Joseph Secchiaroli Vox/Guitar Jeff Jarvis Bass Rocco Dellaneve Keys/Vox Kendall Lantz Drums Amit Peled Guitar Rodney Flood Percussion/Vox
Years Active 2007 – Present
Latest Release “Happy However After” – (2018)
Favorite Local Band or Artist RNSM
Current Album on Repeat BJ The Chicago Kid – “In My Mind”
Taco Bell or Mighty Taco Taco Bell
Are you working on anything new / specific at the moment?
Yes! We are releasing an Album in early 2021. We’ll be releasing the first single from that record this summer!
How do you balance music with jobs, partners, children, etc.?
This is the biggest hurdle. None of us have any children yet. That certainly would be the biggest hurdle. We are all professional musicians here in New York. Our jobs are music. Our partners are also musicians who understand the struggle. In order to be able to balance all of those things, you have to love music more than all of them. Our first love is music.
Were you anywhere before Buffalo?
Nope. We started the group in Buffalo in 2007. We now all live in NYC and have been based out for there for nearly 10 years.
What has your recording experience been like?
We’ve been releasing all of our music on Patreon, a subscription based content service. We’ve been releasing one song per month for the past 3 years. We have a bank of 20 songs now. We can exist because of our fans support through Patreon. It keeps us disciplined and prolific. Because of this, we are always in the studio. It’s awesome.
What are the ingredients to a thriving music/art scene?
Collaboration, Kindness, Supporting one another, as well as a genuine interest and excitement for everyone to succeed.
Irene Rekhviashvili Vocals Ryan McMullen Guitar Doug Scheider Drums John Toohill Guitar
Years Active 6
Latest / Upcoming Release “Aloha Hopper” LP on Swimming Faith + Radical Empathy Summer 2019 / “Alpha Hex Index” LP on Hex Records due out late 2020
Current Album on Repeat IRENE: I’ve been blasting Sayonara Wild Hearts, the soundtrack to the video game with the same name. Self-described as a pop album video game, the hour long rhythm based game felt like I was “playing” a record (playing like a video game), and listening to the soundtrack feels like I’m playing the game in my head.
Currently Reading DOUG: About a third of the way through China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station. A lot of the book’s concerns center around the experience of border spaces and how we navigate incommunicable differences. Its style straddles the line between high art and pulp. There’s a lot of words that need to be looked up, but also it’s about aliens having sex with each other.
Favorite Venue to Perform IRENE: I really liked playing at the Glitterbox (RIP). This basement in our bud’s house was roomy, around the corner, and there was a controlled amount of glitter, so it was perfect. There were so many great shows with awesome bands there, I really miss the place!
All Time Favorite Album RYAN: Funhouse by The Stooges ; JOHN: That is the correct answer
How is everyone holding up during this time?
IRENE: Thank you for asking. I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home, and I stay in touch with my buds and family via video chat. I’m raising plants and the two Dungeons and Dragons campaigns I’m currently a part of really play (get it?) their part in keeping me occupied.
Tell us about how this project got started?
RYAN: The initial spark that created Alpha Hopper goes back to Irene and John wanting to make music together and calling up Doug and myself to help out. Irene had fronted a cool band a few years prior and was eager to get back on the mic. Doug, John and myself had all been in a band together years prior and had all collaborated on different projects in different permutations in the time between, so we really spoke each other’s language already. So all the pieces were assembled pretty much right away and we all just naturally fell into an extremely democratic and equal creative dynamic. It was never about doing a particular style, genre, or even working on a batch of prewritten material—everything came together organically as a group and we just kept doing it.
Are you working on anything new / specific at the moment?
DOUG: We’re right in the middle of recording a new record, “Alpha Hex Index.” It’s been an exciting process this time around because between it being our most ambitious batch of songs to date and making the call to record it entirely ourselves, it feels like we’re pushing what we’re capable of as a band. We’re still figuring out how we’re going to finish up without Virusing each other, but we’re hoping the record release show will be the first thing people are willing to risk being out of their house for this summer.
How do you balance music with jobs, partners, children, etc.?
JOHN: You don’t. You just gotta make them all the same thing and then lug that around forever. No Juggling. Yer already a clown if you’ve decided to take music seriously. Start bands with your partners and don’t be shitty to each other so the group doesn’t break up after you do. Only work jobs that are flexible to your music schedule. Spell VACATION “T-O-U-R”. Have A LOT of roommates. Make it part of your daily routine. Get hopelessly addicted to it so you don’t even see what else might be worth your time. I’m kinda joking but it works for me and I love it. For real. Cept for that kids part. Don’t combine that. Then you’ll end up naming them River or Nimbus or something and try to make them play drums cuz you couldn’t. Jesus, just let the kid be good at math without forcing them to listen to Prog rock.
Previous Bands?
JOHN: We’ve all been/are in a ton of bands. I’m not gonna list them all cuz I’m mostly just answering this question so i can mention that Irene played drums in HOT TIP and I LOVED that band.
What’s the biggest thing that your band could use help with?
DOUG: Does anyone have the name of a good therapist? Also though it feels like there are fewer options for places to put on shows in the last couple of years. With more money and people coming to downtown, a lot of places that used to enjoy a night of weirdos playing punk music have either closed or transitioned towards more broadly appealing entertainment options. I think we and a lot of artists could use a couple more houses and bars willing to be a home to smelly kids and loud amps.
What does Buffalo have to offer aspiring musicians?
JOHN: Buffalo’s strengths and weaknesses are the same. It’s a small town vibe in an almost big city. Cheap rent. Places to practice. Everything is 15 mins apart. So close. There’s a lot of fun to have and it’s very easy to get in on it. Plus you got tons of other great cities to play that are a short drive. It’s really easy to be in a band here. Unfortunately that occasionally allows us to get too comfortable, lazy, and take things for granted. There is no real rush or pressure. It’s hard to keep people excited. You forget that you can, and really should, leave the nest before you end up hung up on it with all your energy drained. I have a saying “Buffalo is the best place to live if you remember to leave a lot.” I love it here… like 8 months a year.
What has your recording experience been like?
RYAN: We’re actually on a weird reverse trajectory with our recording experiences. Our first record (Last Chance Power Drive) was recorded by our friend Joe in a very professional studio with nice gear and all the bells and whistles; our second record (Aloha Hopper) was recorded in a basement on the east side with the expertise and gear of some knowledgeable friends; and now in 2020, we’re recording our latest record totally by ourselves in John’s attic. We’ve been lucky enough to always have a talented and generous network around us to help us pull off great recordings that we’re really proud of without ever having to pay a stranger a bunch of money to do it for us.
What are the ingredients to a thriving music/art scene?
RYAN: In my opinion, the primary indicator of a thriving scene is bands and artists inspiring people to start bands and become artists. When a person in the crowd who might otherwise be content just taking it in leaves a show feeling like they want to add their voice to the conversation, it’s a really beautiful and important thing. I’ve definitely observed that magical feedback loop happening here at many different times and different scales, but it certainly ebbs and flows and dries up at times. The most crucial ingredient in building it is a homebase; a venue that’s booking shows on the regular so people can look forward to seeing familiar faces and feel comfortable going to hang out and maybe take a chance on a band that they aren’t already familiar with. Everyone reading this should start a band!
Words of Wisdom DO Make art for the right reasons – self discovery, personal enjoyment, and expanding the universal sense of wonder. DON’T compare yourself to other artists.
What does Buffalo have to offer aspiring musicians?
There’s more room to fail compared to bigger cities. Having room to fail is vital for artistic growth, if taken advantage of.
What do you think is the biggest lesson we can all take away from [COVID19]?
Reevaluation of what’s important to a society. You can see a wider acknowledgment that a big chunk of jobs aren’t essential to sustaining life, and the jobs that are deserve more respect. I’ve been saying for years that I see Nurses as the most important profession to society. They will literally be the last ones to be replaced by automation. When I first heard of cities doing nightly ‘applauses’ to healthcare workers, I cried.
Craziest memory from touring?
Feels like I have too many to remember, but the most recent one was last summer in Atlanta with you haha. Adam, you remember, but I’ll try to capture the scene for everybody else…
It was a really hot day like 95 degrees fahrenheit, and one of those shows where it was just the bands playing for each other – which would’ve been shit but it was Mothsweat, and I love that crew, their set was incredible. When the show ended, and everybody but me was chilling outside smoking, the manager of the club ran up to me screaming that the venue was about to re-open as a nightclub and I had 10 minutes to pack up everybody’s shit. He berated me asking where my bandmates were, and I told him that you were busy getting the van. The 10 minutes passed and there was still gear everywhere, suddenly this frazzled club manager was trying to help me pack everything up, and they spilled all of our merch over the floor. The club then opened to the public, and it just immediately fills up with a hundred drunk dancing bar folk. Now I’m picking up all the merch under everyone’s feet, and the gear is mostly stacked into a few piles but is totally in the way of everybody filling the dance floor. You had parked really far away, and we had probably 1,000+ lbs of gear on the second floor of this club.
I come downstairs and outside to see everybody hanging by the entrance smoking and goofing off, totally unaware of what was going on upstairs, the van still far away. There was some yelling, and then a game plan: we were to first get all the gear down to the street, and then you’d go get the van. The staircase to this club was only one person wide, and now that the club was packed it was nearly impossible to get everything down as we’re pushing bar goers out of the way, but.. We did it. Then the rest of us waited in the street with this huge pile of gear, fending off drunk people while you went to get the van.
The area was so crowded with foot traffic that the street was closed off to cars. Now we didn’t realize the street was closed off to cars, but it explained why you weren’t able to pull up with the van. Eventually you call us saying you’re idling in a parking lot downhill from us and we had just a few minutes to pack up before we’d get a ticket from an angry parking lot clerk. Luckily we built our cases with wheels on them so we were able to roll our heavy ass gear down the street, practically chasing it as it gained speed and plowed through people.
After we finally got loaded up, we all met up with Mothsweat and friends in a parking lot and did aerobics and danced in the summer heat until 2am. That parking lot dance party was my favorite moment of the whole tour.
Close second for recent crazy tour memories was 3 days later in Nashville, I had split off from you the night before to crash with Neil from Terror Pigeon at his sick Treehouse complex. The next morning I took an uber to the address of where you told me you were staying… Long story short I broke and entered into somebody’s house that you weren’t in lol. I went through that whole house searching for you, heard footsteps upstairs but then I found a note on the kitchen counter saying “Thanks for letting us stay! We left!” from you and Suz. Boy I ran out of that stand-your-ground house so quick my heads still spinnin🤠😵
What are the ingredients to a thriving music/art scene?
You definitely need a wide variety of artists, and a plurality of engaged patrons. Too many similar working artists per capita and nobody comes to the shows because everyone is busy making their own art haha.
Strangest thing you’ve heard from someone at a concert?
“Too Spooky” — Stevie Boyar
How do you balance music with jobs, partners, children, etc.?
Shits tough. I have a tendency to get manic and obsessive with projects I get passionate about, and sometimes I lack the ability to recognize when I need to put the art down, and redirect focus towards the other vital parts of my life. It’s one of my biggest problems, LOL. I don’t have a single solution, but routines, and schedules help a bit. I’ve had some trial and error choosing jobs, partners, and friends that are flexible with my lifestyle. I’ve imagined having kids would mean the end of my art career, but I know that isn’t true for everybody.
What’s the next move?
I seem to be better suited at directing productions and crafting experiences than I am with any instrument, I’ve been feeling drawn towards integrating more theatre & acting with mixed media installations, and interactive online content. I still want to integrate it all within a live music setting, but I feel like there’s a lot of unexplored territory and room for play.
I have a hefty handful of songs I was working on years ago that I dropped to join Space Cubs that I’d like to pick back up again and release properly.
Joe Myers is a singer/songwriter performing with a revolving crew of collaborators
Years Active 8
Latest Release Daniel, (Sometimes I Think of You) – April 14, 2020
Current Album on Repeat “Other Voices, Other Rooms” by Nanci Griffith
Favorite Venue to Perform Luthier’s Co-op in Easthampton, MA
What do you think is the biggest lesson we can all take away from this experience?
Actively taking time out of you day to be quiet and not do anything.
What would you consider your Best Local Show Experience?
Cages’ performance of ‘A World In Song’ at Asbury Hall was by far one of the most intense experiences I have witnessed locally for sure. Ever, maybe.
Were you anywhere before Buffalo?
I moved back to Buffalo about a month ago after living in Dunkirk, NY for two years.
Any Buffalo Artists you admire that you’ve never met?
A Relative Term and Brian Wheat were some of the guys that I admired as local musicians growing up in Buffalo, I’m not sure if they are still around. I don’t know as many people in the visual art world as I would like to. Chuck Tingly and Kyle Butler have always stood out to me.
Anyone you’d like to Collaborate with?
I think the whole world operates as a collaboration so it’s hard for me to think about making any of my music in a way that isn’t some kind of collaboration. It always feels that way for me. You are actively having to bring things to the table for the sake of sharing but you’re also challenging other people while they are challenging you. Whether you’re conscious of it or not I think that’s what’s happening and the agreement should be that everyone honestly just does whatever they’re good at and have fun and work on this sort of balance beam of competition and cooperation and that should be enough to guide for what makes for the best possible outcomes. I hope that Mallory Mordaunt puts a band together and lets me play the guitar.
Anyone you’ve collaborated with recently?
Last summer I spent a weekend recording songs (Fear Memorial Park) right outside of Ithaca with my friend Justin (Justin Roeland and Nightswimmers). It was really the most relaxed experiences I’ve ever had making music and Justin has a really good listening ear and a very open and calm and experimental approach in regards to sound recording.
I’m also really excited to finish this currently untitled ‘electro-lounge’ project that me and my friend Chris Ploss spent some time working on last year and I had a lot of fun doing that.
Who’s a local musician / artist we’ve never heard of but should?
VHS ERA
What’s the biggest thing that your band could use help with?
Band Manager. Now accepting applications. Serious DMs only.
What does Buffalo have to offer aspiring musicians?
It’s a pretty easy-going and affordable city to get started learning the ropes of how to work in a studio or get gigs in bars and clubs, if that’s your thing.
Current Album on Repeat Tim: “Somewhere Else” by Lydia Loveless / Bub: “Art of Doubt” by Metric / Matt: “ The Comfort of Madness” by Pale Saints
Currently Reading I’ve mostly been rereading, lately. There’s a comfort in it with everything that’s going on, and it also feels like a good time to take stock and revisit books or records you haven’t in a while. I’ve been rereading Marilynne Robinson’s “Gilead” and Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, and Suttree.
All Time Favorite Album This is like the hardest question in the world, but also my favorite. At most I can narrow it down to Gene Clark’s “No Other”, John Prine’s “Bruised Orange”, Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall, Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town”, and Van Morisson’s “Veedon Fleece”. There’s something so sacred and so unsettling about each of those records that I’ve never been able to shake. You can feel the blood and the humanity, all the desperation and tenderness, all the lust and heartache and hope, but mingled with something else beyond the pale. To me that’s the miracle of songs, and why something you’ve heard a thousand times can still knock you on your ass.
Tell us about how this project got started?
I was playing an acoustic set at Perks like a year and half ago, and Matt happened to be there. We had played together for a battle of the bands in high school (we lost) and had kept in touch over the years but were both in and out of Buffalo at different points. I had been wanting to play with a band for a while, but was waiting for the right people, and when Matt and I got talking I knew this was it. He’s one of those guys who can pick up any instrument, and he’s got this awesome project called Yellow House that you should all check out. Bub I actually had to hunt down, but I knew I wanted him to play with us. We had skated together a couple times back in the Myspace era, and when I heard he was back in town I got his number from my sister, who had worked with him for a while. He plays with this sick metal band Yanari, who you should also check out, but as luck would have it he was looking to branch out into other types of music. A month later we were playing our first show. I’m thankful every day to be in a band with such great friends who also happen to be wildly talented musicians.
Are you working on anything new / specific at the moment?
I was about halfway through writing another record when quar started, but that really derailed everything. Writing from desperation or heartache is easy but this…uncertainty, whatever it is, it doesn’t feel natural to write right now, so I’ve just been trusting that instinct. A lot of my friends have said the same thing. I think at this point it’s just make it through all this in one piece and try to be there for your friends and family, and figure out ways to contribute to the community. There’ll be time for making records when this is all over.
How do you balance music with jobs, partners, children, etc.?
I guess I don’t. My take on this would be to stay single and work as little as possible. And when you do have to work, do something that’s not sapping your creative energy. Easier said than done, of course. We fall in love, we have kids, we have health conditions or people to take care of, and not everybody is ok living off of tuna fish and peanut butter. But if you’re young, healthy, and unattached, this seems like the time to just pour your whole self into your passion. This thing demands everything you can give to it.
What’s the biggest thing that your band could use help with?
Definitely promotion. I think for a lot of us, having the temperament that inclines you to spend your time writing and playing music is the same temperament that makes you godawful at promoting it.
What does Buffalo have to offer aspiring musicians?
There’s a lot of incredibly talented and supportive artists here (too many to name), and everybody’s doing it for the love of the thing. You can live on very little here, and there’s a lot of opportunities to open for national acts at places like the 9th Ward. That venue is an absolute treasure.
What has your recording experience been like?
I’ve been really lucky here. I recorded my first EP at Select Sound Studios with my dear friend, the exceptional Andrew Kothen (koko.neetz, who you should all listen to) and our very gifted pal Jacob Peter on drums. When Matt and Bub and I did SpaceStation AM500 last year as a band, we went back there and worked with Kothen again. So I’ve literally never worked with anybody who wasn’t a compadre, which feels like a privilege. There’s a lot of trust there, and common ground. It also doesn’t hurt that I have such incredibly talented friends.
Favorite Local Bands/Artists There are a lot of great bands and artists in buffalo but if we were to choose we’d probably have to go with this band called Petechia or a band called Tina Panic Noise. Both those bands are super great, would recommend both of them.
Current Album on Repeat My album I’ve been listening to a lot lately is for sure The Garden’s new album, “Kiss my super bowl ring.” It’s really great and has a lot of new stuff I’ve never heard from them.
Favorite Venue to Perform Our favorite venue to perform is for sure either Sugar City or Grindhaus. Both those places are super sick and both all ages which we always really like. Both are very welcoming places and we always have a great time at both!
Are you working on anything new/specific at the moment?
Well at the moment we are kinda just trying to write songs while being stuck in our houses then when we can get together and make them into something. We hope to record some stuff at some point but not really sure when. We just gotta get this coronavirus figured out then us and everyone else can start up again.
What would you consider your best local show experience?
I would say one of our favorite shows if the last show we played in the beginning of march at Grindhaus, that show was so fun. Everyone was jumping around and having a great time. It’s such a great feeling watching people have fun to stuff you write and perform to people.
What does Buffalo have to offer aspiring musicians?
Buffalo has a lot of great venues to play at and a lot of inspiring bands to watch. It’s very easy to meet other people if you are trying to start a band, always cool people at shows and around the city. There are a lot of great people to meet around the music scene also.
What has your recording experience been like?
When we recorded our first album it was great and super fun. We recorded with Brandon at his studio Steak and Cake records. It was really comfy and was always super fun and we loved how the mix came out when it was all done and ready.
What’s the biggest thing your band could use help with?
We really want to tour and it’s kinda been a struggle setting it up and getting all the contacts for everything. We were trying to set one up for summer but now coronavirus has ruined it a little so we hope we can as soon as possible.
Brittany Costa vocals & guitar Adam Malchoff drums Kiril Orenstein drums Jacob Galenski guitar Corey Bzibziak bass
Years Active 4
Latest Release “Alchemical Rounds”, “Demos 2”
Favorite Local Band or Artist Award Show
Current Album on Repeat “Green Twins” by Nick Hakim – The perfect record to dance to/explore your body with or groove to on a solo walk.
Words of Wisdom Be open to what arrives and trust yourself. There are so many paths to take — don’t hold yourself to just one. Let it carry you to unknown territory. It’s okay to let go of who you were and who you knew to become.
Photo by Emily Finlan
What do you think is the biggest lesson we can all take away from this experience?
There are many lessons… The fact that uplifting and supporting your local community is extremely vital to everyones well being physically and mentally, the fact that our inner worlds could use a lot more inquiry, love, & compassion, the dismantling of a capitalistic mindset in many ways, namely the idea that we need to constantly be productive…etc.
Tell us about how this project got started?
Something that I don’t talk about much is that I was involved in theater for a big portion of my life. At the time Jack came to be, I was coming back home to Queens from doing a play in Scotland that the theater company I was in had worked on/written for about 2 years. It was an incredible and fulfilling experience to be a part of a devised theater company, but I remember feeling very drained from theater in general. I’d been involved in a few bands in between theater shows throughout the years and would write songs here & there for them, but those projects never felt like my fullest expression. I was always tip-toeing around music — never fully committing to it, but constantly feeling drawn to it. Like many who turn to music, I had a complicated/traumatic childhood and music was always the outlet that made me feel safe and helped me to heal some stuck emotions. I knew it’d always have a place in my life, but I didn’t know how it would manifest itself.
I slowly started to peel away from other music projects and right before we left for our production, I had a taste of my first solo show at DBTS, just under my name. I remember I couldn’t stop thinking about the energy at that show — I think it was being a part of something much bigger than myself in a way that theater used to make me feel. I felt held and seen in a different way because the art I was sharing was my story, not a play someone else wrote. That music scene was truly something electric and special at the time and I felt inspired to contribute. When I came back from Scotland, I decided to put theater on the shelf and apply that energy into a solo project, which I named Jack. Songs were written and I started playing more shows. I honestly felt shy about being 26 at the time and only just starting to play my own stuff, but I kept at it anyway. Solo shows were great, but there was so much in my head that I couldn’t transmute on stage so I went looking for a drummer. I had met Kiril Orenstein once or twice before through a mutual friend so I reached out to see if he’d like to play together. There was an unspoken trust/bond I felt with Kiril that was very grounding and allowed me to just be completely vulnerable through my music.
Are you working on anything new / specific at the moment?
The past year and a half has been more about traveling, self exploration, deepening my spiritual practices, and opening up to what is sustainable/will fill my cup in the career realm, but I’m looking forward to planting my feet down in one place again. There’s a wheelbarrow of songs I’m ready to plant when I can afford to fly all the band members out to one recording studio. Until then, I’ll continue writing and growing the pool. Maybe there will be a double album or maybe none of these songs will ever be recorded. Who knows!
Any Buffalo Artists you admire that you’ve never met?
I’ve always admired Irene’s (of Alpha Hopper and DilDon’t) energy and commitment to their performance.
Anyone you’d like to Collaborate with?
There are a lot of Buffalo artists I’d love to collaborate with, but the first one that comes to mind is Suzanne of Space Cubs. We share a similar background and I’d be interested to see what comes out of that. I also just really miss collaborating with my own bandmates. It’s been a really long time since we were all in one place together.
What does Buffalo have to offer aspiring musicians?
Buffalo is a great place to work on your craft. There’s a lot of time and space to practice, play shows, and explore your sound. Shows aren’t relatively hard to book there so if you want more practice in the performance realm, it’s a great place to get really comfortable on stage.
What areas could Buffalo Improve on?
I think Buffalo could improve on its inclusivity and openness in the music scene. As someone who just came through for about a year and a half, my experience was that there were a lot of labels applied to bands/people/scenes. Sometimes when this happens it locks people into a box and doesn’t allow for growth or alternate perspective. I remember people coming up to me a number of times and saying something along the lines of you play this, or your music is this thing, you are this person, you are dating so-and-so, before even introducing themselves or us getting to know each other. When that happens, you create this idea of someone in your mind, naturally developing prejudices based on your own interests and experiences, without ever getting the opportunity to find out who they are. Often, the conversation would just end there because their mind was already made up about you. This is a very human thing to do to help us make sense of the world and because sometimes we’re nervous or awkward and don’t know how to approach certain conversation, myself included, but with a local music scene that has so much potential for exploration, I think it’s important to carry that openness to each other. There’s also still some misogyny in the scene that needs to be destroyed — this exists in most places, but there’s never been an excuse for it and there never will be.
What’s the next move?
I’m excited to be settling in the PNW and seeing what becomes.
Photo by Emily Finlan
