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Where are you from?
I'm from Suffern, NY. Home of Walt Weiss, 1988 American League Rookie of the Year. The band resides in two of New York's five boroughs (Manhattan and Brooklyn). Ryan is from Princeton, NJ. He also plays drums in RANA. Sean was born in Dartmouth, MA and Jack is from Arizona.
How long have you been a band and what have you been up to since you started?
We became a band four years ago when Ryan and I jumped on the "rock duo" bandwagon. We played mostly covers, but then thought it'd be interesting to write original material. So with our own songs came Jack, and then Sean. We made Slow Rewind, then we got a record deal and went on a couple of tours. Our moms saw us in Teen People. Other than that we've been working on new material and figuring out how to answer the "where did your band name come from?" question.
What artists would you say most influence your music?
Hmmm.... We all have our separate individual inspiration, though I think these records are on all of our "that record changed my life" list.
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Neil Young - Harvest, After the Gold Rush, Live Rust etc.
Bob Dylan - Desire, Bringing It All Back Home
Silver Jews - American Water
Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Tom Petty - Hard Promises, Wildflowers
Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime
Sebadoh - Bakesale
Bob Marley - Catch A Fire
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Your debut album, Slow Rewind, comes out on September 13th. How do you feel it portrays your music? Are you excited about it? What can the listener expect to hear?
I can't wait to have this record see the light of day. We've been building hype. It's our debut record, so it's very honest but also very ambitious. We hadn't yet learned how to mask our insecurities in production. It was our attempt at making a record like those we listed above. There are songs about love and loneliness, and New York, and other things that make rock songs "timeless." It's mostly a guitar rock record with flashes of kitchen sink type production. I think you'll really like it.
When will we see the band on tour and where will you be going?
We'll be out on a nationwide tour in October and November, taking us all around this wonderful country of ours.
By the way, who is Sam Champion?
It's myself [Noah Chernin] on guitar and vocals, Sean Sullivan on guitar and vocals, Ryan Thornton on drums and vocals, and Jack Dolgen on bass and vocals. Cheeky.
Sam Champion performs this Saturday August 6th at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City.
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