Exclusive Interview with 'THE THING WITH FEATHERS'

Three of Nashville’s favorite fools, David Welch (vocals), Alex Hendricks (lead guitar), and Chris Roussell (drums), make up the alt-rock, indie pop, and dance powerhouse The Thing With Feathers . The band developed a unique sound that is best exemplified in their May 2019 release, Figure It Out, which combines their appreciation for a number of musicians including Coldplay, the 1975, and The Strokes. The song’s catchy hook and pop-sensitive rock sound have helped it gain over a million Spotify streams since its release, making it a fan favorite at live performances and serving as an effective bridge to an international audience. The Feathers bring the kind of eccentric, electric energy capable of catapulting a garage band, initially built for taking over college towns, in front of both underground and mainstream audiences with the August 12 release of “Don’t Break My Heart,” the first single off of their sophomore EP, to be followed by the September 23 release of the titular track, “Waste My Revenge.” The group’s untrained, eccentric swagger and outstanding musicianship have produced a discography of equally introspective and straightforward songs, dedicated to booty-shakers all over the world.

First of five singles from their upcoming sophomore EP, “Don’t Break My Heart,” follows the addition of their music video for “Lights Down Low” to MTV’s Spankin’ New, a featured appearance at this year’s South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, and a tour in support of their debut EP that will go into the fall.

Its energy is matched by frank and resounding lyrics about an unstable relationship fuelled by insecurity from its male lead (“I know I’m solid for an evening, but I never seem to work this out / she said ‘it’s working now, just shut your mouth'”). The song’s guitar riff instantly reminds listeners of an all-time classic rock riff. To promote the album, the guys released a music video shot and edited by Hannah Hall, who also helmed their music videos for “Lights Down Low” and “Sundays in the South.” Additionally, they will be starting a tour of the South in August; dates can be found on their website. Check out the music video for “Don’t Break My Heart” and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how you got started?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS: We met while attending college in Nashville, Tennessee. Dave originally started the band, and it went through all the growing pains and lineup changes that a young band does. Eventually we all found each other, and we started cutting our teeth in Nashville’s DIY scene. Before the pandemic there was this huge underground community that would have shows in basements and warehouses all over town. It was a wild way to learn how to be a band, going from playing on a weeknight to a few of your friends to the last few we played where hundreds of people would cram into these tiny houses for shows. During one of our last house show sets, the main water line burst and the basement started to flood.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS: We all come from slightly different places. Chris grew up playing drums and taking lessons, Alex grew up taking lessons and attended music school for a bit and I took piano lessons as a child, then I taught myself how to play guitar when I was in high school. Although we all had lessons in some fashion, I would say that the band’s ethos comes from more of a self-taught place. In a sense that there are no rules and all of us approach our instruments in very inventive, non-traditional ways.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘THE THING WITH FEATHERS’?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS: We’re somewhat varied with our influences, every member has a distinctive taste, which is something I think is great to have. It’s hard to say back then though, I know we really were centered around the principle of a great overall melody with influence from bands like Coldplay, Kings of Leon, and Oasis, all while having a solid guitar arrangement (Death Cab For Cutie, The Strokes) and a danceable, uplifting beat (Daft Punk, Anderson .Paak). The name sort of found us. Upon saying yes to a gig we were forced to come up with a name, something that hadn’t even crossed our minds, so we went the route of the universal truths and landed on “The Thing With Feathers”, a phrase directly related to “Hope”. It resonated with us because music has always been our connection to something more, outside of ourselves. It gave us all a purpose and all we want to do is share the way it makes us feel with other people.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS: We’re very centered around melody, it’s the heartbeat of the song to us. We love writing songs that are catchy but when you listen to them further you hear a ton of other things you didn’t notice before; whether it be lyrics, a guitar part, or just a cool aspect of the production. Personally, it’s hard for me to say; I think we generally try to not pigeon-hole ourselves into anything too specific, but at heart I think we’d say we’re an Alternative/Indie Rock band with Pop leanings.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as INDIE?
**THE THING WITH FEATHERS**:
Individually, we’re all into a diverse array of bands and genres, which is really important to the ethos of a band because we all come from a different place. However, we all have common ground which is where we sort of jumped from when finding our sound. Alex and I really connect over our love for indie rock bands, especially bands that came out of New York in the early 2000s. Bands like The Strokes, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, and The National to name a few. The biggest thing for us was just playing together and writing all the time. Playing together has been the only true formula for us finding and evolving our sound. Our sound comes from communicating our own experiences to make something greater than the sum of its parts. To us, it’s what’s most thrilling about writing music because “our sound” is always going to grow with us so long as we keep doing it together.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative and entertainment?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS: I think music is a spiritual thing for everyone. It’s something bigger than us as individuals and it connects us. A song can mean so many different things to so many people and it’s beautiful that we get the opportunity to share ourselves and relate to others in that way. Make no mistake, we take our art very seriously and labor intensely to make sure that we are innovating and pushing boundaries with our sound. But at the end of the day, we write music because it makes us feel something with the intention that it makes our listeners feel something too. As far as using our music for political, cultural, or social means I hope that people use it in their life in any way they need it. And if it comes time where our band needs to stand up and say “F@%k the man”, we won’t have a problem with it, but our focus is more so on connecting with real people who appreciate what we do rather than an agenda.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS:

As of right now we’re happy, and we get a huge kick out of noticing even the slightest bit of growth, but we really do strive to have our music heard by as many people as possible in hopes it will connect with them too.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS:

We really like to keep it as open as possible with our writing process, we welcome any sort of idea to tinker with that any band member comes up with. A lot of the times we will have our ideas ready so we can jam them out in rehearsal and write as a live band, other times there will be full songs already planned out or demoed by one of us that we’ll try and attack. We only collaborate with outsiders if it makes sense, or if we think adding their presence to a song will bring out something interesting in it, other than that most creative decisions are handled by us.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS: Life. It can be beautiful, and it can be really hard. We turn to music because it is something to celebrate with when times are good and something to lean on when times are not so good.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

THE THING WITH FEATHERS: Playing shows and making a record are always the most rewarding. This is a crazy pipe dream we decided to chase, and we probably will never stop regardless of “success” and accolades. The joy is in the journey. It’s satisfying for us to finally sit down and listen to a record we poured our heart and soul into and it’s thrilling to see it affect people at shows. It’s an indescribable feeling watching something you lived through relate with other people. As we’ve finally been able to start touring after the pandemic, we’re starting to have more and more moments where it’s important for us to be present and take it in. But we are just having fun!