A song that made you want to make music?
RYAN GREEN: “Buttercup” by Hippo Campus
JARETT LEWIS: Recently, “Way of the Triune God” from Tyler Childers‘ new record!
RYAN SULKEN: “Punk Rawk Show” by MXPX
DEVON TURNER: The early twenty one pilots stuff is what really got me into writing. “Addict with a Pen” was one of my favorites.
WALKER ATKINSON: “Going Away to College” by Blink 182
Best rider you have had?
RYAN G: Local hot sauce.
JARETT: It wasn’t on our rider, but there was one time in Denver the venue gave us Voodoo donuts & Insomnia cookies after our set, so that was awesome.
RYAN S: Local beer.
DEVON: Any time there’s beer and snacks, I’m good to go!
WALKER: We got a nice bottle of bourbon one time on a small tour. That was pretty cool.
Craziest moment in the band?
RYAN G: For me, it was having my favorite vocalist sing on one of our songs (Ian Metzger featuring on It’s Gettin’ Better – from Heatwave).
JARETT: We’ve had a few crazy moments over the years, but having our van broken into our first time in LA was the absolute worst.
RYAN S: We left our photographer at a rest stop with no phone once… sorry Brandon!
DEVON: My first time performing with HARBOUR, my pedalboard decided to take a nap at the beginning of the set. Nothing worked. That was a pretty crazy experience for me.
WALKER: Playing a sold out Chicago show on the first night of a tour was pretty insane.
Deepest lyric one of your songs features?
RYAN G: Maybe not the “deepest”, but “watch your gut, the music doesn’t matter” from an unreleased song off of our upcoming album is a fairly poignant lyric about the climate of the music industry at the moment.
JARETT: I love the line “eternity with you still would never be enough” from “It’s Gettin’ Better” (off of Heatwave).
DEVON: All the lyrics to “Who I’ve Become” (from the self titled LP) are pretty deep, and that’s one of my favorite songs of ours.
WALKER: “I never said that this would be easy.”
Easiest song you wrote?
RYAN G: Sleepyhead
JARETT: The easiest a song has ever come together in the writing process is probably an unreleased song called “Open Season“. Ryan (Green) had a lot of ideas already developed, so it only took a few times of us getting together and adding our own finishing touches before it was completed.
RYAN S: Waiting on the Weekend
DEVON: Sleepyhead came together pretty quickly, from what I can remember.
WALKER: I seem to remember “I Can’t Stand It” from our upcoming album coming together very, very fast.
Favourite song in your set?
RYAN G: Daddy (unreleased)
JARETT: My favorite song in our current set is called “Easy” (from Thoughts On Letting Go), or a song called “What I’m Looking For” (from HARBOUR‘s self titled LP).
RYAN S: An unreleased song called “Daddy“
DEVON: What I’m Looking For
WALKER: Easy!
Guest you’d most like to feature on your record?
RYAN G: Nathan Stocker (of Hippo Campus, Brotherkenzie, and Baby Boys)
JARETT: I would love to have Briston Maroney co-write and feature on a track with us! It would be a dream for our whole band.
RYAN S: Jason Butler (of Letlive and Fever 333)
DEVON: Andy Hull (of Manchester Orchestra and Bad Books) would be awesome.
WALKER: Lindsey Lomis
Hardest thing about being in a band?
RYAN G: Probably relationship sacrifices. You have to be 100% invested in order to make this lifestyle work. You miss weddings, birthdays, holidays, etc., and it’s difficult to be away from loved ones all the time. Very rewarding, nonetheless, but you definitely have to make some tough decisions in how you’re spending your time.
JARETT: Touring can be rough at times (especially playing shows for really small crowds in some cities), but it makes it worth it when we get to return to our favorite cities on the road and reconnect with those fans. There are some really great crowds.
RYAN S: Putting “reality” on hold while we chase our dreams. A lot of sacrifices are made in this lifestyle.
DEVON: Trying to find pockets of alone time on the road! These boys are my best friends, but I’m definitely a “recharge in solitude” kind of guy, so I have to seek those moments out intentionally.
WALKER: Being away from loved ones. It’s tough coming home to all the shit you missed being gone and having to play catch up.
Interesting fact about one of your members?
RYAN G: Ryan Sulken (drums) is a triplet.
JARETT: I’m actually in 3 different bands with 3 of my other band members; we all play several other instruments in our other bands as well.
RYAN S: I’m a triplet!
DEVON: Jarett and I live together! And let me tell you, no one makes better mac and cheese than Jarett!
WALKER: Our singer always has a bottle opener around his neck. Just in case of emergencies.
Jokes you have in the band?
RYAN G: We have so many stupid little bits that we drive into the ground. It gets to the point where we don’t really know where the bit ends and reality begins, haha.
JARETT: The jokes never end with this band, haha. But the most common bit is just a steady stream of quotes from I Think You Should Leave.
RYAN S: Lol, we literally make a joke about anything and everything. We’re clowns.
DEVON: We have so many! A lot of I Think You Should Leave references.
WALKER: Our guitar player Jarett is a few years younger than the rest of the band, so we always joke about him being 10 years old. Likewise, Ryan Green is older than the rest of us, so we call him grandpa.
Key to writing a song?
RYAN G: Make it feel good. If it doesn’t feel good while you’re writing it – or you’re forcing it – it’s probably shit. You should be having fun writing it.
JARETT: Hard to say what the key is, but for us, we always focus on writing catchy choruses that people would love to sing along with.
RYAN S: Give it to Ryan Green, haha. But I’d say the bassline.
DEVON: I’m still trying to figure this out myself, but I think finding a way to quiet your critical mind and just go for it is a good start.
WALKER: Honesty.
Longest distance you’ve travelled to play a show?
RYAN G: I mean, we travel very far on tour, but the furthest we’ve ever traveled for just one show is probably New York City for CMJ Music Marathon (~ 600+ miles and 10.5 hours of driving)
JARETT: We once traveled from New Orleans to Phoenix on tour. We’ve also done the drive from Indianapolis to Los Angeles.
RYAN S: Cincinnati to Minneapolis for a 15 minute audition.
DEVON: Seattle, I believe.
WALKER: Los Angeles from Cincy!
Most inspiring musician you’ve experienced?
RYAN G: Maybe Cage The Elephant. The live show was just so next level.
JARETT: Lately I would say Houndmouth has been the most inspiring live act I’ve seen.
RYAN S: Manchester Orchestra
DEVON: We’ve been on two tours with a band called America Part Two, and watching those guys every night was super inspiring.
WALKER: A band called America Part Two
New band you’d recommend?
RYAN G: America Part Two
JARETT: I’m a massive fan of Djo, Joe Keery‘s solo project, and he has a new record out right now.
RYAN S: Blink-182, lol. I really don’t listen to new music. I suck.
DEVON: I would definitely check out America Part Two! If you can catch them on the road sometime, you won’t regret it. Incredible live show.
WALKER: AMERICA PART TWO
Opening for this band would be ideal?
RYAN G: Hippo Campus
JARETT: Opening for Kings of Leon or John Mayer would be a dream of mine.
RYAN S: Manchester Orchestra
DEVON: The 1975. Someone make it happen!
WALKER: Coin!
Place you’d most like to tour?
RYAN G: Europe
JARETT: I would love to tour through Europe at some point.
RYAN S: Leeds
DEVON: I’ve never been to Europe, so I would love a European tour!
WALKER: Europe
Quote that you’d like to pass on to our readers?
RYAN G: Live, Laugh, Love.
JARETT: “When life gives you lemons, just say fuck the lemons and bail.” – Paul Rudd in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
RYAN S: “Life’s a garden…dig it.” – Joe Dirt
DEVON: I know this isn’t exactly a quote….but for anyone interested in creative work, I’d really recommend The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
WALKER: “You can’t skip lunch.”
Reason for the title of your forthcoming release?
RYAN G: A lot of the album was written during the time of the pandemic and the uncertainty of it all. So, “To Chase My Dreams, Or To Just Lie Down?” felt fitting.
JARETT: It is sort of a summary of our feelings through the Covid shutdown; deciding whether to keep pushing or give it all up.
DEVON: The title of the album means a lot of different things to me. I think we all struggle with having dreams or goals, but sometimes lacking the ability or desire to act on them.
WALKER: It feels like we are at that point where we are constantly deciding if we’re all in this for the long haul or not. We have all been reflecting about how much this lifestyle affects our normal day to day functioning, as well as anyone close to us.
See us live at?
RYAN G: On tour with Wingtip and Lisa Heller in a few weeks.
JARETT: Definitely see us at the Troubadour – iconic venue in LA.
RYAN S: A town near you! (because we are about to hit the road hard next year)
DEVON T: We will be on tour from Nov 30th to Dec 18th – you can find all the info on our social media accounts and website.
WALKER: Upcoming at a city near you! We have lots of touring planned for next year.
The old days of music were better than the current, do you agree?
RYAN G: Yes and no. Although I think it’s over-saturated these days, artists finally have the ability to be a lot more creative and groundbreaking with the technology we have now.
JARETT: I agree to a certain extent, but I think that doesn’t mean there aren’t incredible new artists in today’s world! The scene has just drastically evolved, and Tik Tok has definitely changed how bands have to promote themselves.
RYAN S: Absolutely.
DEVON: I think I go back and forth with this argument. But at the end of the day, both have their assets. I love the organic sound of old records, but I also love the high production value of modern music.
WALKER: Yes and no. There are lots of advantages to modern technology and its effects on the industry, but at the same time I feel like each advantage has an equal counterpart to make the argument against progress.
Unusual merchandise?
RYAN G: We’ve got bandanas. Don’t see that a lot, I guess.
JARETT: We’ve had bottle openers and beer koozies at various points.
RYAN S: Not really unusual, but I like our new patch hats we’ve been selling recently.
DEVON: We used to have bottle openers that I thought were really cool. I’d love to bring those back sometime.
WALKER: We had bottle openers and lighters one time!
Variations you’d like to do on one of your songs?
RYAN G: I just want to jam more in live settings!
JARETT: I would love to do acoustic versions of several of our songs – specifically “Thoughts On Letting Go” and “Cardinal“.
RYAN S: I’d love to re-release a few songs off of our first, self-titled album.
DEVON: An acoustic version of “Judy You Hung The Moon” would be fun!
WALKER: I’d love to re-track live recordings of some of the older songs to showcase the natural development we’ve added to them.
What do your fans mean to you?
RYAN G: As cliché as it sounds, the fans quite literally mean everything. Without them, there is no touring and we don’t get to do this for a living.
JARETT: Seeing how many fans we have out on the west coast changed my life. It was so special to experience.
RYAN S: Literally everything. If we didn’t have you, we wouldn’t exist.
DEVON: Having folks singing our songs with us is the best feeling, and that’s what makes it all worth it.
WALKER: They keep the machine driving and the inspiration flowing, and we couldn’t be anything even remotely close to what we are as a unit without the support of our fans.
X-rays or any treatments needed for band injuries?
RYAN G: Nothing a little Icy Hot can’t fix!
JARETT: Somehow we’ve never had any terribly serious injuries, but Walker hurt himself pretty badly on our last tour and should probably still get an x-ray, haha.
RYAN S: Luckily we’ve all been healthy. Not band related, but I had to get surgery because I ruptured my eardrum!
DEVON: I can’t recall any. I think we’ve all done a pretty good job taking care of ourselves on the road.
WALKER: I severely pulled a pectoral muscle on our last tour and probably should have gone to the hospital…oh well!
You’re late for a show, whose fault is it?
RYAN G: Probably Jarett jumping in the shower 5 minutes before we have to check out of the hotel, haha.
JARETT: I think we’ve all had our fair share of causing us to be late at this point.
RYAN S: I’m not answering this question…don’t want any band drama…but it’s Jarett. Lol
DEVON: I think unfortunately we all have the capacity to be late from time to time…we sometimes call it “Harbour time”.
WALKER: Could be any one of our faults. Probably Jarett, though. Definitely not mine 😉
Zoo animal that best describes the personality of your band?
RYAN G: Probably whichever one drinks the most. Elephant, maybe??
JARETT: Whatever the most hyper and chaotic animal in the zoo is, haha.
RYAN S: Llama
DEVON: What animal is chaotic? That one.
WALKER: Chimpanzee!