INTERVIEW: Birdie Country
Forming in 2017, Birdie Country is a band from Grand Rapids, MI that takes the alt-rock genre to the next level. They get a lot of their influence from early 90's and 2000's alternative rock music and push themselves beyond their comfort zones to create new and unique music. They have released one album in 2018 and have been releasing a couple singles every year since 2016. Most of them have known each other for years, so they're all pretty good friends and have a lot of chemistry on stage together. They are so expressive and fun to watch and they always make sure the audience matches their energy during their sets.
Noisescape attended their Dec 9th show at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, Michigan to talk about the band, their upcoming projects, and more. You can catch them this month at The Pyramid Scheme again on Feb 17 in Grand Rapids, MI!
Photo by Michaela May (@mr_photog)
Q: What was the inspiration behind the name Birdie Country?
A: Nothing too spectacular here to say; essentially, we just thought it sounded cool. It was a phrase a couple of us would say a lot back when we would disc golf every afternoon after a hard 3 hour lunch-rush shift working at Jimmy John’s. We’d usually work about 11am to 2pm and then find somewhere near or far to spend the rest of the day hurling frisbees toward metal baskets. When it came time to name the band, we thought it checked our boxes: 1) Sounded cool, and - most importantly of all- 2) no one else had a band named anything like it at the time.
Q: So I saw that you guys officially formed Birdie Country in 2017, Did any of you guys know each other before that?
A: Matt and Sam have known each other since high school, and Matt and Taylor met in 2015 while hustling together at the same Jimmy John’s. Trevor and Jake just got caught in the band’s gravitational pull and eventually were fully inaugurated as members. It just be like that sometimes.
Q: What was the best show you guys have done?
A: This is a tough question. It’s like your kids, you know? You most certainly have a favorite but you feel pretty bad saying it out loud. That said, We’ve played some bangers in our hometown here in Grand Rapids, including a pair of headline shows at the Pyramid Scheme, a solo show at Founders Brewing Co, and a wild one at Mulligan's Pub back in February of this year. My favorite out of town show we’ve done happens in Toledo at a place known as “The Holland Haus.” It was just some guy’s house who was/is very passionate about the small-scale touring scene. We played in his garage to a packed house and wound down the night around his bonfire in the backyard. The dude had also built a pretty respectable skate park in his driveway. He was rad.
Q: Do you have a favorite venue to play?
A: The Pyramid Scheme here in GR really is the cream of the crop. They did it right. Atmosphere, amenities, location… they’ve got it all. We love any chance we can get to play here.
Q: Do you have any upcoming shows or tours?
A: We've got a show coming up in Fenton, at a spot called the Corner Bar and Grill. That’ll be our last one for a minute as we wrap up our album and Math has his first baby (due in February). We’re planning some shows again for late spring through summer in 2023 though. Stay tuned to our socials and Spotify to keep up to date on when we announce those.
Q: Are there any bands or artists you guys want to collaborate with in the future?
A: We all love the Menzingers. It would be really cool someday to do a show or run of shows with them. We work with their tour manager from time to time to set up some of our shows, so who knows! Could happen sometime if everything comes together.
Q: Your guys’ most recent single is from 2021, do you guys have any upcoming albums or EPs you're working on right now?
A: Yes, we’ve been tracking our next album now for over a year. So far we’ve finished 7 songs for it, with 4 or 5 more to go. We’ve only been doing a couple at a time since we’re self-funded. The album is being recorded in Chesaning with our bud Nick Diener who did the first Hot Mulligan album and a few other notable projects. We love working with him. He’s kind of an honorary band member at this point because he just melts his styles into ours and we’re a lot better for it. New stuff definitely sounds like the best version of our band, and that’s mostly because of our pal and recording engineer, Mr. Diener.
Photo by Michaela May (@mr_photog)