Even though only one member of the band is currently old enough buy a beer, the three siblings of The Boleys have been a mainstay on the Austin scene for the past 2 years. Ethan (21, guitar & vocals), Emma (18, drums) and Joe (17, bass) have been able to make a dent in Austin’s rock scene with their genre jumping psychedelic-inspired songs. They’ll play just about anywhere that will let them, and that dedication has garnered them a coveted spot on legendary local gigs like Austin's Bat Fest and Texas Rockfest.
The band just came off a month-long summer tour with Nathan’s Stupid Drama and are gearing up to release their 4th album, on August 6 at Antone’s Record Shop. Despite this busy schedule, they took a quick breath and answered 10 questions for INsite.
Sean Claes: Three siblings in a rock band. That could go really well or really poorly. How did y’all decide to become a band?
Emma Boley: I think we all decided we wanted to be in a band around the same time. We had all the pieces and we could all jam together so we figured might as well.
Joe Boley: My brother actually taught me the fundamentals on bass, so I just kept going at it from there and around 2014 me and Ethan and Emma started writing songs together and Mike Boudreau booked us our first gig at Red Eyed Fly.
The Boleys at Texas Rockfest 2016
Claes: You’ve been on the scene for a few years and have garnered some pretty high-profile local gigs including Texas Rockfest and Bat Fest. What has been your favorite local gig/Venue?
Ethan Boley: All of the venues we’ve worked with have been awesome, and as far as Texas Rockfest and Bat Fest go, well they always kick ass haha, and we love Adam Brewer, who puts those together. Kick Butt Coffee has been super duper cool to us too.
Claes: How does the familial dynamic work in your songwriting?
Emma: Since we’ve grown up with each other, we all have the same background in musical influences, so it’s very easy to groove on stuff.
Joe: It’s easier to be honest with each other.
You seem to churn out recordings on a pretty regular basis. If my count is correct this self-titled album will be your 4th release in 2 years… and you have a pretty full live show schedule as well. How do you do it?
Ethan: Me and a couple friends of mine went to school for audio engineering and recording, so we’ve been trying to create an effective studio space for cheap for a while, and this new record will be the first we’ve recorded at “Far Out Studios” which we’ll all be working on getting up and running so we can record more peeps for super cheeps.
As far as the live stuff goes, we love to play, and we all actively work on keeping our schedule planned around band stuff. Plus learning the booking and promoting end of things is good practice to get better at it.
Claes: The title track to your August 6 release has has got a 60’s Beatles psychedelic punk rock feel to it, but then listening to a track like “Learning” you’ve got a White Stripes-esque groove and “Surfer Song” kind of has a Nirvana thing going on. Then you have “Birdie” that has awesome three-part harmony that has a stripped down Alice In Chains groove going on. How would you describe your music?
Ethan: Dude, I don’t think we even freaky-deakin know, we just jam it out.
Joe: Psychedelic grunge.
Claes: Do you have a favorite track on the new disc?
Joe: I like them all, but if I had to pick a favorite, it’d be “Terra Incognita.”
Emma: My favorite track on the new record is probably “Purple Skies.”
Claes: Tonight you are on Loris Lowe’s show on KLBJ in Austin. Congrats on landing that spot.
Ethan: Thanks brochacho! We’re excited to go on the radio show with Loris Lowe.
Joe: I’m super excited because we grew up listening to her on that radio station.
Emma: Thanks man, I’m super excited, it’s going to be super fun.
Claes: Y’all just got back from your High On The Fly Tour that took you from Texas to Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and back with Nathan’s Stupid Drama in your tour van, “El Toro.” Was that your first extended tour?
Ethan: Yeah, that was our first extended tour. It went dope as shit. It was a lot of fun. Shout out to Rodrigo Cortes and Jarod Hebert for helping us out along the way, those sexy ladies. LEGALIZE MARIJUANA
Emma: It was an amazing experience. We were very lucky to have Nathan along with us on tour. He gave us lots of advice that came in handy.
Claes: Any road trip stories to tell? Favorite venue along the way?
Ethan: We saw two fights, we visited our friends Dereck, Kayne and Mandy Todd in the mountains, we got to smoke a lot, you can’t buy beer in Kansas in Sunday.
Sean Claes is the owner of Austin's INsite Magazine and has been a freelance entertainment writer since 1996. This is week 30 in his "52 Weeks of Austin Musician Interview" series. See the others here: 52 Week Project
Space Cushion has been at the high-octane rock and punk game as a group for just over 5 years. Band members Scotty “MC” Carlin, Bill Corley and Bret Byron are all veterans of the Austin music scene in their own right and knew each other from previous bands (Bag, OddJob, Monkeywench) so it was natural for them to come together.
They’ve released a three-song EP and are looking at finishing out the year with the release of a full-length album to release in early 2018.
INsite caught wind of the band playing an awesome show coming up at Texas Mist on Saturday 7/29 with Wild Tinderbox, Darkness:Ending, Chasing After Alice and Dharma Kings, so we decided to take a chance to see if Space Cushion was interested in answering a few questions… ten, in fact.
Photo: Photography By Maurice (RIP)
10 Questions with Scotty MC from Space Cushion
Sean Claes: How did Space Cushion form?
Scotty “MC” Carlin: Between going back to school, finishing school, moving to Houston and then back to Austin again, I’d been out of the scene for a few years. I reconnected with a number of musician friends and made some new ones and really missed performing.
In late 2011, I decided I wanted back in but on my own terms. I’d always been a sideman as a bassist but I decided to go the “Sting” route and be the bassist and lead vocalist. My friend and supreme bad-ass Barry Welch jumped on board to play drums and we recorded a rough demo at his home studio with me on guitar, bass, and vocal while he did drums and backing vocals.
After a few months, I hooked up with an old guitar player friend who recently moved back to Austin that I had played with before. I told him about Space Cushion and he jumped right in. That man was Bill Corley.
Claes: So, after 5 years playing as a band, what has been your best gig?
Carlin: Best? Hard to say. I’d have to say my favorites have been our annual December Birthday Bash shows. We have a ton of bands, lots of surprises and special guests - it’s always one hell of a party!
Claes: The name is pretty great. I was trying to figure out how you came up with it and google told me a space cushion was “certain amount of distance you keep between you and the car in front of you that allows you to easily maneuver in any condition.” How’d you arrive at the name?
Carlin: In another life I’d be an astronaut/race car driver/rock star. So yes, the definition above definitely plays into the name and also the idea of traveling through space plays a part.
It also happens to have matching initials with my name (HA!) I came up with it one day while trying to come up with a band name for my Guitar Hero band and it’s always stuck with me.
I liken our sound to that of a high-octane sports car so it fits the theme of the band well, too.
Claes: High-octane sports car is one way to describe your music, if I was pressed, I’d say if the Sex Pistols and KISS hung out backstage, got debaucherous and made a musical baby, I’d imagine it would sound like Space Cushion.
Carlin: First of all, that is extremely flattering because those are two of my favorite all-time bands! I’m influenced by almost everything I listen to but I definitely gravitate toward heavier sounds.
As a kid, I worshipped KISS which led me to other rock bands like AC/DC, Scorpions, Mötley Crüe, and Van Halen to name a few. In my teen years I began skateboarding and in that scene I was exposed to a lot of punk rock such as the Sex Pistols, Ramones, Dead Kennedys, and 7 Seconds. I loved the energy and attitude of the music and I was getting tired of the cock-rock mentality of many of the bands that were crowding MTV and radio.
And then of course, there is the influence of my parents who listened to a lot of 60s and 70s material such as The Beatles, Roy Orbison, Bob Seger, and Billy Joel. I love loud and aggressive music but also am just as happy listening to melodic pop with killer harmonies.
Claes: Who writes Space Cushions songs?
Carlin: I write all the original material but I definitely encourage other ideas to help shape my songs. I always say written by Scotty, produced by Barry Welch and Space Cushion. I’m always open to cool ideas on guitar from Bill since I’m not much of a guitar player and I also have spaces in some of the songs where I tell Bill, “just fill that part with whatever you can come up with” because I know it will be brilliant! I also give Bret a lot of leeway with his drum parts.
I have basic ideas about the beat and the feel I want but he is such a solid and knowledgeable drummer that I let him fill the spaces and do what he does best. My songs have gone to places I never thought possible and I could not have done it without these guys!
Claes: Are you working on new material?
Carlin: I have several songs and ideas in “the vault” and have been working them out on my own. I’ve shown a couple of them to the guys and when we have some time, we’ll work on them together and flesh them out. We hope to have at least three to four more originals ready to go by the end of the year for the album and I think we can reach that goal pretty easily. I’m hoping to have at least one new one ready for our December Birthday Bash!
Claes: You’re stage show is about a 50/50 blend of originals and covers. I’ve seen covers from Bon Jovi to Ramones to Judas Priest. Pretty eclectic. How do you choose them?
Carlin: Some of them were covers I’ve been wanting to do for years but never had the opportunity. A couple of them are songs that Bill did with another band that he brought in and he sings them which is great because it gives me a quick vocal break.
A couple of them were happy accidents. For example, “Wanted Dead or Alive” came about when we were at practice one night. We were in between songs and Bill just started playing the opening riff for fun. I started singing along with it and we were like “This is actually sounding good!” We got a couple of members of Stonekracker to play it with us and it’s gone over great!
As I said, I love all kinds of music and I like keeping things fresh in our set as much as possible. I prefer to do songs that I like and that I think an audience will respond to as well. I like to keep things somewhat unpredictable so you get a little something different with each show.
The three members of Space Cushion are veterans of the Austin music scene. Tell me about some of the other projects y’all have been a part.
Carlin: I played with both Bill and Bret in the late 90s with a band called Oddjob. Previous to that I played in a couple of short-lived projects and recorded some solo material.
After Oddjob, I played with Bag (with the previously mentioned Barry Welch) for about three years and then with a group called Bag100 with Ryan and Christine from 100 Days. We started out as an acoustic group but then decided to plug in a get loud. Christine had already scored a drummer and that’s how I got to know the mighty Ben Mills.
Bill was in a group called Moonstone and also a band called Monkeywench in the mid to late 90s. He joined Oddjob in 1998 and Bret was replaced with another drummer. After relocating to Boston he joined a group called Breathing the Void for a number of years.
After Oddjob, Bret played with Veronika and Relative Circle before departing to Atlanta and then living in Washington DC for making his way back to Austin a few years ago.
We reconnected and after Barry left Space Cushion, we had a drummer named Sean who was with us about a year before he left for San Antonio. Bret filled in for us on a few songs and a couple of shows and became a permanent member soon after that.
Claes: You’ve got a big show coming up at Texas Mist on Saturday 7/29 with Wild Tinderbox, Darkness:Ending, Chasing After Alice and Dharma Kings. How’d that line up form and what are you looking forward to?
Carlin: I was looking for a summer show and began talking to Jim Daeng Ostrander from Texas Mist. I asked him if wanted me to recruit some bands to fill out the bill and he suggested a couple of his favorites: Chasing After Alice and Darkness; Ending.
I’ve known Brandon Gibbs for a long time and I knew Darkness; Ending pretty well; we’ve even played shows together before. Wild TInderbox I’d seen once before and I was really impressed by them and I thought our bands would work well together on a bill.
I was looking for a headliner and Jim told me his #1 band right now was Chasing After Alice who are pretty incredible. I’d seen and gotten to know them through Stonekracker and Ear Splitting Media. I put the word out and they agreed.
Now, Dharma Kings was another happy accident. I had the line-up all set and a few weeks later I started the promotion. I posted the show on the Texas Mist Facebook page and David Komie made a comment that the show needed one more band. I said if you want to take the late late spot, it’s yours and they signed up.
We are looking forward to a night of amazing rock and roll. Every band on this bill kick serious ass and we are going to throw down. Rumor has it there may be a place to cool down if it gets too hot so bring your swim trunks.
Claes: Legend has it that you have a pair of leather pants that was bought in 2001 while you were in BAG. What is the story behind them and are we going to see them Saturday?
Carlin: Ah, the famous leather pants...we had a music publisher that was interested in sponsoring us and trying to get us out there so she helped us out with a PA system, a photo shoot and a clothing budget of $100 each so we’d look better for our photos and for stage wear. I had a number of great shirts but was lacking in the trouser department. I’d always wanted some leather jeans for motorcycle riding and I thought they’d be great rock star pants as well.
They’ve now become part of my “Sasha Fierce” legend. And yes, you will see them Saturday! I don’t care if it’s 10 degrees or 100 degrees, there will be leather!
Check out Space Cushion online at facebook.com/spacecushion. You can also download or stream their music for free at reverbnation.com/spacecushion and sign up for alerts of when they’re playing near at BandsInTown.com/spacecushion. Also, Space Cushion was on the CobraCast Podcast earlier this month. Here's a link to their interview: link
And.. of course, we'll see you 7/29 at Texas Mist. As Carlin himself said: "We love and appreciate all the support we’ve gotten but I also want people to remember that there is no better support in the world than coming out to a live show so get out there."
Sean Claes is the owner of Austin's INsite Magazine and has been a freelance entertainment writer since 1996. This is week 29 in his "52 Weeks of Austin Musician Interview" series. See the others here: 52 Week Project
Bobby Bookout’s unconventional entry into the Austin music scene (he served in the military, used his GI Bill to get a degree in music and released his debut self-titled album, to much acclaim, in 2010) has been a road few have taken, but few have the smooth soul-infused voice and gift for the written word that he possesses.
It’s been seven years since we’ve heard from this Jason Mraz-meets-Rob Thomasesque musician on a record. The release date of his second album, titled B (after his initials as well as the second letter of the alphabet) is close, but it hasn’t been set in stone just yet.
We thought it was time to check in and see how Bookout is fairing and encourage him to take that final step to let the world hear his songs again.
Sean Claes: In 2011, “Broken Promises,” a song off your debut album, won the R&B Category of the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards. Judges included Ozzy Osbourne, Seal and Tom Waits. How did it feel to know such mega-stars listened to your track AND THEN chose it as the top song?
Bobby Bookout: I was honored and blown away to know that this panel of judges even gave my music a listen and was shocked when they nominated it as a top song.
The win I received was the popular vote. Once you were nominated into that top five list, you were given a chance to compete for the popular vote. Supposedly, more than 14,000 people voted. My people killed it won it for me!
Claes: Following you over the years, it seems music is a major passion of yours, but the recording process seems to be a bit elusive. It took about 3 years to record & release your debut album and now you’ve been working on the follow-up for the last seven. How do you keep that fire lit?
Bookout: Man, this is a rabbit hole of a question that’ll have me getting philosophical on you so I’ll try to spare you the long long answer. This is going to sound super cheesy, but in response to your metaphor, keeping the fire lit isn’t the problem at all… It’s keeping the fire contained so it doesn’t burn everything else down that gets tricky.
It’s a constant balancing act. I was single when I wrote and recorded my first record. My biggest struggle then was constantly being broke. But aside from going to work (shout out to Texas Roadhouse in South Austin!) my time was mine. I’d go to work and then go home and write or head to the studio.
When Kathryn and I got married and started making babies, everything changed. I was still financially broke, but time suddenly became the thing I had the least of. My desire to make music was as strong as ever but my efforts to juggle that and life were frustrating and exhausting.
I tried to consider… (emphasis on “tried”… I couldn’t ever get all the way to “consider”) just quitting music altogether, but having that thought even for a second immediately made me nauseous. It’s not connected to a switch. Being passionate about a thing, regardless of what that thing is, isn’t something you can just turn off.
It’s been pushed to the back burner a lot, but 7 years later, I’ve finally -sort of- got my feet under me and have figured out how to make it work.
Claes: Something I completely understand… when life becomes more important that a project (I’ve been trying to finish 52 Austin Musician interviews since 2012). What has been going on in your life since the last release?
Bookout: Well, I proposed to Kathryn in front of all of our friends and family at my CD release party for the debut at Dirty Dog on June 13th, 2010. We got married a year later.
We got pregnant with Braden, my oldest son, on February 15th, 2012. He was born 9 months later (to the day…) With my night schedule being what it was, I knew I’d never see him once he started going to school with my wife (she was a preschool teacher at the time), so I started keeping my eye open for a day gig.
In March of 2014, during SXSW, I had the pleasure of waiting on one of the coolest couples I’ve ever met, Healey and Rachel Cypher. Healey worked for Ebay and was actually speaking at SXSW. We hit it off and they at least pretended to be interested in my life story (which they got). We’d exchanged cards and that night I decided I’d follow up and see if Ebay might be looking for someone with a military/food service background and an associate’s degree in music (you never know… right?)
Two weeks later, I got a call from Sarah Romer, who would ultimately become my boss (and friend) at PayPal… I was working days and finally making decent money. We got pregnant with #2 in November. We decided we needed a bigger house for two dogs, two kids, and my gear so we signed a contract to build a new home out in Manor (NE Austin) where it was still affordable. Then, in February of 2015, almost my entire team and I were laid off.
Meanwhile, my sister-in-law, Jessica McCoy (Kennemer, at the time), was working on the marketing team for an extremely fast growing Austin based start-up called AffiniPay under a beast of a CEO named, Amy Porter. I met with Amy. She decided to take a chance on me and graciously offered me a sales position.
Brody, my second son, was born on August 10th, 2015. We moved into our new house a month later.
For years we’d talked about going into business for ourselves in some capacity. We started kicking around the idea of opening up our own preschool in Manor where there seemed to be a pretty high demand.
After a year’s worth of some pretty intense stress and a TON of work, we finally opened up The Busy Bee Preschool (www.busybeemanor.com) this last Spring.
And I’m finally, just now, cutting vocals on this record!
Claes: So, back to the music. What caught my ear when I heard you the first time was that smooth timeless equal parts rock and R&B voice that seemed to flow directly from your soul. How did you develop your voice?
Bookout: I grew up singing in the church. We were always in the choir. My Grandpa was a Methodist pastor and over the course of my childhood, was at a handful of churches throughout the Southwest Texas Methodist Conference. Those old hymns were a big part of my musical development and I feel really fortunate to have been exposed to them as much as I was growing up.
Beyond that, my influence came from a pretty awesome variety of genres. There’s a lot of soul in country music. George Strait and Merle Haggard were kings. Then at a very impressionable age for me, Garth Brooks blew up. I knew every song on his first seven records. My biggest childhood influence of all though, was Elvis Presley. My dad introduced me to him at a really early age and I was hooked. He did it all and he did it all really well.
I also vividly remember the first time I got to see Boys II Men perform live on TV. I was completely blown away and contemporary R&B became a thing for me right there in that moment. I was also constantly surrounded by Latin music, specifically Tejano and Norteno.
My sophomore year in high school, we moved to Midland and I really started paying attention to hip-hop. My friend, Savoy Smith, helped me pick out my first two rap cds - Mystikal’s “Unpredictable” and Bone Thugs & Harmony’s “East 1999.”
Their music couldn’t be more different, but Mystikal and Garth Brooks could both really tell a story in a song.
Claes: You’d mentioned that the debut album was centered around heartache and loss, and since the release you’ve gotten married and started a family. How has that influenced your songwriting?
Bookout: It actually made it a little harder. It’s so easy to bleed words when you’re hurt and alone. It’s hard to bleed when you have a toddler sitting in your lap with a huge smile on his face listening to his daddy make music. I had to evolve a little bit.
Claes: Tell me about some of the tracks on the upcoming album.
Bookout: The first song I wrote for this new record was a song called, “You.” It’s the first song I ever wrote about Kathryn. I managed to write what was ultimately a happy song but still sounded sad and dark because it focused on the black hole I’d been in before finding her.
Most of the songs on my new record are celebratory in one way or another though. Some of them are heavier and some are light and fun, but overall, they’re a lot more positive.
Claes:Musically, you’ve played out a few times in the last few years, One-2-One Bar, the 4th of July festival in Carrizo Springs, Moontower Saloon, Rattle Inn. Where can we see you next?
Bookout: I had to stop booking this year. I LOVE playing live but the live show itself is the easiest and smallest part of the gig. There’s a lot that goes into that show and at this stage in the game, I have to wear every hat. Booking, hiring, promoting, rehearsing, performing.
It’s all absolutely worth it, but not when it comes down to doing that or staying home and finally finishing this record you’ve been working on for the last 7 years.
The next show will be the CD release party sometime this fall and it will likely be down south at Moontower if they’ll still have me.
Claes: Where are you recording B?
Bookout: I split the recording of both of my records up between two studios… Studio 1916 down in Kyle, and The Amusement Park Studio in Lubbock. Both are killer studios owned and operated by great friends of mine.
Blake Atwell owns Studio 1916 and plays guitar for me quite a bit. Paul Miller is the engineer at the studio. He actually helped me rearrange and also played on a cover we’re putting on the record, The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”.
Scott Faris is a mega talented producer and guitar player and owns The Amusement Park. He was one of my instructors when I attended South Plains College and later became a good friend. He’s been on board with me from day one.
Claes:Who are some of the musicians you’re working with on the new album?
Bookout: Chris Moore is my permanent drummer so he played drums on the entire record. Chris Maresh played most of the bass on the record but Matt Slagle came in and played some too. Derek Morris and Amy Faris played keys. Kevin Flatt laid down some amazing horn parts. Jose Galeano, from Grupo Fantasma, killed the percussion on a few songs. Blake Atwell, Cale Richardson, and Keenan LeVick, three of the best guitar players you’ve ever heard, played guitar on almost everything.
Carter Arrington (guitar) and Dane Farnsworth (keys) are two guys I'd LOVE to make more music with. They both came in and played on a song called, “Time”. Scott Faris who’s co-producing and mixing the record will have probably ended up playing guitar on something also. Paul Miller played classical guitar, keys, and vibes on “Just Like Heaven”.
Kasi Painter, Ange Kogutz, and Anna Hillburn came in and put down all of the female background vocals for me. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. I mean, it’s been 7 years of this so there’s a strong possibility.
Claes: What are your thoughts of how the Austin music scene has changed over the last decade?
Bookout: I was fortunate to come into the live scene under the wing of MC Overlord, (Donnell Robinson), which meant being introduced to some really good people from the get go.
I found my spots in Austin pretty quick and didn’t venture far. Ben (who now owns and runs Come And Take It Live) and crew, always took care of me at Dirty Dog. I love Gregg and Destinee at One-2-One. Earlier on, I always enjoyed playing at Lucky Lounge and Beso Cantina. Saxon was great. Momos was was of the first bars I ever played at downtown. Moontower Saloon is one of my favorite newer places to play.
From my limited perspective, it’s a little sad and unfortunate that the people and venues that actually care about the music, at least as much as… if not more than the bar sales, seem to struggle the most.
Austin’s changed a lot since I got here in 2007 but I know there are folks that would say Austin already wasn’t Austin anymore when I got here. The world’s an ever-changing place. Austin’s not any different.
There’s still so much talent here and new acts popping up everyday. In that regard, I’d say the music scene’s doing just fine. And I still love this place.
from bobbybookout.com
For those who are interested in checking out some of Bookout’s new material, he will be releasing a second music video for “Broken Promises” in the very near future. Also, as he approaches finalizing B he will be releasing a couple live videos filmed at Studio 1916. Check out http://www.bobbybookout.com for updates. Sean Claes is the owner of Austin's INsite Magazine and has been a freelance entertainment writer since 1996. This is week 28 in his "52 Weeks of Austin Musician Interview" series. See the others here: 52 Week Project
