Tema Siegel is the lead vocalist of Couch (The Band), a seven member musical group that spent three years long distance before reconnecting in their hometown of Boston.
The band – who played a sold out show at The Royale on November 10 – blends pop with rock, R&B, and soul to develop dynamic songs about the complexities of loving someone and reflecting on where you are now and where you want to be. Their latest EP “Sunshower” dropped on November 3, infused with upbeat songs that get you on your feet and others that pull at your chest and make you want to wrap your arms around those you love.
Zach Blankstein (guitar, bass, and vocals), Jared Gozinsky (drums, percussion), Will Griffin (bass), Danny Silverston (keys), Jeffrey Pinker-Smith (trumpet), and Eric Tarlin (saxophone, vocals, and synths) all grew up in Greater Boston, but Siegel didn’t meet most of them until later on. She was in a jazz ensemble in high school with Silverston and met Blankstein through him.
“We didn’t intend to form a band, I just had a stripped down solo gig coming up at a local pizza shop, and I needed an accompanist last minute. I knew [Blankstein] was a great guitarist after meeting him, and I asked him to sit in,” said Siegel. “Right off the bat, we had a really good musical chemistry and could understand each other’s instincts, so we kept playing together. He invited me in to meet some of the other guys that he’d been playing with who ultimately became the members of Couch.”
The band attended different colleges, so they played some gigs over school breaks and wrote and recorded remotely.
“We always say [working remotely] put us in this interesting position where we were maybe better equipped for the pandemic than some of our peers, because we already knew how to communicate virtually about music. But it also meant that our growth was stunted a little bit,” said Siegel.
She explained that they have developed a much richer chemistry through working together in-person. They have grown together as friends through spending time on tour buses. And Blankstein and Siegel used to spearhead the writing process, but now they write more collaboratively with the whole band.
“When we’re writing together, subconsciously, people are drawing upon music that they listened to growing up. I grew up listening to and went to college for musical theater. I grew up seeing a lot of artists in the local singer-songwriter scene in Boston. I also grew up in a jazz band, and we’ve got guys who did that same thing, or who grew up listening to classic rock,” said Siegel. “All of that seeps into our instincts in the writing room and the kind of chord progressions someone might recommend or the way that I write my lyrics.”
Reflecting on “Sunshower,” Siegel said the song “L.A.” has some “theatrical flair” influenced by her background. Listeners have told her the song sounds like an Act I finale to a musical.
“I think it comes through in the way we build the vocal melody to this really dramatic, frustrated, passionate, high, belted, sustained note,” she said. “It’s almost like an ‘I want’ song, where the character figures out what it is they’re searching for, sings a song about it, and then the rest of the musical is them achieving that purpose.”
In writing new music, Siegel draws inspiration from singer-songwriters Maggie Rogers and Madison Cunningham.
“I really love [Cunningham’s] lyrics,” she said. “I also really love that she makes pop, and rock and indie music that feels simultaneously contemporary but also very organic.” She aims to blend “the intimacy of a singer songwriter, the earthiness in someone like Madison Cunningham, and the edge in an angry rock band.”
Couch began their Sunshower Tour with Alisa Amador on October 6 and will conclude at The Vogue Theatre Indianapolis on January 27.
The band also received recent exciting news – Couch was nominated for Boston Music Awards’ Pop Artist of the Year, and Siegel was nominated for Vocalist of the Year. The award ceremony will take place on December 20 at Big Night Live.
Siegel said the band plans to embark on “light touring” next spring and summer and release more singles throughout the year.
“I hope that people feel inspired when they listen to our music. So much of our music is happy and optimistic and intended to make people feel happy and dance, so I hope that comes through,” she said. “I also hope that as we start to share more personal stories in our music, we share things that make people feel seen.”