Q: 2020 has been a rough year, especially for musicians like yourselves. So, how are you guys doing? How are you all feeling in this new year?
FEATHERS: Well, 2020 started off pretty hot for us. Late in February, we sold out a venue in Nashville that we all sort of saw as a rite of passage when we released our single, “What You Want.” But then about two weeks later the world came to a grinding halt. It was weird. By no means will I even attempt to compare the tragedies that so many of us experienced through this pandemic to the hardships the band went through. That being said, it was a little weird at first. At that point the Feather’s had primarily built its name as a live act, so when you take that away we had to readjust our focus a bit. Thankfully, our beautiful manager, Sir Paul, was able to help us along which allowed us to be able to focus on our writing. We were able to finally get together as a band towards the start of last summer and write a bunch of songs. Some of which include “We’ll Be Fine” and possibly a little project that we can’t wait to share with our fans! We all feel so lucky to be able to continue to grow, write, and record this year.
Q: From the sounds of “We’ll Be Fine,” you guys have more than potential. You guys are professional rock stars. This song is so energetic, sexy, adorable, romantic, and ignites the heart and soul. I can’t help but dance to the bouncy rhythm. I know you guys know what the song does to your fans, but what does the song do to you guys? How does it affect you guys?
FEATHERS: It fucking turns me on man! LOL, just kidding. But really, we’ve worked hard together to get to a place where we are making music that we want to be hearing in the world and it feels awesome! I love that song. It just feels good. Regardless of everything else, we love the music we made, which is such an awesome feeling. Now we’re kind of on to geeking out over new songs that we’re writing, but I won’t lie to you and pretend like I wasn’t driving all over Nashville with my windows down jamming my ass off to that song on repeat.
Q: While listening to the song, all I could think of was movies like The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, in which the male characters in these movies play coy and cocky. David, you mentioned in the press release how, in the song, the character is coy and cocky while trying to invite that person into their imagination. I’m so surprised and impressed at how well you guys conveyed those “possibility” or “what-if” feelings that people feel when they are interacting with someone they are interested in. How were you guys able to put those feelings into words?
FEATHERS: Hahaha well…how much time do you have? The truth is I am a total sucker for those movies. Honestly, I’m just wandering around waiting to meet the Meg Ryan character in my life. But I mean in terms of the song, I just know those feelings all too well. I think it probably has to do with my age, a little narcissism, and the fact that I’m an utterly hopeless romantic. Needless to say, I find those types of feelings on my mind quite often. We all do. I think that’s what is exciting about life, romantic and non-romantic scenarios alike, life is random and sporadic. There’s a lot of waiting. So until whatever you’re looking for happens, all we have is our imagination. We’re left to fill in the time between while we wait for what we really want and that’s kind of what the song is about. It’s about hope, it’s about possibility, and it’s falling in love with an idea.
Q: Another amazing thing is that you guys provided a breath of fresh air to listeners. During these hard times, a lot of us forgot what it felt like to be young, wild and free. I know that once people will listen to this, they will get that feeling again. What reactions have you gotten from people who have heard “We’ll Be Fine”?
FEATHERS: You know, we were just so happy to make a song that made us all feel so good. Now that it’s out we’ve been so lucky to hear that it has made other people feel the same way and that the song is getting to have its own meaning in their lives. Which for us is the best part about what we do.
Q: You guys have worked with well-known producers. What’s that like and what have you learned?
FEATHERS: It’s been a blast! Everyone we’ve had the chance to work with so far, from Kyle Dreaden (“We’ll Be Fine”) to Owen Lewis (our upcoming EP), have become such wonderful mentors for us. We’ve been pushed and challenged in ways we had never been before and it has really taken the band to new places. It’s been such an awesome opportunity for us but we’ve also just gotten to make some great friends.
Q: Who are your major influences?
FEATHERS: At the moment we’ve been listening to a lot of LCD Soundsystem, particularly their Sound of Silver record. A lot of Queens of the Stone Age and old E-Street Band for me as well. Then obviously we love bands like The Strokes, Coldplay, and The 1975.
Q: Personally, what has been the best thing about being musicians?
FEATHERS: The best part about music for me was always the way it made me feel. It gave me an identity at a crucial point in my life and it shaped who I am. The best part about being a musician is getting to see songs we write have meaning in other people’s lives and hopefully become a small part of who they are.
Q: Where did the band name come from?
FEATHERS: The band name was sort of a last second decision. It was the week of our first show and we still didn’t have a name. I was pretty desperate, so I was looking for synonyms for what I thought the music was about. In my frantic searching, I stumbled across an Emily Dickinson poem titled The Thing With Feathers and I figured if you could call a band Cage the Elephant, I could call mine that for now and it kind of stuck.
Q: Tell your fans who you are and what you want them to know.
FEATHERS: We’re The Thing With Feathers. We like loud guitars, tipping a few, having a smoke, and dancing with you. Under it all, we’re just a bunch of emo boys who need love and interaction so we write songs to feel things.
Interviewed by Taylor Berry
