Keeping things bouncy and light today, this band hail from a city which once hosted the Winter Olympics, and which plays host to a staggering number of festivals annually (according to Wikipedia, anyway). Hey, you try and write a dozen of these introductions without giving anything away about the bands…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Although each of us have come from different parts of the US, we all proudly claim Salt Lake City, UT as our home and the birthplace of Cinders.
How did you meet?
Long answer: Some of us met in high school while others met while living outside of state. One married into the band while another actually auditioned after messaging us on social media.
Short answer: Tinder.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We have officially been together for just over two years now. It is crazy how fast time flies. It feels like just a week ago it was only three of us in Jordan’s basement writing terrible acoustic songs. The songs have stayed the same but there are three more members now singing along.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Honestly, it comes from a horrible song written by a couple of the guys in high school. It was such a cool name for such a horrible song, so we felt it deserved a second chance. Now hopefully seven years from now we won’t be saying the same thing about our band “horrible but deserves a second chance.”
What are your influences?
We all love bands like Head and the Heart, Motion City Soundtrack, The Front Bottoms, and Grouplove. But we don’t necessarily sound exactly like any of them. But our experience also ranges from jazz, hardcore, acoustic, and marching band styles.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I think we have done a pretty good job at blending the very eclectic musical taste from each band member into something different yet familiar. Our music is very comfortable for people of all genres. Our favorite description of our music is “rowdy-acoustic-pop”.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
You mean aside from being really bad at talking to girls? Our songs tend to be lyrically sadder with a hopeful tone. A lot of our songs including our newest single “Tree House” are very personal and relatable in their writing. We express our feelings about wishing we were kids again when we felt we didn’t have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We are constantly jumping and yelling with the crowd. Montana is always running into the crowd and buddying up with them singing together! We are constantly smiling like idiots and sweating like crazy because for the hour on stage we don’t ever stop moving. The crowd is usually moving and yelling just as much as we are so it becomes an amazing experience and also the only time we feel happy to be yelling and getting yelled at.
We have played hundreds of shows but each one is more fun than the last! It is awesome to look back at our first few shows we played with a small crowd of dedicated fans and to think we had no idea what was going to be coming in the near future!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We played a pretty “artsy” show in Boise, ID a while back that we will never forget. There was an awesome crowd and a great stage and we were having a good night. But when we looked out in the crowd while we were playing, we saw that there was a naked girl standing on the side of the crowd being painted… After a confusing minute of wondering “what they were painting” we realized that we had forgotten to sing… Don’t go to shows naked. That is weird.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Adrian: Fender P Bass
Austin: Cannonball Vintage Series Tenor Saxophone / Nord Stage 3 / Yamaha Melodica
Brad: Gretsch Renown 3 Piece Kit With A Ludwig Snare, Complemented With Zildjian A’s and K’s
Chelsey: Cannonball Big Bell Stone Series Alto Saxophone
Jordan: Rosewood Taylor T5z Pro Acoustic/Electric Guitar
Montana: Tennessee Red Gretsch Electric Guitar
What are your plans for 2018?
We are getting ready for the release of our new single “Tree House”! It is our most upbeat song to date and we can’t wait for everyone to hear it and the direction that our new album will be taking in 2018! “Tree House” will be released in January. Make sure to follow us on Spotify so that you don’t miss any of the upcoming releases.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
If we could open for The Front Bottoms with our buddies from Michael Barrow & The Tourists, that would be incredible! It would be a pretty scattered show but definitely one to remember.
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