Artist of the Day | TOTALLY SLOW
ARTIST OF THE DAY
20.05.2021
TOTALLY SLOW
LOCATION
Greensboro, NC, USA
GENRE
Punk
CURRENT MEMBERS
Chuck Johnson
Scott Hicks
Kate Weigand
Andy Foster
With the current pandemic, the state of the music and touring industry has dramatically changed. Where were you when everything was brought to a halt?
We had recently hit the ground running with a new lineup, new practice space, and a headful of new songs. Our rhythm section are partners and we practiced at their house, so we just kept moving forward with songwriting and practicing and then recording this album. Kept each other in the "pod", as it were.
How has that affected your plans for the coming year? Did you have a tour planned, upcoming album release?
Sure - we had a lot of shows booked, including a small trip with Athens GA's amazing "Mean Queen", plus shows with Bit Brigade, We Vs The Shark...The album was recorded in the midst of everything and we didn't start shopping it around until late summer - when Refresh Records took us on we decided to push the release out June/July 2021, in the hopes things might be more normalish (?) by then. Still don't have a clear answer on that I guess, as far as normalcy goes. But the LP drops June 4!
What have you been doing to fill/make the most of your new-found free time at home? How are you supporting your mental health through all of this?
For me personally (Scott), it's been devouring horror novels, binging a lot of TV with my wife, tinkering around with solo ambient music, and of course the logistics of making a rock record has a pretty long tail. Getting the art and videos put together is a productive distraction. My anxiety becomes pretty unmanageable when I'm sitting still - pandemic or not - so I've just kept the brain gears spinning as best as I can. Walking the dogs a lot, keeping the bird feeders stocked, mindful old man stuff.
How are dealing with the Covid third wave?
Really right now feels more confusing than ever. I'm vaccinated, things are opening up, but it all feels tenuous - like we're on the cusp of either conquering this thing or really blowing it and making things worse. It's not great. Local clubs are messaging us asking to book and I am most certainly not ready to do that.
Favourite Starlite Room Moment?
I'm here in North Carolina and to be honest this is my first exposure to you guys, I look forward to browsing the site!
Do you have a message for everyone at home reading this?
Please be cool to each other.
If you would like to be our next ARTIST OF THE DAY please email us at:
JEN@CONCERTWORKS.CA
