Lucy Fitzgerald 
Q: Hi! So take me back to that party in Brooklyn where you all kind of found each other — what was it about that night that made you think “okay, we need to actually make something together”?
A: Nate: I had been living in New York for about a month and was coming from a background of really jamming out songs with folks who can sort of have a foot in the country/bluegrass genre, alternative rock, prog rock, and I can drum along with them and sort of alternate till we find something good. Up till then my experience in New York had been playing with bands who couldn’t jam outside their comfort zone. Or couldn’t jam. JR was in the room just jamming on some bluegrass which perked up my ears so I played along with him and before I knew it we were jamming on Zeppelin, Weezer, Allman Brothers, etc. and we exchanged info after a good hour or two of playing together. I knew for sure I’d found a more like minded player.
Q: JR and Nate, you two were writing together for a while before Max and Jack came in — what was the sound missing that you didn’t even know you needed until they showed up?
A: JR: A lot of the stuff I had been writing was guitar parts that would serve the song as a three piece. So lead and rhythm had to be balanced a little more closely on guitar and bass. After Max joined he added little guitar parts that wound up reshaping the songs in ways that we had never thought of before.
Nate: Jack comes from a drumming background so having him on bass and myself on drums we can really lock in on the rhythm section and we can generally have an outline up and running in one or two loose jams on the new stuff which is always a godsend in a collaborative project like this.
Q: Brooklyn has such a specific indie scene — like people there have opinions. What was it like trying to win over a New York crowd early on?
A: Jack: At Brooklyn shows people know what they want so it can be a little more tricky but it’s not so hard to cross the membrane.
Nate: You definitely see a difference between Brooklyn and The Village. It’s basically are you playing to other artists who are looking for new influences or are you playing to college kids who are ready to get rowdy? Both crowds are fun but your performance style can really change depending on who you’re playing to.
Q: Your influences are kind of all over the place — Pino Paladino, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer, Dr. Dog. How does that mix actually end up sounding like one band?
A: Jack: Paladino can be flashy but has a strong foundation so while it’s rooted in precision you can still play with other people and return to those roots.
JR: Dr. Dog has a certain togetherness that blends all of their sounds together so that they’re one band rather than something that’s being led by a “frontman” and I try to reflect that in my writing style.
Max: Weezer even has a pop oriented sound where when somebody brings in a great sounding riff or bass part you can always stand back and think, “How can I help support this thing and make it work in the whole bigger picture?”
Nate: Nine Inch Nails just rocks and I wanna make music that rocks.
Q: When people say you sound like Mac DeMarco or Hippo Campus, do you hear that yourselves or does it feel like a stretch?
A: Nate: Now that the band has expanded to a 4 piece it’s definitely changed since then. Some of the tones still resemble some stuff by those two artists and we’re flattered to even have their names come up when we’re talking to people but we’ve taken more to the rock side of indie rock lately.
Q: The EP is self-titled — that’s a pretty bold move for a debut. Was that always the plan or did you just not land on anything better?
A: JR: It was always the plan. It was the first EP so we decided to keep it simple and not overthink it.
Q: Four songs is a very deliberate choice. Was there stuff left on the cutting room floor, or did you always know exactly what the EP was going to be?
A: Nate: We tossed around the songs in our 10 song setlist we had at the time but we pretty much knew what the obvious ones were.
JR: There were originally only supposed to be three songs on the EP but we had enough leftover time in the studio we threw Thin Walls on at the last second.
Nate: I’m glad we did!
Q: You’ve already played the Paramount Hotel in New York, Philly, Brooklyn — how different does a crowd feel city to city, even at smaller venues?
A: Nate: It’s funny. It can REALLY vary sometimes and other times it really doesn’t. A few years ago I was on tour in another project and we played Seattle on a Saturday where people were pretty amped for music wherever we went but then we got to the venue and the crowd was not all that excited. Fast forward to us playing a San Francisco brewery that following Tuesday and people were jumping up and down having the time of their lives! We must’ve played three encores.
Q: What’s the weirdest or most unexpected reaction you’ve gotten from a live show so far?
A: Jack: We covered Take On Me recently and people were definitely excited to hear our rendition of it.
JR: I’m always surprised when people applaud.
Q: The band name — Mandy’s Dreaming — there’s got to be a story there. Who’s Mandy and what are they dreaming about?
A: JR: Mandy’s my cat. You know how it is in NY. Tons of apartments without all that much space. Sometimes I feel guilty that she has this small apartment she lives in so I hope that when she dreams she gets to run in fields and chase mice.
Q: You’ve got big things coming in 2026 — what does the rest of this year look like for you guys? New music, more shows, or are you just figuring it out as you go?
A: JR: All the above.
Listening to songs so you don’t have to! Just kidding :D, you totally should. Music blogger by day, nurse by night
