Recently I had the opportunity to meet up with local Austin band Southpaw Sonata at their show at the Sidewinder on September 9th, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The band consists of Tyson Zaria (TZ) on bass and vocals, Taylor Dyer (TD) on guitar and vocals, Jake Reeves (JR) on guitar and vocals, and Miles Reeves (MR) on the drums. Check out their music below!
Q: How long have you been a band?
TD: It will be three years in October
Q: How would you describe your music in three words?
JR: love, spiritual, impulsive
MR: jazz, progressive, punk
TZ: honest, progressive, math-rock
TD: honest, passionate, self conscious
Q: What artists inspired you to create music?
TZ, TD: The Strokes, Dance Gavin Dance, La Dispute
JR: Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Honey and Salt, Dinosaur Jr.
MR: Travis Barker, Luke Holland, Thomas Pridgen
Q: What is your favorite song to play live & why?
TZ, TD: Hot Bowl of Marbles, it's the most challenging song to play, it has some of my favorite lyrics.
MR: Spooptown; its a natural song and feels very cohesive. Like what we are doing on that song makes sense
JR: Spooptown; its a song Tyson wrote about loving friends. Its a song about not forgetting you can ask for help. Its a demo i would play over and over in my car when i felt like the world was crumbling. Something that gives me hope, makes my day easier and gets me out of bed in the morning.
Q: What does the song spooptown mean to you?
TZ: It's about loving your friends & it is about asking for help when you need it, and the fact that it's okay to ask for help. It is the most personal song we have written.
JR: It means everything to me.
Q: What is your opinion on music streaming services? Do you think it hurts or helps the artist?
TD: To an extent it Hurts can help reach a larger amount of people. Musicians have to rely on all sorts of ways to earn an income. Band camp is cool but Spotify we don't have income but people don't necessarily support bands by using it.
Q: Do you have any advice for people who are in local bands, or just starting bands, etc?
TZ: write 3 songs & scrap them, start over, never compromise the integrity of your music, write music that you love. If you're not happy with them don't follow through, keep trying & do it by all means.
Q: What do you do to prepare for a show?
TZ: meditating, lots of deep breathin, warm up vocals, warm up your hands, stretch, warm water before the show, anything but cold water. Singing is all about being lose and relaxing
TD: we like to drink honey, we try to warm up our fingers, focus, get into the zone.
Lightning round:
Coffee or tea?
TZ, TD, JR, MR: coffee
Dogs or cats?
TZ: CAT
MR, TD, JR: DOG
Ice cream cone or snow cone?
TZ: snow cone unless the ice cream is non- dairy
TD, MR, JR: ice cream
iPhone or Android?
JR,TD, TZ: iPhone
MR: I hate them both.
Cake or pie?
TZ: cake, no icing
TD: cake
JR, MR: pie
Pancake or waffle?
TD,JR, TZ: waffles
MR: I don't really like either.
Day or night?
TD, JR, MR: night.
TZ: night, because there's somewhere you can always be alone at night.
Chocolate or vanilla?
TZ, TD: chocolate
JR, MR: vanilla