On March 4th, Vinyl Theatre and Finish Ticket will be performing in Chicago as a part of Live Nation’s “Ones to Watch” tour. I had the opportunity to speak with band members Keegan Calmes (Vinyl Theatre) and Brendan Hoye (Finish Ticket) to find out more about their upcoming tour.
Vinyl Theatre
Vinyl Theatre is a Milwaukee-based alternative rock band that formed in 2012. Calmes, singer and guitarist, and his friend Chris Senner, keyboardist, started their band after they discovered their mutual passion for music. Josh Pothier, bassist, and Nick Cesarz, drummer, were recruited shortly after to complete Vinyl Theatre.
Vinyl Theater’s debut album, “Electrogram,” was produced by the indie record label, Fueled by Ramen. It has charted at #1 on Billboard’s “Next Big Sound” and they were featured performing tracks in an episode of MTV’s “Finding Carter.”
According to Keegan, his inspiration to create music stemmed from The Killers. “The next record we are working on it a lot more personal, but with Electrogram, we pulled from all of our influences,” Keegan said. “It was an accidental cool new sound that not a lot of people have recognized before.”
Although, if Keegan did not have music in his life, he claims he would be a runner. “I wanted to be a professional runner for a long time,” Keegan said. “I was a few time All-American in college and I was about to pursue getting into a professional training group.”
While Keegan considers touring to be awesome, he believes it is not as glamorous as people may expect.
“People look at musicians like, ‘man, that is so cool,’ but in reality, it’s super long hours and bad bathrooms,” Keegan said. Although, he would not trade this experience for the world. “It’s all part of the culture once you take it in,” Keegan said. “It makes you feel validated as a musician. But I just love being in new cities and meeting new people. We are extremely lucky to see different faces everyday.”
Finish Ticket
Finish Ticket is an alternative rock band that was formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2008 by twin brothers Brendan and Michael Hoye, along with their friend Alex DiDonato. A second set of brothers, Gabe and Nick Stein, also joined the group to complete Finish Ticket.
Recently, Finish Ticket opened for Twenty One Pilots on their recent North American tour. They have also opened for Ed Sheeran, The Black Keys, Phoenix and The Strokes. Their newest EP is called, “When Night Becomes Day,” and was mixed by Grammy Award nominee Mark Needham.
According to Brendan, his favorite part of touring is traveling and seeing new countries. “We have never been to Australia and we have a lot of friends from bands in Australia, so it seems like a really great place to go tour,” Brendan said.
Ten years from now, Brendan hopes to continuing touring with Finish Ticket. “Having a steady fan base that will grow with us is all I can really hope for,” Brendan said.
Brendan encourages all college students not waste time if they have dreams they want to follow. “Even if you are in school and going to school for four years, make sure you dedicate time to what you’re passionate about,” Brendan said.
Show your support for Vinyl Theatre and Finish Ticket by seeing them perform live on March 4th at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago!