Fiona Hendrickson: First, how did you each get into music and then how did you each get into the band?

Caroline Egan: I will start… I began playing the drums when I was like, seven, and my dad got me this drum kit, but then they, like, fucked up and they sent him two. And then he was like, “Yo, what if we gave you a double bass drum?” But then we didn’t. But I’ve always kind of wished that someday I would have a double base drum. I actually don’t know how I got in the band. Me and Celeste live in the same dorm and we were walking one day and she was like, “Yo, you play drums?” and I was like, “Yes I play drums.” And yeah, now I’m here.

Celeste Kronstedt: I got into music as a young child. I have always loved singing and loved being loud, and I was so good that in fifth grade, I was the star of the Christmas show and I had to wear a big cardboard tree with blue lights. Since then, I’ve been doing choir and singing and theatre for like 10 years.

Hendrickson: But you also play guitar?

Kronstedt: Oh, that’s true! I got my guitar, probably three years ago, but I didn’t start playing it until last August when I wanted to be like, okay, I have like 60 songs written and I want to play for other people. Then I was like, maybe I should just start a band because I really wanted to do that in high school and it never came to fruition. So, now I’m here and I have my band and life is so awesome.

Ben Ferguson: Hello I am Ben. I am a freshman [now a sophomore] in college, my favorite flavor of ice cream is….

Liam Halloran: (Whispers to Ben) What’s your favorite ice cream?

Ferguson: I forgot.

Kronstedt: You like rocky road.

Ferguson: I do like that. I like rocky road. I like peanut butter flavored things.

Caroline Egan: What are you talking about?

Ferguson: This is my intro. I got into music when I was a very young child, and my parents made me play piano, and I really did not like the piano. No offence to you (points to Liam).

Halloran: Fuck you.

Ferguson: I like it now. I did not like it when I was a wee jit because I was a terrible person.

Halloran: You were a terrible person when you were a wee jit?

Ferguson: I was a very underdeveloped child. But when I saw my dad play guitar every day I was like, “This shit’s tough as fuck.” My dad would play guitar for me and my mom, and he would play mostly Dave Matthews… but it was very nostalgic for me. Guitar got ingrained in my brain since I was a very, very small, wee child, and I have loved it ever since. I quit piano because I was very sad I had to keep doing it, and I started guitar when I was like 11. I got my first guitar for $90 from Brass Bell.

Kronstedt: From Bayshore?

Ferguson: From Bayshore. Brass Bell.

Kronstedt: I love Brass Bell. Shoutout Whitefish Bay.

Ferguson: Shoutout Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. But then I joined the band because Celeste knows a guy named Ryan. Celeste was looking for a guitarist for her band, and Ryan couldn’t do it. So Ryan told my friend Ned who was like, “I know a guitarist.” Then [Celeste and I] met at a Music Production club.

Kronstedt: We are not in that anymore.

Ferguson: We went to one meeting and met some interesting people. We were never actually in it. It was kind of a scary meeting, I didn’t know anybody there. But Celeste and I met there. And the rest is history.

Halloran: My name is Liam, I’m a freshman [now a sophomore] in college. I go to the University of Madison, I am in theCollege of Letters & Science. , and I’m studying international studies, Chinese, and I’m thinking of studying economics, I’m unsure. When I was a wee jitt, my brother was playing piano, and he would be really good and I was like fuck. I want to do that too. And then I started lessons. I have played piano for a while now, and I was classically trained so I do classical things. And when I was a junior, I was like, maybe that’s not the move anymore. So then I played Jazz. And then after that I was like, what if I sang? So then I tried that. And then in college I came here and was like, I like music. I wonder if anyone else likes music here? And I thought to myself, “How do I make this happen?” And I’m standing on the rooftop of the Chinese Barbecue and I see Celeste, and she goes, “Hey bro. I play things.” And I was like, “Yo, Band?” and we were like, “Yeah.” And that day we walked back to the dorms and we jammed. And I’m like, “Let’s make a freaking band.” Well, I didn’t say that. Celeste Lowkey did.

Sojourner Croom: I’m Sojourner. People also call me SJ. I didn’t start playing instruments until a lot later, but I think I got into music very young. My parents played instruments. My dad is like a music freak, he plays like 7 instruments. One of his things was that all of his kids had to play music. I did not want to play music. So, my mom got me really into theater. I really love musical theatre. I am a dance major, so I dance. So I had a lot of passion for music things that aren’t necessarily music. I got to 4th grade and at my school, we had two after school programs and one was that you could be in a rock band.

Hendrickson: Classic after school activity.

Kronstedt: Yeah, I was playing with legos and, like, eating my own hair.

Croom: So,I joined this rock band program for like 3 years. I learned a bit of guitar, a little bit of drums, and a little bit of bass. And I sang. So at my school, instead of doing band, choir, and orchestra, we had a rock band. And I decided I wanted to play bass. So I’ve been playing for 6 years now. I didn’t even know that we had a rock music scene until this semester because I was too far into the dance scene. And then, one of my friends knows Celeste and got in touch with her!

Kronstedt: Guys we made it through one question. And it’s been 12 minutes.

Hendrickson: No, it’s okay. We persist.

Egan: Give me like one second to talk about these cookies. Holy shit. I just learned what a Whoopi Pie is. Oh my god. It’s like a cookie, but then there’s cream. It’s just really good. And if anyone reads this and hasn’t seen or eaten a Whoopi pie, get your hands on one.

Hendrickson: I was asked specifically by a fan to ask this question, because they have said you guys don’t know how to answer it. So I’m quizzing you again for this interview. What are the inspirations behind the sound of your band? Who do you pull the most from? What sound are you guys trying to go for?

Egan: I can answer the influence one. I would say our band doesn’t have an influence. We all have individual influences, and then we kind of play that style. And that merges into something that sometimes resembles indie rock. But, you know, sometimes it goes all over the place.

Hendrickson: So what is your influence?

Egan: I mean, I try to do a U2 style, I like him. But I also like heavy metal jazz. I try to be creative.

Kronstedt: As Caroline said, very individualistic and then that all comes together. I don’t think any of us came into this band being like, “Oh, we want to do this.” It was very much like, let’s do something fun and upbeat. Nothing too lackadaisical. Individually, lyricism is very important to me. I really like artists like Adrinne Lenker and Beabadoobee. I’ve also been into like, 90s, 2000s, white boy garage band phase for a hot minute now. I think it really comes together as comprehensive artists.

Ferguson: If anyone on this article has listened to Refrigerator, which is a real band, look them up. Their mascot is the Moai. They’re a big inspiration for me at this moment.

Croom: That was a good album.

Ferguson: SJ knows ball. Does anyone know Mexican Slum Rats? That’s another good artist I really like. Also, math rock bands, like Floral and Toe are a big influence. I really like John Mayer. Dave Matthews is a big influence, love Dave. Midwest Emo bands like Breathing Techniques, Holidays in the United States, Origami Angel.

Halloran: D’Angelo is pretty great. Lauryn Hill is great. I like rap a lot, so that’s where I get a lot of rhythmic influences from. Classical too, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, they were like the Kendrick and Drake of the 1700s romantic and classical era. I would say I pull most of my sound for JID, but I guess I don’t really get my sound from that because I’m a white boy and I don’t really rap.

Croom: I listen to a lot of music in general, but if i were to pick up a couple artists that I draw from a lot I would pick Måneskin, and the Blue Octavo. They’re super cool. I also, If I do write, I just kind of write what I’m feeling. So you know, from the heart type shit.

Hendrickson: Lightning round, what’s everyone’s favorite show that they played so far?

Egan: Genuinely mine is based on where we have the least technical difficulties.

Croom: Yeah, highkey, where I messed up the least amount.

Kronstedt: I’m thinking about crowd dynamics.

Ferguson: I’m thinking about vibes.

Kronstedt: Can we all say our least favorite show on three? One, Two, Three…

Everyone: Rockford, Illinois.

Egan: We love everyone in Rockford, we really appreciate you. Our only beef is just with the town of Rockford and that it’s kind of far and annoying to transport. We had technical difficulties the whole show. My favorite show? Signal.

Kronstedt: Signal.

Ferguson: Signal.

Croom: Signal.

Hendrickson: Another quick one. What is everyone’s favorite song that you guys wrote?

Egan: No One Else.

Kronstedt: Yours.

Ferguson: The one we are currently writing right now. It doesn’t have a name, but I like it a lot.

Kronstedt: I like that one too.

Halloran: The bossa nova one is underrated.

Croom: No One Else, but Yours is a close second..

Hendrickson: What are the goals of this band or something you’re looking forward to?

Egan: I want to work on defining our sound.

Kronstedt: I’m looking forward to going on tour, because that was the goal for winter break and I hope we’re there. And if we are not there, I hope we get to play a bunch of shows in Milwaukee too. Also to have music out.

Ferguson: I want to conquer the world, and play with Drake.

Halloran: I’m excited to cover all of our songs in Chinese. Also freestyle and play more Drake songs.

Croom: I’m excited to write new music like No One Else because if you haven’t heard it, it’s rad and it’s cool and it’s ugly. We need to write more like it.

Halloran: I also agree with that.

Egan: I’m excited for a double bass drum, and then all of our songs will be more intense in every way.

Hendrickson: How does creating a new song look for you guys? Is there a method?

Egan: I feel like Celeste comes in with a song, Ben takes the guitar part, then I lay down drums. Then we build it from that.

Kronstedt: When I started the band, I had and still have like 60 songs written that we have not gone through. And I would just say, “Hey, here’s a song, diddle with it.” Then we build upon it. Recently though I just have unfinished lyrics and then I just apply them to whatever we are working on. Then someone will do something and we all like it. Then we record so we remember it. It’s structured chaos is how I would define it.

Hendrickson: Why is the band named what it is? Is there any significance?

Kronstedt: I came up with this in the college library. Shoutout Helen C. White. Originally it was Blue Velvet but that’s a movie.

Egan: We thought of Blue Velvet Armrest.

Ferguson: I’m still advocating for that actually, I changed my mind. I want it now.

Kronstedt: Yeah, but we switched it and we like Velvet Blue better.

Hendrickson: To end our interview, is there anything you guys want to talk about or say?

Halloran: 你好，同学们。 这是李安呐。 我要。 讲到一下我们的乐队。 我们有。 太，嗯，漂亮的音乐，我觉得，我觉得，呃。 每一个在乐队的人都很棒，他们。 很顺利的。
(Translated from Chinese)
Hello, students. This is Liam. I’d like to talk a bit about our band. We have… well, beautiful music, I think—I think everyone in the band is fantastic; things are going very smoothly.