INTERVIEW: Telehope — Music Musings & Such

INTERVIEW:

Telehope

___________

THE guys of Telehope…

have been telling me about their new album, Hello to the Now. I ask whether they have standout cuts from the record and what sort of themes influenced the music; when they are got together and started making music; what the music scene is like in Ohio – they give the names of new artists worth following.

I ask the guys whether they have any dates coming up and what their favourite memories (from their career) are; the sort of music they grew up listening to; what advice they would give artists emerging – they tell me whether any U.K. shows are a possibility.

____________

Hi, guys. How are you? How has your week been?

We’ve been working nonstop on our live show/visual production for our album release show in Cincy on 8/10, so it’s been insanely busy! We’re pumped, though, that the album is out and people are streaming Hello to the Now!

For those new to your music; can you introduce yourselves, please?

Mark Brad is our professional whistler; Adolph Goetz is the knife-juggler; Nate Trammel hits things and Ben just shakes a tambourine! (Really, though; Mark is the singer; Adolph is our guitarist; Nate is our drummer and Ben is the keyboardist).

How did Telehope find one another?

Ben: I was at a Walmart Supercenter before Easter of 2014 and mistakenly put Adolph in my cart thinking he was a giant chocolate bunny. When he hopped away, I knew I’d made a dreadful mistake.

The band has been through a lot of reforming over the past few years but Ben and Adolph have been friends for close to ten years! Mark and Nate are distant cousins so they probably met at an awkward family-reunion backyard-B.B.Q.

Do you remember the first time you all played together?

Our first concert as Telehope was a sold-out night for our Chasing Dreams Album Release show. It was one of the most incredible nights of Telehope so far. We’re working relentlessly to make this Hello to the Now Album Release a sold-out show as well!

Are there origins and stories behind the songs on your album, Hello to the Now? Do you each have a standout pick from the collection?

Mark: Every song on the album is written about a specific person and circumstance in our lives. Most of our songs tell a story of a struggle with depression or anxiety and how to combat those lies. My faves are Younger and Swan Song!

Adolph: Like Mark said, each song has a very specific origin, story and purpose. My two favorites are probably Calling Your Name and Younger.

The band is based out of Ohio. Is there a good music scene where you are?

Adolph: The Cincinnati music scene is full of incredible artists! We try to make it to as many local shows as we can. We love sharing this scene with artists like PUBLIC, Daniel in Stereo; Circle It, Harbour; Coastal Club, Moonbeau, and many more.

Ben: We’re fortunate to have many great venues geared towards local artists here in Cincinnati. I think the scene here is thriving because of so many artists working 24/7. There’s a great community of bands here and it exists because of how much we all care about music and about helping each other reach our goals.

Your music has featured on T.V. shows and gathered great press. How does it make you feel gaining that sort of acclaim and coverage?

Watching a national T.V. show with our song playing in the background is surreal to us. We’ve been working so hard, and for someone else to believe in our music enough to put in on the air like that feels so great.

Which artists did you idolise growing up? Did you experience lots of music as youngsters?

Mark: I grew up in a very musical family, so we listened to a lot of music when I was growing up! I really enjoyed listening to '70s and '80s music growing up like Boston, Styx and Kansas.

Adolph: There was always lots of music in the house, but it wasn’t until discovering Relient K that I fell in love with music and wanted to learn to play guitar. Adam Hann of The 1975 was a big influence of mine and I dream of playing like Mateus Asato someday.

Ben: I didn’t start listening to music until I was about thirteen-years-old! Owl City is what inspired me to start producing and writing music. I fell in love with expressing my thoughts and emotions through music and it’s a feeling like no other.

What do you hope to achieve before the end of 2018?

We want to have one-million total streams on Spotify. We’re over halfway there! Another big one is being support for a national band on tour, such as COIN or Twenty One Pilots. We want to travel, meet people and share hope with people.

Have you each got a favourite memory from your time in music – the one that sticks in the mind?

Mark: Our album release show for Chasing Dreams. We sold out Madison Live, a local venue here in Cincinnati (Ohio). It’s always been a dream of mine to be able to pursue music as a career - and that show was the start of this crazy journey.

Adolph: One of my favorite memories was definitely having the opportunity to open for COIN here in Cincinnati. COIN is one of our all-time favorite bands and the crowd seemed to love us. It was great to get to know those guys a little and share the stage with a band that has had so much influence in our lives.

Ben: Definitely when we opened for COIN in Cincinnati. That was a dream come true and where things started to seem a little more real to me.

What advice would you give to new artists coming through?

Ben: If you’re serious about music, question everything: “Should we play this show opportunity? Why am I posting this picture on Instagram? What’s the goal of releasing this music? Why are we doing what we’re doing?” I believe figuring out why your music exists is a crucial part of your career. For Telehope, our music exists to tell our listeners that there are struggles in this life but that there’s always hope. Also, don’t get stuck playing the same venue, the same shows and the same music for too long. You can saturate your local scene and your fans will start not showing up.

Make a big deal out of EVERYTHING. Putting on a show? Make it seem like a huge deal. Releasing a song? Hype up your fans and tell them how much you believe in it. I could talk for hours about this because we’ve learned a lot since our first band in 2013.

Where can we see you play? Do you have any gigs approaching?

August 10th at Madison Theater in Covington KY/Cincinnati OH at 7:30 P.M.! This is the biggest show we’ve ever put on: we have more production and crew than ever before and it’s going to be an amazing experience.

Do you think you’ll come to the U.K. and perform? Do you like British music?

Ben: I’ve always been a fan of One Direction…does that count? We absolutely want to come to the U.K. We have some fans over there and would love to meet them and build an even bigger following!

IN THIS PHOTO: Coastal Club

Are there any new artists you recommend we check out?

Coastal Club, The WLDLFE; PHANGS and the The New Schematics are all dope!

IN THIS PHOTO: The WLDLFE

Do you get much time to chill away from music? How do you unwind?

We don’t take too much time off (we should probably work on that) but we know we’re where we’re at because of how hard and relentlessly we’ve been working. We are Chicken Tender connoisseurs, going to every possible restaurant around town finding the best! We love kicker around a soccer ball, Fortnite and drinking LaCroix!

Finally, and for being good sports; you can each choose a song and I’ll play it here (not any of your music - I will do that).

Thanks so much for the questions. We love having a chance to get some of our thoughts out like this!

Adolph: Yours - Daniel in Stereo