like, no way. I was in Northern Minnesota. That was what was on the radio. I was very against it. “No, no, no. I’m not country.” But I think I’m leaning in a little more these days. Shania Twain was probably my first CD as a kid. It definitely influenced and taught me in some ways how to sing. I never had vocal lessons. I’d just sing along to the radio, like most people do. Shania was pretty influential, though I didn’t quite realize it until the last couple years. Sheryl Crow is a huge influence and idol of mine. How country am I? Somebody should tell me, cuz I guess I don’t really know. [laughs]. A little bit?
​

Alex: With the cover coming out, I was wondering if you might be in for a total shift in direction moving forward … What kind of music *are* you writing right now?

Faith: I haven’t been writing as much as I want to be. I’ve had a lot of changes. Moving. New job. All the excuses. But the last few songs I’ve written are a little more towards the style of Enough. A little sadder. A little slower. But definitely more politically charged than previous records. Those were kinda breakup records, and we’ve been living in an insane version of reality for the last 12 months especially, but you could extend that back to 2016 and beyond. So things are a little more politically charged in terms of lyrical content. Right now, it’s only me and my guitar, so as far as style, we’ll see what happens when I bring it to the band.

Alex: If you’re writing politically charged music, do you take the approach of being very subtle and symbolic, or is it more like, “This is exactly what I’m saying. Listen to me.”

Faith: I think a little bit of both. I always try to write songs that can mean something to everybody. If somebody hears a breakup song or a song about their mom, they can say, “that reminds me of this…”—so maybe more subtle. But when I was moving, I found a songbook from when I was around 14 or 15. And it called, like “Dear Mr. President” and it has a line about, “your pants are on fire.” This whole thing. And I’m like, jeez, who did I think I was? So (this time) a little more subtle. Not subliminal. You’ll know it’s in there, but maybe not in your face. I save my t-shirts for that at the show.

Alex: I’m doing some mental math. This woulda been W. Bush era?

Faith: Exactly.

Alex: And no one thought there’d ever be another man that would inspire more songs than him?

Faith: God.

Alex: The thing about political music is that a lot of people don’t want to touch it. They don’t want to turn people off, or they just don’t know what to say. They might feel really strongly, but some people translate that to lyrics, and some people don’t. Most of Flip Rushmore’s new music this year is pretty influenced by politics. Some of it’s subtle. Some of it’s not. But I always find it interesting to talk to people who include politics in music. Because, yeah, it’s been done. It’s cliche. But there aren’t *a lot* of artists who actually make those songs happen. It sounds like you’ve been at least working on those types of songs for the better part of your life.

Faith: I guess. It’s so funny. I found that. And I remembered it. But I hadn’t thought about it twice in years. But something you said about writing like that … an artist feeling like they don’t know what to say. “I’m not gonna touch it.” I’ve got a new song where it’s like, “I have no words. This is insane. What the fuck is going on?” Basically. Even if you can’t touch it because it’s so fucked up and crazy, that’s something in itself, in my opinion.

Alex: There was something kinda funny I noticed—now that the topic of old songs has come up—I went to your YouTube channel…

Faith: Oh, god.

Alex: ...and you’ve got singer-songwriter videos from 12 years ago.

Faith: Are they visible right now??

Alex: To me!

Faith: Oh, Jesus. [laughs]

Alex: Naturally, I watched them. And they were really good. They were! My first thought was, no artists still have videos from 12 years ago on their page. Usually, you’re too mortified. 

Faith: I am right now [laughs]

Alex: Everybody gets embarrassed about things they put out 2 years ago, let alone 12. But you’ve almost got these little yearbooks going across your YouTube channel page. A song from 12 years ago. Eleven years. Ten years. Etc. 

Faith: Well, there’s definitely videos that I took down. For sure. To be honest. They were too mortifying. But I didn’t know that I had some that were that old (visible). I have a lot that are uploaded, but they’re hidden … I’m gonna need to take a look at that. That’s intense. [laughs]

Alex: You should leave them up! People can easily connect to it, put themselves in your shoes. It gives the appearance that … you have not deleted any videos…

[laughs]

Alex: ...so maybe that’s a strategy. “This is everything I’ve ever done. This is me at my rawest.”

Faith: I agree with you, because there’s something about this day and age that’s so curated about all of us. We put the best version of ourselves on social media. And it’s so fake. It’s such bullshit. So if there’s a little bit of realness from 12 years ago when I had no filter and I would talk for 3 minutes before I started playing a song, I guess that’s OK!

Alex: Are you the type of person that will tweet things and then delete them 2 minutes later?

Faith: Normally not, but sometimes. I really do treat Twitter as my diary. If you’re following me, you’re just reading it, so sorry about it. Or if I realize I have a typo, I’ll delete it. But rarely will I take something down.

Alex: The typo deletion is kosher. I’m talking about, you put something up for 5 minutes, no one likes it, and you’re like uhhhhhhhhh “delete.”

Faith: Oh, god. If I deleted every tweet that had no likes, I would not have many tweets. [laughs]

Alex: Alright, so 2021. What’s on your radar, career-wise? Do you have any type of schedule in your head?

Faith: Everybody’s been booking like crazy, and it seems like it happened in 3 days. It feels like I was off the internet for 48 hours and all of a sudden everyone’s playing every show. I’m a little scared that there’s nothing left for the lowly dental hygienist singer-songwriter. But I have *a* show booked in Cross Lake, an outdoors thing up north. Trying to work out another show at the Alley at Loring Park, where we did a couple last fall. And then hoping to pick up maybe a couple support gigs. Outdoor stuff. But not any huge plans. Hoping to maybe get back into the studio this fall and recording another EP or potentially an album. We’ll see how much music comes out. It’s pretty loose at this point, but if that changes, and I book new stuff, I’m very annoying on social media, so people will hear about it.

Alex: We talked about your last pre-COVID document on New Year’s 2020. It didn’t end up going so well. But is there anything you’d like to curse us with this year that will age poorly?

Faith: So, here’s thing, real quick, before I say something that ages poorly or doesn’t age poorly. Right before COVID, I turned 29, and I was like, “You know what, you guys, I’m ready for 30. As far as I’m concerned, I’m skipping 29.” And then I did. I’m now 30.

Maybe this will age poorly or maybe it won’t: I’m just really hoping I don’t skip 30. I want to play shows and see people and have everybody be safe. I guess that can’t age poorly; that’s just the truth.

Alex: You can probably get away with throwing yourself a really late 30th birthday party.

Faith: Yeah! Maybe a half-birthday in September somewhere outside with a bunch of bands. 

Alex: People will say, “Wasn’t your birthday 6 months ago?”

Faith: I’ll literally tell them to shut the fuck up. “Nope. I’m 30 starting now. I’m a Virgo now.”

Alex: So … Friend Dog. What was the spark to start a new project with its own name? I feel like when you name something, it becomes important. What led you to that step?

Vinnie: For a long time, I thought it would be an important step in my music career to take on a solo project I can float on my own without having to go through as many logistics and creative negotiations to both produce music and play live shows. But much more on the creative content end of things. At the same time, I never really liked the idea of just putting effort into music as “Vinnie Donatelle.” Something didn’t feel right about that. Maybe it’s too egotistical for my humble Minnesotan roots.

The Last Revel was kinda taking a bit of a step back, professionally. I thought it was a nice opportunity for me to establish a new project and see where it goes.

Alex: Was that hiatus COVID-related? Or are we talking about a general burnout before all that happened?

Vinnie: Ehhhhh … It was a combination. We were going through some struggles. But when COVID came around, it was like, OK, everybody needs to just take a step back.

Alex: You had a mini reunion recently (with The Last Revel’s Ryan Acker) at the livestream for Max Graham. 

Vinnie: Yeah.

Alex: Did you call each other up? How did that work?

Vinnie: Ryan lives in Montana now. [pause]. Sorry, I’ve got a mouthful of pasta salad. He lives in Montana now, and he got a call from somebody to come record some music in Minnesota two weeks ago. It just so happened that, when we got asked to be part of the music for Max, it just so happened … he woulda been sleeping on my couch, anyway, at night. We decided it would be a good idea to play some music together.

Alex: Was it nice to dip back into some old songs you haven’t played in awhile?

Vinnie: Yeah, it was. It was really invigorating and eye-opening. I think I particularly do a suboptimal job of appreciating creative works from my past as meritorious. So when I’m forced to pick them back up, it’s like, “Oh, yeah! That’s right! This *was* a lot of fun.” I remember looking at Ryan when we were running a song and just fumbling it when we were practicing. And we both just started laughing, because—it was a fun experience to reopen those songs—but at the same time, it’s like, no one would believe us if we told them that thousands of people danced to this song.

Alex: So when you’re doing your solo stuff as Friend Dog … were those songs collected over a long period of time, or did you have a really fruitful creative swell for a few months?

Vinnie: I’m going to be releasing my first EP with that project in the next couple months here. The songs that are on that come from a pretty wide range. There’s a couple songs that I pretty much wrote within a couple months of recording. The first iteration of the song fit and made sense. And then there’s a couple songs on the EP that I wrote upwards of three years ago where I learned a new technique on the guitar, put the lyrics over that, and it made a lot of sense.

Alex: Yeah, I saw a post you made about the technique change. Was it Ryan that was working on that with you?

Vinnie: I was just gettin’ some guitar tips from Ryan. I always really admired the way he could play guitar. So as I’ve been trying to figure out how to sound better with it—being that playing guitar is kind of a necessity to a solo project—as I ws trying to pick up more guitar, I hit Ryan up and started picking his brain about what different styles would work the best. And also asked him how he does a couple things I really like seeing in his playing.

Alex: And you’d probably describe yourself as a musician that picks things up pretty quickly, I’d imagine?

Vinnie: Yeah, I’d say I’m a pretty quick learner, but it’s difficult for me to really master things.

Alex: Is that an attention thing? Or what? Jack of all trades, master of none…

Vinnie: I don’t know if it’s an attention thing! I’ll have to ask my therapist about that. [laughs heartily]. It’s partially an attention thing. For the guitar especially, I just haven’t been with it long enough. I know for the violin it was definitely an attention thing. Especially the kind of music I was playing with The Last Revel. It wasn’t the easiest to practice those parts without the condition of the other music around it. So I practiced a lot of things that didn’t feel very relevant to the music I was actually performing.

Alex: What are some of the topics or pieces of inspiration led to the songs on your new EP?

Vinnie: I think a big theme is coming to grips with impermanence. In a certain way, I guess, dealing with death. Whether that’s death of a loved one. Or death of a dream, or what have you. That can all come back to uncomfortableness of impermanence. That can kind of take more of a sassy tone in some of the songs. And it can take more of a graceful acceptance in others.

(My fiancée) Julia and I had a really crazy year, and we eventually moved back to Minnesota. We were living in my parents’ basement. We found a house we wanted to buy. Found a house we *could* buy. And a couple weeks out from closing, we were exposed to COVID. And to get away from my parents, we had to go live in my van for a second. Then we found a cabin to hole up in for about a week and a half. That’s where I wrote the tune “Remember to Breathe.” We were just waiting. Waiting in the woods, as you do when you’re waiting to see whether or not you get sick. That whole song was entirely a lighthearted approach to noticing that things never stay the same. Everything develops. And that’s OK. You can just take it one step at a time.

Alex: Well, did you get the house?

Vinnie: We did! We did get the house.

Alex: I’m glad that worked out. That’s an ugly process to go through, so I’m glad you came out the other side of it.

Vinnie: We’re really enjoying it. It’s a tiny place in the middle of Longfellow. There’s just enough space for us.

​You guys were in Portland for year? Longer?

Just under a year, actually.

Were you expecting to come back that soon?

We were *not.* We came back because we signed a lease on a place and the rental agency went out of business right away when COVID hit. Their schtick was that they’d give you reduced rent on the auspice that you would take care of their Airbnb on the property. We found a really nice house in the Foster-Powell neighborhood for dirt cheap. $1,000 a month. No, it was Portland cheap. So $1,300 or $1,400. So we moved back because right when COVID hit, they went out of business, and we weren’t able to rent that house. We had to move out in under a week. And all of the other apartments we were looking at were total slumlord pieces of trash. For north of $2,000 a month. Studios. One bedrooms. Some had missing windows and shit like that. Rampant mold everywhere. It was the worst. 

Overall, was Portland what you thought it was?

I really like Portland, still. I think it lost a little bit of its luster, based on how we were forced to exit. Also, if we were in a different part of our lives, it might’ve been something to overcome. But we were like, “Nope,” we’ve gotta go. Couldn’t really have roommates because of our dog. But I still really love Portland. I think it’s a unique place and it fosters a unique perspective on the world.

This is totally leftfield: One thing I learned about Portland—this is pretty tangential—is there’s tons and tons and tons and tons of homeless people who try to sleep anywhere at all, and tend to get displaced by police pretty regularly. But the amount of callous you have to build up to step over a sleeping homeless person to get into CVS and pick up your cough drops, or whatever … it was a pretty astounding thing that I’d never experienced. I’ve been around many homeless people. Impoverished people. Living among poor folk. But that was pretty eye-opening, especially to see the collective acceptance of that reality. 

People just kinda laugh at the post-apocalyptic nature of it. There doesn’t feel like there’s a need to do anything about it … and a lot of it is the lack of ability to provide mental health care for people who need it. But that’s another subject for another time.

It is, for sure. But I understand ... It’s not like Minneapolis doesn’t have pretty awful problems of its own …

Yup.

Speaking of, how settled do you guys feel now? Is there another big move on the horizon?

I don’t foresee moving anywhere else anytime soon. Maybe seasonally.

What, like Florida?

Like Guatemala. Or out to my brother’s farm (in upstate New York) for a summer or something.

Earlier, I mentioned the Max Graham benefit. Our guy Nick Spielman was a good friend of his. I wondered if you had anything you wanted to share about Max and the friendship you shared with him.

I first met Max when The Last Revel was the Bitterroot Band and we were playing music in Mankato. We’d all kinda gotten together at the same time down there. Kind Country and Max. Throughout the years, it’s always been consistent to come back, bump into him, and laugh at how crazy it is where we are and how crazy it is that we made it out of Mankato alive at all.

I guess that was really painful news. Really, really painful news to hear that he had passed away. I was always inspired by just how welcoming he always was. How authentic he was. I feel like it’s rare to see someone so authentic. He honestly wanted to share the moment with you. But we’re all in transition. And it’s just really a shame to see him go.

​Prinze George, "Centuries" — There was a time about 5 years ago where I found myself brushing shoulders with Bon Iver's brother, Nate, quite often. At the time, he was running a record label called Sounds Expensive, and Prinze George were one of his flagship acts. I remember going over to his house/recording studio/art gallery in NE Minneapolis one night and he played the video for their song "Wait Up," and the sound captivated me immediately. Since then, the band has been relatively quiet, but they are finally back with this new track "Centuries". Give this a listen to get lost in a placid soundscape of ethereal synths and guitar arpeggios. — Adam

​Megan Hamilton and Mae Simpson, "Victims & Demons" — What do you get when you combine hard-hitting EDM production with raw, provocative vocal soul and tie the two together with a symphony of smooth virtuosic violin licks? Well that's an oddly specific question, but I'll tell you: "Victims & Demons," the new single from renowned Minneapolis producer Megan Hamilton, featuring the unstoppable vocal power of local soul queen Mae Simpson and numerous tasty layers of violin courtesy of Jessica Borth.

The dream trio of femmes have whipped together a tune that invokes feelings of existential apathy while also creating an irresistible urge to dance, whether that means bopping your head, tapping your foot, or (in my case) involves some terrifically awkward full-body motions that look like I'm trying to climb an invisible ladder - ultimately, the mix of melancholy and danceability is supremely cathartic. Anyone who has seen Megan and Mae take the stage separately would guess that a collaboration between these two could be nothing but awesome, and they would be correct. I want a whole album. — Nick

​cleopatrick, "THE DRAKE" — Canadian rock-duo cleopatrick’s latest release, THE DRAKE, continues to ramp up the momentum they’ve built for themselves following their sneaky-successful 2018 EP the boys, which saw them touring Canada, the UK, and the US rock-festival scene up until the world came to screeching halt in March 2020. THE DRAKE, however, is a song best heard in the sweaty confines of a local basement show. Drummer Ian Frazier’s half-time, head-bashing drum beat powers guitarist/singer Luke Gruntz’s gritty guitar riffs and frantic lyrics about a night at The Drake Hotel in Toronto. As a longtime fan and having seem them in concert twice, the newest wave of rock music is here and deserves to be played loud. — Mike

Noname, "Rainforest" — The brutal irony of lower-class support for the billionaire class—the tendency to protect Senator X or CEO Y while carrying more water than a Georgia police chief—will one day fascinate the scholars who sort through the rubble of the United States of America. Chicago-born poet/rapper/activist Noname asks, "How you make excuses for billionaires / You broke on the bus?" while also touching on the displacement of spirituality via capitalism, a theme that also drives the forthcoming Flip Rushmore single "Gouda Bear." — Alex

​Walt Mink, "Brittle Little Life" and "Chowdertown" — An old co-worker and friend of mine (Hey Brit) spent his 20s in the 1990s with all the great music we know and love today and turned me onto Walt Mink, a band I had not previously heard of. They were a band from our hometown of Minneapolis playing frequently at the legendary local venues such as First Avenue/7th Street Entry and the Uptown Bar. After going through their discography of ripping guitar solos, well-thought-out, complex riffing, and insightful lyrics all done by John Kimbrough, I found these two songs that I’ve listened to ad-nauseam, but like in the good kind of way. — Dan

​Nirvana played on that stage while they were writing Nevermind. The Strokes played back-to-back gigs three days before releasing Is This It. Local legends The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, and Soul Asylum helped define an era of indie rock from within its walls, while Prince (who was already on a major label by 1980) even made a couple guest appearances at The Entry.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the most notable acts to play the 7th Street Entry stage (tell us who we're missing!), as well as a playlist with songs the artists played during their shows at The Entry.

(Note: There is no better record of First Avenue's history than Chris Riemenschneider's book First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom. You'll find it referenced a handful of times below.)

Numerous appearances — The iconic independent Minnesota hip-hop duo (and Rhymesayers label chieftains) actually recorded a song called "7th St. Entry" in 1997 that was belatedly released on their Headshots: Se7en collection in 2005. 

Numerous appearances — Per Chris Riemenschneider's book First Avenue, Babes' early shows "inspired an army of local women who were already in or about to start their own bands" in the late '80s and early '90s. Their own success helped keep First Avenue's reputation alive as Seattle became the center of the rock universe. Despite their stature, they would often return to the Entry, including a 1994 gig that housed an estimated 600 people (350 over cap), per sound engineer Randy Hawkins.

June 4, 2006 — Frontman Ben Bridwell met his wife, Elizabeth, when Band of Horses came to town for their first and only Entry show. The group graduated to the Fine Line upon their return a few months later.

Oct. 26, 1995 and Jan. 31, 1996 — Load-in is always a chore at the Entry, but it was especially challenging for Folds' trio, famous in the '90s for dragging a baby grand piano everywhere they went. In an interview with the Star Tribune many years later, Folds claimed it was "minus 40" degrees at their 1996 show, and they were forced to leave the piano in the street while they took warming breaks inside the 7th St. doors. The instrument's hammers were frozen "for about the first hour of the gig."

April 3, 2018 — Right on the cusp of super(duper)stardom, 16-year-old Billie Eilish sold out the Entry and blew away the critics in attendance. "Eilish is not just poised to become the next big name in pop music," wrote TwinCitiesMedia.net's Jessica Boldt, "but it’s clear she’s turning the whole thing on its head."

June 26, 1981 and ~July 1981 — The band made its famous lead-singer swap (from Dez Cadena to Henry Rollins) between these shows.

July 17, 2019 — Reviler was there to take some great photos at an "absolutely sold-out, sweltering" show in the dead of summer.

Feb. 24, 1993 — The offbeat group from L.A. arrived at the Entry less than two months before Capitol Records sent their smash hit "No Rain" to radio. In 1995, they returned to play the Mainroom just three weeks before singer Shannon Hoon died of a heroin overdose.

July 22, 1996 — Last year, Reddit user tc182 posted a photo from the gig. Twitter user Aaron Goodyear said the band was opening for Samiam and estimated there were "40-50 people" in attendance.

Feb. 18, 1995 — The Nirvana-aping, polarizing British band fronted by Gavin Rossdale (aka the former Mr. Gwen Stefani) was picking up tremendous steam with "Everything Zen" and "Little Things" by the time they played the Entry. Over the next year, they'd become one of the biggest bands in the world.

~June 1980 — The Talking Heads frontman joined local band The Wallets onstage for two songs, per Chris Riemenschneider's First Avenue.

Feb. 13, 2009 — While Taylor Goldsmith and Co. hailed from L.A., they quickly developed a huge fan base in Minneapolis-St. Paul (mostly thanks to The Current) and have returned numerous times. Their two-night stand at the Mainroom in 2013 is featured in the video for "Most People."

Oct. 14, 2000 — After a couple trips through the old Foxfire Lounge, Death Cab made its Entry debut on the back of We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. According to ConcertArchives.com user Gb1139, frontman Ben Gibbard—who also played bass for opener Pedro the Lion—was forced to leave the stage two songs into the Pedro set due to sickness.

Nov. 21, 2012 — Minneapolis was one of the first stops on Death Grips' heavily anticipated first world tour. Twin Cities Daily Planet labeled the show "intense" (surprise!) and took a bunch of photos.

March 17, 1996 — Deftones are one of the few national artists to play the Mainroom before playing the Entry. In fact, they tagged along as an opener at Target Center, too, one month before their headlining Entry gig.

April 8, 2016 — Fresh off the release of Imperial, the Florida rapper graced the Entry with his presence, and has since headlined the Mainroom twice.

Feb. 25, 1988 — Back before they added the "Jr.," Dinosaur headlined the Entry. But the most notable part of the gig was the opening band. Babes in Toyland were making their Entry debut, and there's a bootleg available here for those who are so inclined.

March 9, 1998 — The Murphys have played the Minneapolis-St. Paul market dozens of times, but their very first visit was to the Entry in '98. Original lead singer Mike McColgan left the band sometime that year to become a Boston firefighter; it's unclear if he accompanied them to this gig or not.

Nov. 27, 1994 

April 9, 2008 and July 20, 2008

June 11, 1989 — This was a hot one. Dischord.com user John Mulhouse recalled "sweat dripping down the walls" as D.C.'s finest worked the crowd into a frenzy.

April 28, 1991 — A year earlier, Billie Joe Armstrong had met his future wife, Adrienne, at a Minneapolis house show at 815 6th Street in Dinkytown. He and the band returned in '91 just before going to the studio to record Kerplunk!. Here's an archived interview and performance from that night.

October 8, 2006 and Feb. 10, 2007

Numerous appearances 

Oct. 14, 2018 — More than two decades after they cut their teeth at The Entry with Lifter Puller, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler returned for a doubleheader gig in the side room.

Numerous appearances — Forever intertwined with the Replacements as the two biggest Minneapolis rock bands of the '80s, Hüsker Dü recorded their pivotal album Land Speed Record live at the Entry on 1981. The total set featured 17 songs but lasted only 26 minutes, 35 seconds.

Feb. 6, 2006 — The Jonas Brothers are likely the only band to graduate from a supporting gig at The Entry (they got third billing behind The Veronicas and October Fall) to headlining Target Center on their next trip to Minnesota. Their first visit to the Cities came with zero fanfare. It was a 21-plus gig, and they were all 18 or younger at the time.

April 15, 2004 — In the midst of a years-long international tour to promote Hot Fuss (which wouldn't drop until two months later), the Killers stopped through Minneapolis in support of Stellastar. By September, "Somebody Told Me" was on the Billboard Hot 100. The Entry gig was one of their final American shows as an opening act.

Feb. 23, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013 — Before she jetted to L.A. to find superstardom (check), Lizzo made a handful of appearances at First Avenue, including her Entry debut as a solo artist in February 2013 (one of three openers for Aby Wolf). On New Year's Eve later that year, she hosted a party in the Entry headlined by Tickle Torture. Then, poof, she was multiplatinum. Something like that.

Numerous appearances — The Duluth duo of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker opened for Radiohead around the world on the Hail to the Thief tour, and they'd made famous friends at far-flung outlets like London's BBC Radio, but they were still, in the words of Chris Riemenschneider, a "a 7th Street Entry-level act in the early 2000s." That changed with a big boost from fledgling radio station The Current in 2005, and Low now enjoys cult status in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (and far beyond).

June 18, 2013 and June 23, 2014

July 12, 1984 and May 4, 1985 — Local musician Kevin Bowe attended the '84 show and gave the following anecdote to Chris Riemenschneider in the book First Avenue: "D. Boon fell down on his butt right in the middle of the song. But he kept right on playing and at the end of the song, Mike Watt reached his big arms around him and just pulled him right back up on his feet."

May 3, 1997 — While this was nearly a full year before In the Aeropane Over the Sea was released, the set included a few tracks from it, including "Oh Comely" to close the show. There's bootleg audio of this gig available on YouTube.

April 9, 1990 — This was Nirvana's third Minneapolis show (they'd played the Uptown Bar twice in 1989) and they were still a support act, this time for TAD. By most accounts, Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl were outshone by their contemporaries. But bigger things were coming. They had spent the week before this show in Madison, Wisc., working on Nevermind with Butch Vig. "Breed" and "In Bloom" made appearances during their Entry set, and 18 months later, they were the biggest band in the world.

Oct. 26, 1984 and July 11, 1985 — Prince was already a headlining act by the time he made his First Avenue debut in 1981 (in the Mainroom when the club was still known as "Sam's"). He only ever played two gigs in the Entry, and both of them were wildly unofficial. In '84, Sheila A headlined the Mainroom. Afterward, Prince snuck next door and borrowed instruments from a touring band. He and his rhythm section (Bobby Z and Mark Brown) stunned the crowd of less than 100 people with a blues jam. The next year, in '85, he pulled the same surprise after another Sheila A show in the Mainroom, this time bringing Sheila next door to play a short improvised set on drums and bass. 

Feb. 7, 1999 — Bootleg audio available on YouTube here.

Numerous appearances — Minnesota's most iconic rock band loved the Entry so much that, upon releasing their 1985 album Tim, they skipped the Mainroom and instead scheduled a five-night stand in the much smaller space. Per Bob Mehr's biography Trouble Boys, Paul Westerberg demanded that the club shine a Batman signal into the sky and provide free pop for the kids. "That was Paul's idea of driving a hard bargain," manager Peter Jesperson later told Mehr. 

Numerous appearances — One of Semisonic's Entry gigs circa 1994-1995 (under their original name, Pleasure) was sandwiched by offers from major labels. Just before they left for the show, the band got an offer from Elektra. Afterward, MCA threw their hat in the ring. They chose Elektra, but wound up getting dropped and moving to MCA within a year to complete their debut album The Great Divide. Drummer Jacob Slichter recounted the experience in his book So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star.

Nov. 1, 2001 

Aug. 12, 2006 and Nov. 19, 2006

Nov. 11, 1990 — Per Chris Riemenschneider's book First Avenue, venue sound engineer Randy Hawkins recalled that Billy Corgan was a "genuine douche," and that the Pumpkins made several odd requests on their tour rider (including a pint of Stoli vodka). Keep in mind, they weren't the headlining act. That was The Lemonheads. So a club employee crossed out everything and simply wrote: "Support act—drink/soda tickets."

Numerous appearances — These guys grew up with The Entry. When it first opened, they were high schoolers who attended countless shows and played under the name Loud Fast Rules. "I know this sounds kind of corny," frontman Dave Pirner later told Magnet, "but it really was a magical time. A band would play the Entry, and the same 20 people would show up. And they’d all be in bands, too. ... I got immersed in it and never looked back."

Oct. 6, 2001 — In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, New York's quintessential post-millennium band played a doubleheader at the Entry. Because their debut record, Is This It, wasn't scheduled for release until three days later, fans were unable to buy copies at the gig. This qualified as one of the most legendary moments in the Minneapolis scene's history.

June 12, 2000 — Jack and Meg White were going through a divorce when they arrived at the Entry. Local critics didn't think much of them. When they came back for a headlining Mainroom show in 2002, everything had changed.

Nov. 21, 1994 — Jeff Tweedy's previous group Uncle Tupelo was a mainstay at First Ave. After splitting with Jay Farrar (who formed Son Volt), Tweedy brought his new band to the Entry. And they were indeed new. This gig was only the second show of their first tour.

Alex: I figured we need to start with the bull penises. We saw you break out the new mic stand at Day Block a couple years ago. Was it brand new at that point?

Tim: I think so. I honestly can't remember when my boys bought that for me. Whether it was for my birthday, or whether it was for a holiday, but it was one of the first few times I'd gotten to use it. And it is my favorite thing of all time. It is like one of the coolest things I own. Because nobody else has it. And I feel like the more I show it off, the more more people will be like, yeah, I want a bull-penis mic stand. So, so far, I'm the only one in the world that I know of that has it. And I just think it’s so so so cool. ​

You guys are no strangers to trying different types of shows. I know you did the Green Eggs and Ham thing at the Nomad a long time ago. You started the Black Rock Matters project, which did really well. In 2021 or 2022, whenever we get live music back and rolling, do you have any new big ideas?

No! (Laughs.) I haven't thought about it. I haven't had a chance to sit down and think about new themes for shows. Cuz the only reason why I do those things is to get an audience. Like I said earlier, I'm from Georgia. I learned very quickly when I moved here that Minnesotans love a gimmick. They want some kind of reason to come out. You can throw a rock down the street and hit like 16 other bands. So you need to make yourself stand out in some kind of way. I don't want to perform for an empty bar. I want to make sure that venues understand that I'm working very hard in order to not only bring people in for our band, but also make sure that their liquor sales and their patronage is up and high. And that they want us back. 

(In the past) I'd only bring in five or 10 people. And normally they're like my friends and the girlfriends of the other band members. It wasn't worth the investment for the for the bar. So I do things in order to make sure that it's financially acceptable for that venue that I'm working with at that time. But right now, the only thing that I'm really focused on is finishing the album that we had to stop recording in March of 2020.

You shut down everything last March?

I am able to, like, revisit this now because it's been almost a year. Back in February, March of last year, we had 10 gigs lined up. Half of those gigs were, you know, very high-priority gigs. We were going to be performing battle of the bands with Twin Cities Pride, and and if we won, we would have been able to perform on the main stage at Pride as the headliners. We had Music in the Park booked. There were so many things that we were ready to perform and continue to build our fan base, and our album was scheduled to be finished by then. We would have been able to, you know, sell the album, promote the album, have it be everywhere. But when everything shut down, our producer didn't want us to continue recording. And that was understandable because we were also not wanting to do anything, we were just gonna follow all the temporary guidelines that were in place because there's a global pandemic and blah, blah, blah.

So we understood, and then April came around. Then May. And then it just kept coming and kicks into depression and you're just like, oh my gosh, this really sucks. But luckily now, there have been less restrictions, and there's been more extensive research and more concrete future plans for not only just Timisarocker, but also for the rest of the world. And now there's a vaccine. We are back in the studio finishing the record right now. I actually have a session at seven tonight (Tuesday). To record more more vocals. I think the only thing that's left to do is finish harmonies. Throw in ancillary instruments, so like, MIDI sounds and other things. Maybe throw in a few live performers if we can afford it for different instruments that we want to have in songs. Then mixing, mastering, pressing, copying, distributing, feels like we're on the homestretch. But this was the stressful part.

It's the longest homestretch of all time.

I know.

You've had a lot of time to think about titles and artwork and concepts ... Are those all squared away, ready to go?

The title of the album is going to be called Up Next. And the artwork is kind of sketched out. None of us are, you know, graphic designers or anything. But we luckily have an amazing scene here in the Twin Cities where we can find the help that we need for a very fair price. Because all of the songs flow into one another, and it's kind of a themed album, the title being Up Next, we wanted to kind of give it a behind-the-scenes-backstage-green-room style. So on the front cover, it'll look like I'm in a green room. There's that couch that's in every green room. Typical lamp you see in a green room. I'm basing this off of a few ... like Cabooze has a green room that has a cooler filled with beer. Another venue, called Part Wolf (né Nomad World Pub), I love their green room because you have to go downstairs in order to get there and their couch was just filled with stickers from good bands. That's what the artwork is gonna be based on.

You're kind of waiting in the wings. Up Next. Yeah. Very cool. I assume all the songs on the new album are written, but I saw you were you were tweeting about writing some new stuff yesterday.

You know, I write all the lyrics for the band. And I guess the way it's been described is deliberately confusing, but but still understandably, like relatable. We have a song that's going to be on the new record called "What Has He Got That I Don't Got." And if anybody were listened to that song, they could assume it was just a regular breakup song, but it's actually more detailed. It's actually about being jealous of what other musicians have that I don't. I'm not as you blessed to have all the equipment that that somebody else had at the time. I think I wrote that song a few years ago.

At the time, I was still living in my old house and I had a friend who just had all of the equipment in the world. He was able to just record whenever he wanted to. Publish all of his music. Have it mixed. Have it just be done immediately. And I'm like, well, I'm just as talented as you are. I was to a different friend about how my process is so different than than hers. I write my choruses first. Because I think the choruses of a song are what people remember first, and that's what gets stuck in their head. That's the main melody that people sing along to ...

I can take up to about three to four months to finish a song, because I'll debate myself over like, a single word. Like the word just, it will, like rack my brain for hours. And I'll be like, should I use that word here? What does it mean in this context? Last night before I went to bed, I was like, let me just quickly rewrite something. And then it turned into a whole 'nother thing. And I was up for about an hour writing a song that I'm never going to use, no one's ever going to hear it. It's just me making sure I'm still exercising my brain for future writing. ​
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