What is the music scene like in Chicago?
It’s awesome, and it’s an especially exciting time for the R&B/neo-soul/hip-hop corner of the scene. There are so many talented artists here that we’re big fans of: Noname, Jamila Woods, Saba, Smino, Kaina, Adam Ness,Dos Santos, Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, Sen Morimoto, Wyatt Waddell, just to name a few. It’s super inspiring to be able to go see their shows and just be in the same city as them. The energy is infectious.
It’s fun, and very diverse. There are so many opportunities right now to get a taste of up & coming local artists at free festivals across the city during the Summer.
The name is pretty great. Can you tell us where that came from? Was it one huge night (we call that a bender over here) or a culmination of a few?
Thanks. It was definitely a culmination of a few. When we first started playing together, all of our sessions generally took place at night, which is probably when we felt most creative. Nik had a sizeable shed in his backyard that was isolated, so we were able to go pretty late. We would usually take our time, with frequent breaks for feeding our appetite for snacks and greasy foods, which lended an influence to the music we were creating. The euphoria we experienced during those late night sessions is basically summed up in the band’s name.
Your music is smooth like some freshly shaved legs. Who are some of your influences that got you to this sound?
I’d say our biggest influences at the root of our sound would be Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, Earth Wind & Fire, Sly & The Family Stone and James Brown. In the last few years we’ve opened up our songwriting to inspiration from a wider variety of artists: Hiatus Kaiyote, Prince, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Burt Bacharach, The Isley Brothers. The album we’re working on will hopefully be a reflection of that.
You can only eat one food for the rest of your life?
Nik: Chicken and waffles
Ted: Vietnamese summer rolls with mad peanut sauce
Dan: Tacos
Your artworks are really beautiful and fit really well within your music’s aesthetic. Who are you getting to do these for you?
Thank you! The cover for our latest single, “Question”, is by an incredible artist in Los Angeles named Zack Rosebrugh who’s also working on the art for our new album. The “Honest Man” cover was made by Gabe using an old photo of Ted from middle school. Our friend Hao Do worked with Nik on the cover of Lazy Days, and our self-titled album features our original logo by our friend Jessica Day, with Nik adding the stars.
You’ve got an upcoming European tour which is exciting. All the shows are really great venues. Any big plans while you are in Europe outside of the shows?
We’ll have a day to explore in London. Definitely hoping to try out some local wine & cheese in Bordeaux. We’ll be sticking around for the entire weekend of North Sea Jazz Fest, so we’ll get to catch a lot of artists we’re huge fans of. To top things off we’ll be spending a little time in Amsterdam after.