Teaching Under High Street To Pronounce “Toronto” Like a Local
“This interview was C*nty as hell!” -Under High Street
I sat down with the Nashville band, Under High Street to chat about their time at NXNE, the experience of creating and releasing their debut album, and how to pronounce “Toronto” like a local.
Under High Street (From Left to Right: Danny Overmeyer, Beauman Hartum, Evan Flagel, Dylan Brackis) in Trinity Bellwoods, Toronto | Shot by Sierra Madison
SIERRA MADISON: Can you guys introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band?
DANNY OVERMEYER: Hello I'm Danny Overmeyer, the pretty boy of the group (laughs). I'm from Florida originally. I met these guys at school at Miami University (which is in Oxford, Ohio, not Miami...USA you’ve fooled me again). I actually just joined the band in the last month but I've been sitting in with them forever... playing with them here and there, but yeah, I’ve only just officially joined.
EVAN FLAGEL: I’m Evan Flagel. I play drums and sing occasionally. I'm originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, and met all these guys when we were all in college together and put the band together right at the beginning of my junior year. It’s been going strong ever since.
DYLAN BRACKIS: My name is Dylan Brackis. I play bass, I sing, and I write songs.
BEAUMAN HARTRUM: My name is Beau Hartrum. I'm from Dayton, Ohio. I'm a guitarist. I've also been since been in the band since the beginning so like... three years now.
SIERRA: Where'd you guys get the name for the band? Is it inspired by anything?
EVAN: The first place we ever played, in our college town in Ohio, was a small, underground basement bar on High Street, the main street of town where all the restaurants and shops are. Because of this, we would always say we were born Under High Street. Also, a good friend of ours who has done a lot of our artwork put those words together like that originally. Shout out to Grey Vanderwoude a good friend of ours and a very talented artist who does graphic design, painting, drawings, a bunch of stuff like that.
Under High Street performing at various venues in Oxford, Ohio | Shot & Edited by Grey Vanderwoude.
SIERRA: I was reading an interview you guys did with Red Hawk Radio where you said that you “have a shared vision of no particular vision” and that there kind of exists this air of nonchalant-ness around the band. But you guys did just perform at North by Northeast in Toronto which I think suggests a little bit more of a serious approach to the band. Has your vision for the band changed since then?
BEAU: I think that is now a dated answer. We are definitely more serious about how we present ourselves and where we're gonna be, we want to keep pursuing it but I think the sentiment remains the same for new songs and stuff in the sense that we're not really married to any type of particular genre. We like to be creative still.
EVAN: I would just say that at that time when we did that interview, it was really when we didn't really know if we were going to be pursuing it seriously or not or outside of college. We were still kind of just the band that played around in that college town and so at that time we were still students, most of us, and we were just kind of having fun with it. We've always had our original music as a part of our shows and in some form or another, but once we started actually recording our own stuff and doing demos and actually writing together as a group is when we first decided that okay, maybe we want to take this outside of this college town. Maybe we want to actually pursue this more seriously and not just while we're students here.
BEAU: At that point, we had nothing recorded or released or anything like that, we were still feeling it out.
DANNY: I think we still maintain the nonchalant-ness though—day to day the boss changes. We all share a lot of responsibilities and I'm pretty sure each of us, over the next couple of years will take part in booking a show or making a contact or you know writing a song or whatever, which helps keep everything nonchalant.
Under High Street in Trinity Bellwoods, Toronto | Shot by Sierra Madison
SIERRA: I don't know if one of you claims the frontman title, but I thought it was interesting because it seems like you (points to Evan) were the frontman last night. I've never seen a band’s drummer claim the frontman title. Have you guys established roles or...
DYLAN: Yeah, I mean... I claim the frontman role, but Evan has extensive experience in improv, comedy, public speaking, theatre and since I would be up there in the middle and singing all the songs, I would first be the one to start talking and it was just really clunky and came out weird and Evan’s just got the silver tongue. He's just a great talker.
SIERRA: Make sense—I just thought it was interesting, I haven’t seen that dynamic before, but it’s cool.
DYLAN: Yeah, it makes more sense if he's the best at it. Honestly, I could see a time when Danny gets up there. Danny's a smooth talker as well, so we could share those responsibilities too.
EVAN: I've been given the great gift of projecting my voice, but yeah, I mean, one of my favourite things that I get to do is sing while I play drums. It’s not a brand-new thing, but it's not super common when you have a band where the guitar is the main melodic instrument. I usually sing our covers more than our originals, other than just harmonies, but it [taking on the frontman responsibilities] came naturally. If Dylan knows what he wants to say between songs, he’ll jump up and do it. If there's a pause, I'll usually have something to throw out there into the microphone.
Under High Street | Shot by Grey Vanderwoude
SIERRA: Can you guys go around and describe Under High Street in three words?
(Long pause)
SIERRA: Loading... I can see the gears turning in everyone’s heads.
DYLAN: Silly...goofy...tenacious...dumb.
SIERRA: That’s four.
DYLAN: No don’t count silly... dumb meaning silly.
SIERRA: Okay. Goofy, tenacious, dumb (as in silly).
DYLAN: Yes.
DANNY: Dynamic, sexy, tics.
EVAN: We got tics...not like the bug.
SIERRA: I'm just going to scoot a little bit away.
EVAN: I would say we are lighthearted, loud, and friendly.
BEAU: A good time.
Graphic of Under High Street at Miami University Green Beer Day 2023 | By Grey Vanderwoude
SIERRA: You guys mentioned this was your first show outside of the US. Last night, you drew a big crowd compared to some of the other acts. What has the North by Northeast experience been like for you? Is this the first festival you’ve played?
EVAN: Yeah, it is. It’s my first time in Canada. I know it's Dylan's first time in Canada. Not sure about the other two. Dylan had sent in applications to a bunch of festivals a few months back, and this was one that invited us. We were like, "Oh my God, we get to go to another country. That's amazing." We were probably more lax than we should have been on planning. So, it’s been an adventure, just walking through the streets and finding stuff. It’s another thing I feel lucky to do with these guys. We didn't have much planned other than showing up, playing our best, and hoping people enjoyed it. I feel lucky and it's been a big adventure we're experiencing together. We didn’t know what we were going to do, see, or where we were going, other than where we were playing.
SIERRA: You’re feeling #blessed?
EVAN: #blessed every single day.
SIERRA: You released your debut self-titled album, “Under High Street”, late last year. What was that experience like, and do you have a favourite song on the album? Side note: are you signed? I noticed it was released by Sticks and Money.
EVAN: We’re still independent. Sticks and the Money was a name we were considering for the band, but we went with Under High Street. I threw that in as an Easter egg to keep the name alive. That album was years in the making. We recorded it last February, but some songs had been around for six months or more. We recorded a couple of demos in a garage in Oxford, Ohio. One of Beau's good friends from high school, Jackson Badgley, is a producer in Nashville and invited us to record with him. We did the whole album in four days. It was one of the craziest, best, worst, most awful, and most amazing four-day experiences I’ve ever had. But yeah, shoutout Jackson Badgley and Jimmy Mansfield, our producer and engineer.
DYLAN: The experience... let me paint the picture for you, we had four days to record eight songs... we were burning and churning. The studio was great, but by day two, it had become a petri dish, and everyone was starting to get sick. We were up from 8 am to 10 pm, living on nothing but Delta 8, weed, and Miller High Life. Miller High Life powered and fuelled this first record. We drank a lot of beer, and it was tiring but a great experience. Jackson was sick, he was hunched over, but he stuck it out. We’re still working with him for our latest singles. If any Toronto artists need a good mixing engineer and producer in Nashville, he’s the man.
Under High Street Graphic by Grey Vanderwoude
BEAU: The big difference between this year and last year is that this year we have music to back us up. Last year, we struggled to get shows in Nashville. Once we had good-sounding music out, it opened a lot of doors.
DANNY: To speak to the album a little bit, it was really cool seeing that whole thing come together, because I was just hearing about it. They would keep me updated on like the demos when they recorded those. And then like, when they came down to Nashville, I was already living there, so it was just cool to see all that come together from like kind of an outsider perspective. And then also just seeing those songs like come to life that I've heard live a bunch, it was just really sweet—like one of the little riffs or whatever, like this tiny lick that I taught Beau or I showed him from Stevie Ray Vaughan, and he added it in on the main riff and I was like, “that's so cool”. It was so sick, you know, being a part of that... it just like was like, oh, like, I love these guys.
(The boys all go “awwww”)
“We had four days to record eight songs... we were burning and churning... We were up from 8 am to 10 pm, living on nothing but Delta 8, weed, and Miller High Life. Miller High Life powered and fuelled this first record. ”
SIERRA: What’s your songwriting process like? Do you start with a jam and then go from there?
DYLAN: For the debut album I would probably give myself credit to the melodies and lyrics...
EVAN: Not probably, I would. I would definitely.
DYLAN: Okay yeah. Typically, I write the lyrics and melody. So far, I've pretty much been the lyrics guy, the baseline guy. I will hum guitar parts at Beau and piss him off. I'm like, no, it's like (hums an obscure beat). So that'll be the baseline, and then he'll add his own flavour that makes it so much better. Basically, I give the band a skeleton, and we all together put the meat and skin and eyeballs on it.
EVAN: Dylan will come to me and say, Can you make it sound like this? (spits out a crazy drum beat) It takes me a bit to get it... I’m like can you please repeat that?
SIERRA: Do you have typical themes or inspiration for your lyrics?
DYLAN: I draw inspiration from life experiences, people-watching, making assumptions, and researching the earth.
SIERRA: Have you had any groundbreaking knowledge about the earth?
DYLAN: No. Nothing that hasn’t been discovered by someone else already. My writing always seems to have some sexual innuendos though.
SIERRA: Have you figured out how to correctly pronounce Toronto yet?
EVAN We've been working on it.
SIERRA: You have to drop the last T. If you pronounce it, everyone will know you're not local.
SIERRA: So you’re all living in Nashville now. I've never been, but I've been wanting to visit. What are the top three spots I have to go to when I visit Nashville?
EVAN: Danny’s house.
BEAU: Yeah, his house and our backyard is pretty cool.
SIERRA: Do you guys all live together?
BEAU: Yeah, we all live together (points at himself, Dylan, and Evan).
DANNY: Acme Feed and Seed. If you’re on Broadway, yeah, Acme Feed and Seed, that’s where I bartend. Best range and quality of music you can possibly get in Nashville. Broadway can get pretty, what's the word, saturated? It's very much the main strip. It's full of cover bands, Classic Rock, and Country.
SIERRA: Honestly, I hate to be that person who says, "I like everything except Country," —I do appreciate Country but...
DANNY: None of us are huge Country fans, so we get it. Broadway is a weird place to go because it's so happening, but it's definitely a tourist spot. It’s very in-your-face. But yeah, Underdog is probably one of my favorite places. It's known as the Nashville Guitar Bar. I've played there a couple of times, and it's sweet because so many legends have played on that stage.
EVAN: I'd say Basement East is a big one, too.
DANNY: Yeah, Basement East is a big venue in town for touring acts. Same with Brooklyn Bowl. There are just really cool venues.
EVAN: In Nashville, it really depends on what you're into music-wise. There are so many shows every single night, 24/7, 365 days a year. You couldn’t get to all of them, even if you start at 8 in the morning. It can be overwhelming, every bar on Broadway has a million really good bands playing all day and night. East Nashville is where we play the most. That's where the Rock scene is, and where the not-Country is. There are still a lot of Folk and Acoustic acts, but East Nashville is more of our scene.
BEAU: East Nashville is the local Indie Alternative scene. You'll see original music by bands from Nashville playing a range of music that typically isn't Country.
DANNY: That's where you meet cool people, go to cool bars, and network.
SIERRA: That's where the pretty boys hang out. You heard it here first.
DANNY: If you want a man with a mustache and a mullet, that’s the place.
SIERRA: It seems like every man has a mustache and a mullet these days.
Under High Street Live Show | Shot by Grey Vanderwoude
SIERRA: Any final thoughts to share?
DYLAN: Thank you Toronto. And spell it out like: T O R O N O.
SIERRA: And thank you See You Next Tuesday?
IN UNISON: Yes, thank you See You Next Tuesday!
DYLAN: This interview was cunty as hell.
Follow Under High Street on Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, and Facebook, and stream their new single, Quitter / Spanish Castle Magic, out now