If you haven’t heard of Goodbye June, you probably aren’t alone but you should definitely correct that mistake. Luckily for our readers we got you covered and prepared an introduction piece a few weeks ago. You can find it here…. It’s ok, go ahead and give it a quick read we will wait.
Now that everyone is caught up, we can start off by saying these guys rock! We managed to catch their set at Louder Than Life and they were absolutely flawless. Bringing a spectacular mix of blues and rock together with plenty of style and some truly epic vocals really puts Goodbye June near the top of my favorite performances list. After being blown away by their set we managed to catch up with the members for a quick interview.
One thing we have to give these guys credit for is their interest in video games. We briefly discussed their interest in Destiny, Skyrim and Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain before getting into our questions. It’s always great to meet fellow gamers especially when they come in the form of such a talented rock band.
UG: Welcome to Louisville guys, we just caught your set and thought it was amazing. Daisy was definitely a standout track and just so happens to be your new single. What was the inspiration behind this song?
Goodbye June: Actually the three of us had always written our own music and we never really done a co-write with anybody before. So we contacted a producer in Nashville named Paul Moak, he’s a phenomenal producer and has done a lot of great work. We just went into the studio with him the first time and co-wrote a song. Daisy came out and we just all were like “This is cool, this could be something.” So we just kept working with him and actually we are putting out a new album next year with Paul. It was really just us three and Paul getting to know each other and just vibing each other out and kind of talking and figuring out how this is going to work. The rest is history.
UG: To be clear we really aren’t just saying that, Daisy has been stuck in our head for days now.
Goodbye June: Oh that’s awesome
UG: You guys formed in 2005 out of a terrible tragedy and with that I know you came together to write music and cope with your loss. How was your family’s reaction to coming together and going out on tour?
Goodbye June: We grew up in a Pentecostal church and at first the spiritual side of the family was a little bit…they didn’t get it and they didn’t want us to do it because they didn’t understand it.
They wanted us to be music ministers, preachers, and all that sort of thing. But we grew up in the church and tried to do the Christian band kind of thing, but it didn’t really work out because it was never right
Young kids trying to do music they love and you’re not allowed to listen to bad music. You want to play rock music and they still don’t care, they don’t want you to do it.
We were super young at that time
UG: We do understand, we are Christian…
Goodbye June: Oh were still… our families, we still have plenty of preachers and all that in our family, it’s all in our family. You know it’s hard. We’re not pushing an agenda like that or anything. We believe in the higher power and our families are still faithful…. I don’t how we got on that road.
UG: On a personal level then, was there any kind of hesitation in starting a rock and roll band?
It was brutal in the beginning, but at some point you just got to say screw it this is who we are. Accept us or whatever and it was big moment.
It was a big moment just because in that whole world there is no drinking, there’s nothing like that. We come out…I’m the son of a preacher, he’s the son of a music minister. Choosing not to go to college or do full time church work was a weird thing in our family. So taking the plunge and moving to Nashville in 2009 collectively we just started really pushing it and they came around to the idea.
They started to kind of get behind it and we met up with our indie label and been working with them ever since. We have new management now and have been on tour with ZZ-Top and putting a new album out, so we are hoping that the flag is taking off.
UG: For what it’s worth you guys are amazingly talented and I think you picked the right direction.
Goodbye June: Thank you very much.
UG: With that, does any of that talent run in your families?
Tyler Baker: My mother plays piano, organ, sings and my dad plays bass guitar. Our grandfather played everything you can think of.
Landon Milbourn: My dad’s a music minster…still is. Works for Word and Music in Nashville, it’s a Christian record label. Music is all in our family.
Brandon Qualkenbush: My grandmother played piano, and sang on the radio. The music was all around us at a very young age. It was all Christian music, but it was all around us growing up.
Landon: Funny story….My dad being a choir director, always made me do stuff I never wanted to do especially in front of people. He’s like “You’re singing a solo” and I’m like “I don’t want to sing solo.” I remember being in car rides with him and for some reason dad always wanted to see how high I could sing. He would turn on old Whitney Houston tapes and he’s like “Can you hit this note right here?” I would say No and then I would hit it and he would be like “Yeah!”
UG: Speaking of that you seem to have so much control over your voice and you guys put on a really solid performance all the way around. What goes into prepping for a show? Or do you guys just show up and do it?
Goodbye June: Everybody is a little different. For me it’s warming up the vocal cords a little bit. It was a little tougher because we left Nashville at five a.m. this morning and then had an early show, so it’s a little tougher to get going, but you warm up.
I think in general we rehearse, we love playing music together and we try to keep instruments in our hands and stay sharp and fresh. That’s a big thing for us, trying to put the work in because you have to. This day and age man, you gotta be tight and you gotta be cutthroat and you have to produce something people care about. If you can accomplish that, it’s special and you gotta cherish it and grow it.
UG: Going into the music industry, it’s definitely different than what it used to be. How are you using technology to help you?
Goodbye June: One of the biggest things…. you have to do media now. Back in the day it was more of a mystique thing. You would sell millions of albums off your first record if everything went right. Now you gotta work harder, you gotta be involved with your fans, and you gotta interact with them. They want to see how you live day to day outside of just the music, so social media is huge!
Instagram, Periscope all that stuff is so important now a days. I hate social media but you gotta do it.
There’s so many bands out there biting, kicking, and scratching for attention. In order to get your fan base and grow you gotta get in there and you gotta engage. We love connecting with our fans, it was tough at first because we’re not social media guys but once you get into it you love it.
You love the interaction, that’s what I like about it. I love connecting with people.
Any show that we have time I love talking to people about anything. Whether they want to talk about our set or talk about Donald Trump…I don’t care.
Do you guys want to talk about Donald Trump?
UG: If you want…
Goodbye June: Let’s not do that. Politics are silly.
UG: I know you all have got a bunch of stuff to do but I do have one more question. Out of Your Mind has a terrific music video that really focuses on all of you performing. You don’t really come across as shy people, but what’s it like to have the camera focused on you constantly?
Goodbye June: It was weird at first getting used to that. The camera being in your face but once you get kind of used to it, you focus in on what you’re actually doing. That was the biggest hurdle I think, to actually feel what you’re doing and with someone right there like “Hey I want to watch you do this.” Because it’s a personal moment onstage…it’s very personal.
That particular video Out of Your Mind, it was one shot for the most part and it was almost one take. Just continuous movement of the camera so that was even a little more difficult. I think we got it in two takes.
It’s the third level of our studio in Nashville. Marty Robbins the country singer, it’s his old place. That old attic had just not been kept up with and it’s dilapidated, so it’s perfect for the shot….and it was a free location.
You can catch Goodbye June at the Soundharvest Music Festival in Nashville on Oct. 17th. I highly suggest you catch them live if possible and be sure to add their music to your library. These guys are the real deal and offer up a genuine experience both through their music and message.
For more information on Goodbye June visit their Official Site.
