It’s Fest Shalom today and we spoke with Buds. about what we can expect from their set.
How was the experience of releasing an EP during COVID?
Far from ideal. The whole pandemic situation made everything feel weirdly detached. As a band we obviously know how important the admin side of things is to just existing but it was never solely supposed to be that. The video making process of this release really saved us. It was great to make a video remotely with friends and fans of the band and a few friends told us the video to Grit really cheered them up when they got to see it. The idea for the video for Blame has been on the to do list for a long time so it was really great to put the idea in to practice. It was also great to project some of our frustrations caused from toward the last 18 months on to some inanimate objects. What carried us through it also was knowing gigs were on the horizon even if we couldn’t have a show on release day.
Which songs from the EP do you think will thrive in the live environment?
So being able to play some shows now it seems that Anything Good appears to be a favorite live song of the new EP. To play live together Hope is definitely up there. Its just got a great vibe on record and live. We are real proud of all the songs on the new EP and because we seem to play so fast live we can fit all the songs on it into our set and still have time to play some of EP 1 as well!
Has it been hard to stay creative during the pandemic?
Definitely!! It’s important to obviously practice your instrument/singing to stay on top of your game but without gigs there was a surprising lack of motivation as the pandemic went on. Between us though we all have hobbies in drawing, gaming, skateboarding and tv/anime consumption so it was nice to have some more time and mental energy to spend on that.
How do you think you’ve grown as a band in the past couple of years?
We’ve definitely gotten tighter. One of the biggest things though is the song writing is definitely more of a collaborative effort in the second EP. Dan still comes up with the bones of the songs but more ideas with ways things should be played or layers and harmonies in the songs come from everyone now which gives us more of a whole band vibe instead of a band playing one person’s songs. Also the songs develop live over time as we come up with new ideas that we didn’t have at the time of recording. For us the live experience isn’t trying to match what you’d get on record but more the whole experience so we are happy to keep on developing songs after they’ve been recorded.
Which band on the Fest Shalom lineup are you most excited to catch and why?
So we are super excited to brag about playing on the same bill as itoldyouiwouldeatyou. It’s also cool to be able to see Parachute for Gordo again after playing shows with them in previous bands. Our pals in Treehouse and The Yacht Club are playing too so will be wicked to see them again. We’re really excited though to see Brutalligators. We’ve somehow never been on a bill with them in this band or bands we’ve been in previously and a load of our friends have nothing but great things to say about them and their new single is wicked so probably them!
You can purchase tickets to Fest Shalom here. DO IT!