LIVE REVIEW // The Q-Tip Bandits Make a Soulful Brooklyn Debut
Outside of the Bushwick concert venue, Elsewhere, I huddled around some steps and talked to The Q-Tip Bandits before their Brooklyn debut. I first met the Boston-based quintet back in February at their Mercury Lounge show, and since then the band has been on a self-described roller coaster. Low points only making their highs and new-found successes that much sweeter.
For those who have never listened, The Q-Tip Bandits’ Instagram bio describes their music as “Soulful sounds with indie rock roots”. The band's inclusion of horns, performed by Maclin Tucker on trumpet and Hoyt Anthony Parquet on trombone, gives their music a New Orlean’s-esque flair that’s usually hard to find this far north of Bourbon Street. Not all of their songs are that upbeat, though. The band has range; while performing their original song “Happy” the band managed to make electric instruments sound soft and a trombone sound like it has a soul.
For those who have never witnessed the band play in person, they put on a show that’s equal parts fun, entertaining, and impressive. During the show, the band danced and mouthed along lyrics while on stage; their moves comparable to those of Paramore’s Hayley Williams. Audience involvement was encouraged but not overdone or tacky. The band guided the crowd in swinging their knees and hips in sync with their song’s beats, and singer/ guitarist Leo Son encouraged concert-goers to let out a fierce scream with him because, as he put it, life can be “prickly”. This appeared to be especially cathartic to one attendee who later shouted out, “Can we scream again?”
It was clear the audience didn’t want the show to end. Around the same time the man shouted about screaming, another hollered for an encore: “One more song!” The crowd agreed: “Or two”, “Or five!” That’s when the band came back on stage to play the first track off their album Melancholy Flowers, “Chasing Cars”.
2023 has been a year to remember for The Q-Tip Bandits. Since we last spoke, they have released a new single, “Tip Toe”, performed their way through the summer festival circuit, and created a Kickstarter to fund their future production endeavors— more on that later.
When discussing the past few months with the band it became clear that one thing stood out among the rest: Boston Calling. When asked what this year’s “wow” moment was (so far) they all chimed in with their experience playing the local festival. Don’t mistake local for small though, aside The Q-Tip Bandits on the lineup were big names including Foo Fighters, Paramore, Queens of the Stone Age, and Alanis Morisette. The band also recently played Levitate Music and Arts Festival, headlined by Grammy award winner Brandi Carlile, and returned to the New Jersey festival Maplewoodstock.
Things don’t appear to be slowing down for the band anytime soon. On September 15th the band played their biggest headlining show yet at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club— a capacity with a nearly 1000 seat capacity. And remember that Kickstarter I mentioned before? It was to raise money for a work trip to LA where they are currently collaborating with producer Eric Palmquist on a brand new EP. Shortly after spoke to the group last February, they had created a spreadsheet with “cool producers” they wanted to work with. After reaching out to some top contenders, Palmquist responded with excitement. Being one of the band's “reach producers” they were surprised and delighted when they received his response.
Palmquist, who is known for his previous work with Tate McRae and Bad Suns, has a studio in the City of Angels. According to Son, “somebody with [Palmquist’s] know-how, experience, and ear comes at a cost.” The Kickstarter set out to raise $15,000 but ultimately raised over $17,000 with over 100 backers.
In addition to recording their EP, in the next few months, The Q-Tip Bandits will be planning their next tour and release cycle, celebrating the 5-year anniversary of their song “Willow”, and, of course, dropping some new music.
Drummer, Dakota Maykrantz, described the 7 months in between our two interviews as, “the awesome-ist, most coolest roller coaster you’ve ever been on” with all its highs and lows. Son added that the 7-month window has reminded him “that if you want all the beautiful things that you want in life, you better be ready to accept all the things that aren’t so pretty in life as well. What that’s told me is that there’s a threshold we are about to step through. There’s this big mesh screen that we are pushing through right now, and on the other side is this thing we’ve been working for all our musical careers. And when we break through this threshold there’s gonna be this whole other world of work and crazy rollercoasters that we can not begin to understand yet. And right now you need to experience everything to push through the threshold. I really think we are on this brink of when we cross through this doorway there’s no telling what’s going to happen.”
I can’t wait to see where life’s twisted roller-coaster takes The Q-Tip Bandits next.
Keep up with The Q-Tip Bandits on Instagram and stream on Spotify or Apple Music.