On The Road With Earther

Raleigh band Earther will be performing at Legends Nightclub in Raleigh on September 7th as part of the the Hopscotch Music Festival Day Party Series. But we got to them first and they sat down with us and talked about life on the road.

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
If we had to sum it up in one sentence, we'd probably call ourselves alternative rock, but there's a lot of other influences we all pull from to try and bring something new to the table. People have compared us to Jimmy Eat World, Balance and Composure, and Taking Back Sunday. We're all pretty into post rock/shoegaze-y stuff, so we like to create an atmosphere that evolves and shifts throughout our set. There's definitely some poppier songs that people can bob their heads and dance to, but there's also a couple songs/pieces in our set that sound more like the soundtrack to a really intense movie. Somebody compared us to a doom metal band one time; we're not totally sure how they came to that conclusion, but we thought that was kinda funny/cool. We just like having fun with what we're playing, and playing it as loud as we possibly can. We'd say there's something there for everyone to enjoy!

What's the first concert you attended?
Joel: The first show I remember going to was this local benefit show for the earthquakes in Japan that our high school put on; fittingly enough, called Jam for Japan.
Henry: I think the first show I ever went to was one of those Monster Energy Uproar festivals back in '09. Avenged Sevenfold was one of the headliners; I was really into them back then and still remember that as being one of the most hyped I've ever been to go to a show.
Dan: Van Halen when I was 10. One of the loudest concerts I've ever been to. First time I smelled weed.

What's the strangest gig you've played?
Henry: We book and play a lot of house shows out of the place we live, and I'd say a lot of the weirder/more memorable shows have been there. Last year we did a Friday the 13th/Halloween themed show and it ended up going completely wild - kids were climbing trees in our yard, dancing like crazy, just going nuts - it blew up into a full-on rager that went until about 1 or 2 am.

What's the craziest thing a fan has done at one of your shows?
Henry: There's definitely been a lot of wild things kids have done at the house shows, but the one that stands out most is this one time we were playing and forgot to get ourselves water. Joel was asking around for a bottle of water, and one of the kids handed us one while trying real hard not to giggle. Without really thinking about it a couple of us took huge gulps out of it, only to realize it was straight tequila. Not even the good stuff, either; just whatever bottom-shelf brand college kids can afford. There was also one time I was playing a show with an old band of mine, and I remember this one drunk dude in the crowd was convinced I was John Mayer. In between all our songs he'd either scream "John Mayer, yeah!", or ask me to "play another solo, John!" Asked me for my autograph about 30 times after our set was over, and eventually I handed him a scrap of paper signed "Not John Mayer".

What's the first thing you look for when you hit a new town?
Dan: Fresh air and anywhere that isn't the inside of the van.
Joel: Dan and Henry are both hopelessly addicted to their Juuls, so probably somewhere to buy pods.
Henry: Shut up, Joel. I always try to look for a good local coffee shop or some hole in the wall place to grab a quick bite.

How do you spend your days on the road?
Henry: I'm usually the one who drives, so I'm mostly doing that. Otherwise, I'm either catching up on emails or trying to get some reading in.
Dan: Sweating, mostly. We don't have A/C in our van, so that's always fun.
Joel: Listening to either really good music or really bad music. Usually the second one.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Joel: Drink a PBR way too fast, hit the bathroom, re-hydrate, mess up my amp dials, hit the bathroom again.
Henry: I like cleaning off my guitar, making sure everything's playing/hitting the way it's supposed to, and then getting a good stretch in - last thing I wanna deal with is going too hard and pulling my back out or something stupid like that.
Dan: I always take off my shoes before a set, something about it is more comfortable for me. It's been a habit of mine since I started drumming when I was 13 or 14.

What's some advice you'd give to a band embarking on its first tour?
Dan: Bring water, bring a mobile hotspot, make sure your transportation has working A/C.
Joel: Don't not have heat or A/C! Give each show everything you've got, play like you mean it regardless of how many people show up.
Henry: Don't ever wait until you're "ready." If you wait for that you'll never go on a single tour, and you'll never take any of the risks you have to take to even dream of making it. And I guess make sure your van has A/C.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five acts do you choose and what song do you all perform together for the final jam?
We're gonna go with Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Stevie Wonder, and whoever sang the intro part in The Lion King. Our final jam will be the bubble bowl song from Spongebob.

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