At Fashion Meets Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio, QRO interviewed The Future Laureates.
QRO: Can you tell me your names and what you do in the band?
Danny Surico: My name is Danny. I play guitar and sing.
Rob Durkee: I’m Rob and I play drums.
Andrew Bockelman: My name is Andrew and I play lead guitar.
James Hyde: James, and I play bass.
Matthew Daigler: Matthew. I sing and play ukulele.
QRO: Now I know you guys have been together for seven years. How did you meet and form the band?
DS: James, Matthew, and I all went to school at Loyola University, Chicago and we actually formed the band kind of on a whim. James and Matthew initiated it and we played for a talent competition at the school.
JH: ‘Loyola’s Got Talent’
DS: That’s true.
MD: They were raising money for Hunger Week.
DS: We played that and we got second place. We got a gift certificate to a local restaurant, which was awesome. We ate the food and the band has continued since then. Andrew and Rob have joined us more recently.
QRO: Did you guys have any other names for the band before deciding on FL? What was one of the names you guys kind of debated over?
JH: The was a whole extensive discussion; Hot Vinyl.
MD: The very first name was Polyphemus.
JH: We were originally called Polyphemus, but that name ended up being taken. So we discussed several possibilities including Hot Vinyl.
MD: Attack Planet R…
JH: But we settled on Future Laureates. It seemed right and has served us well.
DS: I don’t think it was necessarily the favorite or least favorite…
JH: It just stuck because everyone could agree on it. Here we are.
QRO: Being together for seven years, then adding new members, how has your sound evolved?
DS: A lot. Each player that comes into the band brings a different set of influences and a different skill set and just different things they like or attach to musically in song writing process. What’s nice is having the continuity with James, Matthew, and I. That core has always been in the band, and we are fortunate to have that, but Andrew listens to The Beatles religiously and so a lot of bridges of our songs are strongly influenced by that. Rob, what are your influences?
RD: I listen to stuff that is a little heavier so my drumming is more aggressive than in the past so it has a little more influences stronger rock ‘n’ roll sound than that of pop.
QRO: So in the show when you said you were going to switch to some blues, I totally didn’t expect the ukulele for the blues. That was pretty amazing.
MD: It’s a pretty versatile instrument. It can do lots of stuff.
QRO: You have been working on you EP, Here and After, which was crowd-funded. How has crowdfunding changed the way bands are able to make records?
DS: Crowdfunding as an industry is really booming. I mean it’s really taking off. My day job is actually working for a crowdfunding company in Chicago, so it was nice being able to take some of the things that I coach other users on to be successful with crowdfunding. I think the biggest difference is it’s more socially acceptable. It’s not perceived across the board as, “Why are you asking me for money?” It’s almost like okay this is a way, like a really practical pragmatic way to raise funds in a short amount of time with people geographically all over the map. For us it’s been hugely successful.
MD: Yeah, it too depends on the person who is going to be donating or not. If it’s a band you really like a lot, it’s nice. It feels like you are helping them and investing in them. There have been other bands we played with who bought our records and paid extra because they said we are good people, I like the music, and I want to see you do well so that’s helpful. I’m sure some people are annoyed by us reaching out but…
RD: It’s a really good way for fans to feel directly involved also because it would haven’t happened without them. It gives them a sense of community with the bands that do it. It makes us feels really good for them to get involved with the process. It’s like a group effort kind of thing.
DS: What’s really cool is we did it for the release of the record so it actually served as kind of a marketing campaign, too, because people are really aware of it so it was a double win. We actually helped raise funds to help release it and also people are exposed to it and excited about it.
QRO: Was the record a collaborative effort?
DS: This is the most collaborative record we have ever written and it speaks to kind of the chemistry among this group of the five of us. Historically, I have written a lot of the music, but we all write. We all arrange our parts and we are all involved in the writing process. So this is all very spread out across the board I think and I think it’s stronger because of that. It’s made by different influences and different people having the ability to express those influences is cool.
QRO: I read some reviews on the band and it and you have been described as gracious, very thankful to your fans, and very welcoming. I did see that on stage. You have a lot of positive reviews. What advice do you have to new bands starting out that might not get these type of reviews? How would you tell them to handle negative feedback?
MD: We never get those so uh… [everyone laughs]
RD: You gotta anticipate that they will happen and then just focus on the things you do well and the things you have been praised for in the past. You kind of put that in the front of everything you do. You need to realize you can’t please everybody.
MD: It’s something you have to think about. The first person says you do something wrong you call them a jerk, second person does it, then the third person is telling you the same thing you really need to start thinking about it. But other than that if you feel good about what you are doing and what you are putting out then usually that is the right way to do it.
DS: On top of that it’s also in a weird way a compliment. It’s a sign of relevancy. Right? So if people care enough about you to criticize your music, it’s not fun to hear that, but your relevant enough to warrant it.
QRO: What can your fans expect over the next year?
MD: We will be playing lots of shows in the next few months. There won’t be shows every weekend, but pretty close.
RD: Like 90%
MD: We will be playing shows throughout different cities in the Midwest mostly, and I think we will have more internet and media presence that isn’t Midwest so they can see that as well.
DS: More radio play.
MD: Definitely more radio play.
DS: It’s going to be a big growing year for us and we are excited for that.
