For those people who haven’t heard of Touch the Buffalo could you tell us a bit about the band and your story?
Oh sure, so I started the band in January 2017 with some friends I made in the DC music scene. Six years before though, before I was even seriously involved in music, I got a cool chance to touch a buffalo, and I genuinely thought “Oh, cool band name idea. If I ever start a band, this will be the name.” Lol.
I’ve been lucky enough to meet some incredible musicians along the way, with a lot of valuable expertise and experience that helped me get a solid footing in the process of bringing a band to life.
Who inspired you to get on stage and perform?
My younger sister, Justina, was involved in music first, and she really encourage me to try it and even let me open up for her at local gigs when I was just a solo act.
Are there any artists/albums that inspired your sound and stuck with you?
Oh my god, soooo many. And before I list my personal influences, one of the beauties of working with other musicians is that they have their personal influences, which opens up new artistic avenues for the sound you’re trying to create. And then of course there’s overlap in the sounds you appreciate.
I can tell you for certain, the entire band has been influenced by Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters, Green Day, and Queen.
And then for me personally, my favorite bands in high school were Jimmy Eat World and My Chemical Romance. Growing up I loved Rod Stewart’s vocals. I love songs by the Eagles, The Beatles. I love the raw energy of Nirvana. Muse blew my mind when I first heard Starlight. I had an Imogen Heap CD that I played on repeat in high school. And as I was leaving college, I fell in love with Mumford and Sons.
Could you tell us a bit about the writing/recording of the ReverbNation Competition winning competition track “In Six Heads About It”?
I love this question! During covid lockdown, we had been working on an EP. In Six Heads About It is the first single released off this upcoming EP. Structurally we wanted to break convention, but we wanted to keep the journey seamless and smooth and keep the entire experience enjoyable. That was challenging for us, we spent over a year working on this song, and we’ve probably listened to it thousands of times and kept coming back to it with statements like “Ok, we did this, but now this part feels like it’s lacking energy”. Musically, this song was a Rubik’s cube for us.
Lyrically, this song is about my personal experience of falling for someone; a relationship that was perpetually elusive. In retrospect I view myself as a victim of my own desire, but in the moment, the feelings I had caused me to conquer my fears. I kept becoming what I had to be to allow for the relationship to come together, but it never did. In Six Heads About It is kind of like simultaneously existing in six different perspectives of the situation I found myself in, which felt like a descent into madness. I hope that makes sense, lol.
What have been some of your favourite places to perform?
In the DC area, I like playing at Public Bar Live, that’s a great venue. Evening Star is another venue that I have to page homage to: it’s a cool aesthetic, they take care of the musicians, and that venue is among the first places that took a chance on us. We got a chance to play at Rams Head Live! In Baltimore, MD as part of a festival, that was a really cool experience for us.
What has been your best experience as a band?
Hard to say, but I’ll throw this out there: we got to play at a festival in New Orleans one time, and on the trip, we all got tattoos together. Not matching tattoos, but still. I messed up though, my tattoo is on my wrist, and we had to play a show for the festival that night, and my tattoo was bleeding through the bandage on stage. On the one hand, very rock and roll. On the other hand, sorry about bleeding on stage in this post covid world! Probably not the level of hygiene they were hoping for.
Do you have any plans for an EP or an album?
We do indeed! We are releasing an EP called Bodhicitta, there will be 4 tracks on it, and In Six Heads About It is the first single we’ve released from the EP. We’re exploring more of the soundscape with this EP, so it won’t sound exactly like our earlier stuff. Overall it’s not as heavy as our usual sound – but this is just an interim appetizer. There is an album in the works as well, and releasing this EP is a strategic release, to buy us more time to finish the album. Lol, but it is more than just a strategic release, it’s also an intentionally thought-out emotional experience, and we hope it lands that way to listeners.
Here at Artistic Echoes, we are always on the lookout for new artists do you have any to recommend?
Absolutely, however all of these artists are way more established than us, you just might not have heard of them yet:
And the Kids, Zella Day, Labrinth, Jessie Reyez, Declan McKenna, Hobo Johnson, Son Lux, easy life, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Supaman, Y La Bamba,
What plans do you have for the rest of the year?
We’re putting the finishing touches on the EP. Then the plan is to release the EP, do some radio promotion, and gig up and down the US East Coast. We’ve been hitting a lot of delays, but I’m really hoping to hit the gas pedal this summer.
