Interview: Dear Spring

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today? - 

My sister gifted me So Much For The Afterglow by Everclear and Third Eye Blind by Third Eye Blind and we used to dance around our house when our parents weren’t home. I think it just got under my skin and it was just a matter of time before I picked up a guitar. If I hadn’t gotten into music I think I would have gone all in on something else creative, like film or cuisine.

 What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity? 

I love cooking and playing tennis. Marty and I play tennis often. It was one of the things we really got into when the pandemic began because we could hang out safely and it was a fun way to get exercise and clear our heads. When we started Marty was just learning to play and I’d been playing since I was 6 years old. Now he competes in a recreational league and beats me almost every time.

 How long has your band been around?

Dear Spring started in 2014, but our first EP was done in 2015, which was really when we became a “real band.”

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

We’re based out of Washington DC. I think the amazing history of the punk scene is something that inspires us through the legendary venues and hallowed spaces throughout the city. So much amazing progressive music has come out of DC and I think that’s really influenced how we choose to tell our stories.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

It was literally the only thing we agreed on. It was a random demo name at the time, but it just felt right with our sound. 

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

One time we played this house show in college park MD and on the third song of our set, Jonah announced that it was going to be our last song. We were all a little confused but kept playing. Then on our fourth song he announced that it was going to be our last song. This went on for the rest of our set and somehow it just got funnier every time. 

Another time we played The Rock N Roll Hotel with In Your Memory to a crowd of over 250 people which was super memorable because we’d seen so many of our favorite bands play there and we were getting to see the room from their view playing our songs for the first time. 

 What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Our favorite venue is Pie Shop DC. It’s a great room, amazing staff, and you can order a slice of chocolate pecan pie with your IPA at the bar. Does it get better than that!? We would love to play The Black Cat in DC one day. That would be a dream come true for sure.

 If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Dream show (in no particular order):

Thrice

The Story So Far

Four Year String

Dear Spring

 What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

It’s not about the coolest riffs, or the catchiest hooks, or the heaviest tones, or the best lyric. It’s about making the best songs and meeting other people like you that live for this shit. These are your people. Find them. Love them. And never lose sight if your vision.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Learn ProTools and take singing lessons.

 Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

All of our songs are special to us in different ways. There’s an old single we released called “Hydrangea” which I wrote to process trauma from my mother’s 2 battles with cancer. She is alive and well today, but I internalized a lot at a young age which has taken me over a decade to process. I am still working on it.

 Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

I love playing Dumb Luck with the band because we get to go so hard during the final breakdown. It’s a lot of fun to get to cut loose and go crazy during our set in a way that I don’t always get to since I sing and play a lot of lead parts.

Fans often request Hydrangea and we used to play a Knuckle Puck cover that some fans and a few bands we’ve played with ask for every time. We don’t really play it anymore, but from time to time we’ll crack, ask each-other if we remember it, and make a game time decision.

 What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

All of us but Kam are audio engineers, so we pretty much all self produce our own demos. I’ll track an idea and send it to Kam. Often he’ll write some parts and send back a voice memo and then we’ll jam on it together at practice. Marty will also fully demo his own songs. They don’t really become Dear Spring songs until we play them in a room together. That usually happens at the studio in DC we go to called Ivakota which is run by our friend Ben Green from Fairweather. Then when we feel the songs are done, we go up to The Gradwell House in NJ to work with Nik Bruzzese where he shows us how not done the songs are and we finish them. I think we’re all inspired by different things but our music usually speaks to the different challenges we face in life as humans.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

It’s important to feel things and connect with other people who feel them. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be upset or angry. It’s also okay to be really happy. What’s important is being authentic and truly being yourself. Not who someone else wants you to be or what other people think is popular. Live your truth.

 Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Yes we do, often creative. But the band is a democracy and we pride ourselves on how well we communicate with each other. We are a group of super sensitive dudes with deep feelings and we don’t hold things back. We have honest conversations and we always move forward because we are genuinely all friends and have so much love for each other. It’s not how everyone does it, but it works for us.

 What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

Our debut EP on Open Your Ears Records, “Moments”, drops on June 3rd. It would mean the world to us if everyone gave it a listen and maybe it’ll make you feel something too.