41st and Home Nerds Gone Wild

Vancouver-based 41st and Home is not just your average indie band. With their recent release, Left in Places, the 2010 Peak Performance Project artists are capturing the hearts of listeners nationwide with their contemporary folk-inspired music. I caught up with lead singer and guitarist Thomas Kolb and violinist Sejal Lal to talk about being a Peak Performance Project Top 20 artist, living the rock n’ roll lifestyle and the pros and cons of being “nerds in a band.” YT: How has becoming a Peak Performance Project artist affected the band? TK: Our MySpace fans have doubled since entering The Peak [Performance Project], and we get played pretty regularly [on the radio] too! All The Peak artists do, but I thought initially we’d show up and they’d play us once or twice. YT: Does it feel surreal to hear your songs, such as “Sleeper,” on the radio? TK: I mean, it’s definitely a new experience for us. The first time we heard it, we were on tour and we totally flipped out in the car and we just pulled over on the side of the road to listen – it was awesome! YT: A few of you are students at UBC. What are you all studying? SL: Well, I’m studying Arts and I just started in September and it’s pretty cool. The rest of them are all at UBC as well. TK: We’re kind of nerds. YT: Would you guys describe yourselves as nerds in a band or as band guys who happen to be in school? TK: I would say we’re nerds in a band. Garth [Covernton] (drummer, banjo player) and I go to the Biltmore probably twice a week to see shows and stuff, but we don’t live the rock-and-roll lifestyle at all. We go home and study. (laughs) We were on tour, and we played in bars and stuff all the time, but it’s like, get back in the van, go to sleep and that was pretty much our rock-and-roll lifestyle. I mean, if the rock-and-roll lifestyle is just being tired and hungry all the time, then I guess we do that… is this what rock-and-roll’s all about? It sucks. (laughs) Let’s be honest, we’re geeks. YT: How do you balance being a full-time university student and the responsibilities of the band? TK: I’m taking a reduced semester this year so we can make this work… [The band] was always just a weekend thing, like every Sunday we’d get together and jam. But now we’re practicing a lot more and it’s a little more interesting dealing with everyone’s schedules. Everyone’s busy, but we’re like, “Let’s play some music and we’ll work around it.” YT: When you’ve had a rough day at school, is it hard to switch gears for band rehearsal? SL: I think everybody takes it differently… everyone’s just very understanding… everyone understands each other’s emotions, I guess… But everyone puts in the effort to practice what we need, and we work around people’s schedules for sure… I think we got really lucky with our band chemistry, I do, ’cause everybody gets along so, so well. YT: What advice do you have for up-and-coming bands wishing to release their debut album, based on your experiences with releasing “Left In Places”? SL: Practice before you go into the recording studio. Do not waste time in the studio. YT: If you had to choose, would you pick school or the band? TK: Even though we didn’t win The Peak thing, when we first started they were like, “Hey guys, here’s $3,500,” so that’s sort of a big career booster there. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know for me, if this really helped the band, and we were getting booked up all the time, then I would definitely choose music over school. I can always go back to school. UBC will always be happy to take my money. (laughs) UBC’s not going anywhere; it’s been around for a while, but I don’t think you can do that with the music industry. The music industry is always changing. They’re not going to wait for you to finish school. If you get the opportunity, you have to take it. SL: If we get the opportunity, I’d think we’d go for it. Just to see where it goes for sure would be interesting. I’m just saying that if that opportunity came up, I’d be pretty excited to take it. For more information on the band and their shows, visit myspace.com/41standhomemusic or search for them on Facebook and Twitter.