.

.

Interview with
BRIAN BUTCHER
of
THE HOME TEAM

(4th May 2024)

Interview with Shaquira Hobbs

.

.

Shaquira Hobbs: Tell us a little about yourself, where you are from, your music, and how you guys met and formed the band?
The Home Team Brian: Yeah, I’m Brian. I play in a band called The Home Team. I’m the singer. We are from Seattle, Washington, and we make heavy pop music. I joined back in 2015, and they were already a band. I was actually a fan. They were like a local Seattle band with a different singer. And I was a fan of them at the time. They were coming out with their first EP, and I was the first person who bought it.

Shaquira Hobbs: How cool is that?
The Home Team: It was, being able to tell that story is very funny. Just because of how much has happened since then, but Yeah, it was very funny. Eventually, they parted ways with that guy, and had a different guy for a little while, that was a friend of mine. That guy quit and he hit me up and was like, hey, I just quit the home team, I think you should audition. And I had just ended things with my local Seattle band. I was like, perfect. Let’s go, let’s try it.

Shaquira Hobbs: That is awesome. Congratulations. And to become a part of a band that you’re a fan of is huge.
The Home Team: Yeah, totally.

.

.

Shaquira Hobbs: So how’s the journey been since then? How do you find it?
The Home Team: It’s been a lot. I mean 2015 and 2020 was mostly just DIY touring like Mostly West Coast we did maybe three full US tours in that five-year span and Yeah, it was just kind of figuring out what we wanted to do sound wise because our first record was kind of what we thought people would like and then slow bloom which we wrote in 2020, wrote and recorded in 2020, was the record that we liked. And it was just a much more genuine product. And it was kind of because our first record didn’t really do all too well as far as growing the band. Like it did, you know, I have a lot of gratitude for songs like She’s Quiet and Fashion Forward, but overall it didn’t really do what we were hoping for and so we decided if we’re not going to make money doing what we love we may as well love doing it and so we’re just going to make whatever kind of music we want. Lo and behold that’s actually what people wanted. It’s just genuine art. Imagine that.

Shaquira Hobbs: How would you describe your sound? The band tends to mix genres and it creates quite a unique “heavy pop” sound. Can you walk us through the process of experimenting with these different styles and how it has shaped your musical identity?
The Home Team: We were boiling with that heavy pop name for just a little bit because when we only had slow bloom out and better off obviously I really thought it was more like poppy rock. Cause I was like, it’s still guitar-driven, it’s still drums, yada, yada. And then I think the reason we thought of heavy pop was because we were right in the throes of writing this new album. And I had shown a friend and he was actually like one of the people who was saying like, yeah, I don’t really get what you’re talking about heavy pop-wise. Like, I don’t think that’s right. I showed him loud and he goes, oh, this is heavy pop. And I was like, there we go. So yeah, I mean, our new sound is definitely swaying towards that. Historically, we come from a lot of metal backgrounds, so we have a lot of metal influence. I listen to a lot of R&B, so vocally I have a lot of R&B influence. And yeah, I think heavy pop is definitely the direction that we’re aiming to go.

Shaquira Hobbs: Everyone brings a distinct background and influence to The Home Team. How do you navigate combining those diverse musical tastes and personal styles to create a cohesive sound, and what challenges have you faced along the way?
The Home Team: I like that question a lot because I get to tell a story of me and John. So John is the guitarist and he and I are the kind of the main creative songwriter heads. And for the first like four years of the band, we did not really get along. Like we definitely had very different tastes for what we were going for. I think I had a tendency to really over complicate my music and he had a tendency to oversimplify his music. And so we were clashing a lot in that respect and especially like Better Off is, it has a lot of clashing on it, in my opinion, when I listen back to it and I can hear it. Um, when we wrote Slow Bloom, we started to realize that we are more similar than we think in our tastes. We just package them differently. And when we found a couple of influences that we were, we were like, yeah, we can both agree this is sick and it’s not common in this genre of music. Then we opened the floodgates to be able to take my tendency to overcomplicate things and his tendency to oversimplify things and marry them and meet them in the middle to make really great music. Move It or Lose It was the first song of its kind in that respect. And we totally geeked out when we had written that song because we were like, this is the direction we need to go. Like this is… Move It or Lose It is definitely like that is a stamp for a time period of… Oh, we figured it out. Let’s do this now. And then the rest is history.

.

.

Shaquira Hobbs: That’s awesome. It’s great that you’re in a comfortable spot now. So your latest single, Hell, has just been released. Can you describe its origin and evolution?
The Home Team: Yeah, Hell’s a weird one because it was really late in the process of the album. And it was… I mean, it’s fast. It’s like the fastest song we’ve ever written. We’ve never written a song at 200 BPM before.

Shaquira Hobbs: I love it by the way. I think it’s great.
The Home Team: Okay, cool. Right on. I’m glad you do. We love the riff and we love the vibe of it. And it definitely was a curveball and it wasn’t originally supposed to be a single. We actually decided later to make it a single. And that one had a lot of Zach Jones influence, who was the guy who produced the album and he helped us write a lot of songs and John took an idea to him one day at the end of the process, honestly, to just get another, just to fill up another song slot. It wasn’t, we weren’t trying to write a single. John came to him with this idea and Zach and John totally bounced off one another for a whole afternoon. And by the end of the day, we were just like What is this? This is crazy. This is crazy. So, um, yeah, it was definitely a weird one. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. But again, just in the vein of trying new things and seeing what sticks, it’s something that stuck.

.

.

Shaquira Hobbs: That’s awesome. It sounds like a great collaborative effort.
The Home Team:Yeah, honestly, it was just like, we hear something we like and we say, can we put that in our music? Yeah, let’s do it. It’s like the same thing with, um, putting live horns on slow bloom. Because that album has a lot of horns on it. Then loud has horns on it. Bragg has horns on it. Um, and that it was really just like. me and John were listening to this Japanese rock band that we really like and they had a bunch of horns in a horn section and we were like, we could do that. I think we were listening to Outkast. There’s like one song that has a really, I’m totally blanking on what song it is, but the way you move. Yeah, anyway. Realistically, it really comes down to a collection of influences and things that we like and that we think are sick. Most of the time they’ve always worked together. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes we say, that wasn’t the one. But realistically, if you have a clear vision for what you want your art to be, it is pretty easy to figure out when something is inspiring and when it could work as an influence for your own music. So I know it sounds simple, but just try new things and same with Styx.

Shaquira Hobbs: With 36 shows lined up before the year’s end, what’s your go-to pre-show ritual to pump yourselves up and get ready to rock the stage?
The Home Team: Before every show, I’ll usually run anywhere between like half a mile and a mile, um, just to get my body warm and my lungs open and, um, yeah, just kind of calms the nerves. Uh, that is usually something I like to do in the last couple of tours. I’ve fallen off of it a little bit, but, um, for no good reason. I like, I really should do it or because it really helps. Um, I try not to drink. very much alcohol on tour just because like, it’s exhausting enough, I can’t even, I can’t imagine being hungover in the day too. But that would limit my coffee a little bit. And honestly, yeah, just trying to get a lot before a tour, just trying to get as much exercise as I can just so that my body is like physically ready to do this demanding thing that I’m about to do for the whole month.

.

.

Shaquira Hobbs: If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why?
The Home Team: Oh. I mean, if we’re talking about like, if I want to put together a really great show, as far as something that I think would really work together, and like it would be a massive show, I would say like, Bring the Horizon would be a phenomenal band to play with, just because they’re another band that pushes a lot of boundaries. Personally, Beyonce would be pretty cool. That would be pretty cool. Also we listen to a lot of Japanese rock and there’s a band in Japan. This is actually not an unrealistic possibility. Like this might happen in my lifetime. There’s a band called Polka Dot Stingray that I would love to play with. They’re very, very influential for us. I know I’ve said three but I feel like I have to say something way cooler because Dead or Alive is such a huge like Spann, but I didn’t really listen to a lot of oldies music, but I would say Led Zeppelin of all the iconic bands is probably the one that I have gravitated towards the most. Um, and then just to throw one more curve ball, James Brown. Yeah, that’d be cool.

Shaquira Hobbs: If you could go back in time and give your younger selves one piece of advice about pursuing music, what would it be, and why?
The Home Team: Stop trying to do what you think is going to be popular and just do what you want to do. I think that’s good advice. That’s what I would tell myself. We got there, but you know, it took five years of DIY grinding. Yeah. I think I’m just trying to be as genuine as possible.

Shaquira Hobbs:What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
The Home Team: Honestly, when I see people singing back it is really, really fun. Um, it’s very empowering, to say the least. But my favorite thing about performing live is usually when there are certain moments in our set that we’ve kind of curated to be “wow” moments. When everything goes right, it’s such a good feeling. Like being able to, like, honestly, really, now that I think about it, I care less that a crowd is really, really engaged rather than I would rather know that I put my absolute all into it. And like, I wouldn’t be held back by anything. I didn’t have any limitations. Like those nights of everything just going really well, there are a few better feelings. I have like five shows in my head right now that are moments.

.

.

Shaquira Hobbs: What’s one thing about each of you that fans might be surprised to learn, whether it’s a hidden talent, a quirky hobby, or an unusual fear?
The Home Team: I constantly whistle, but that’s in my Instagram bio. So a lot of people might already know that. Um, I cook a lot. I love cooking. There’s a pretty classic red sauce pasta that I’ve made. And I am totally vegan. So I usually like to try and veganize things to make them taste as close to the original thing as possible. My mom grew up pretty culturally Italian. And so she was always cooking in the kitchen, making dope food. There’s a red sauce, like just straight up sausage and a red sauce dish with fusilli pasta. that if you use all the right ingredients and like high-quality garlic, good Italian tomatoes, like if you do everything because you can make the exact same dish with lower quality ingredients and it will taste bad and just boring. But if you use all the right ingredients and I usually put coconut milk instead of cream, it is so good. It takes all day. It takes all day for me to make. Definitely, if I’m trying to wow somebody with a vegan meaty pasta, that’s definitely my number one go-to.

Shaquira Hobbs: What are the craziest things you’ve ever done?
The Home Team: Craziest things? Yeah. Quitting my job to pursue a band was pretty nuts.

Shaquira Hobbs: Yeah, that’s quite out there. 
The Home Team: Yeah. I mean, I’m not much of a, my head goes to thrill-seeking things like skydiving or yada yada. And I’m not much of a thrill seeker if I’m gonna be honest. 

.

.

Shaquira Hobbs: Have you ever gone skydiving? 
The Home Team:No. Okay. And I don’t know if I will, for real. I’ve made my way into the roller coaster scene. I can get down with some, like I can do a hoop or whatever, but my wife is way more of a thrill seeker than I am. She’s always down to go on these, she’s like. Let’s go on the Turbo Terror 69,000. I’m like, no, absolutely not. But yeah, I would say like, ooh, driving between Salt Lake City and Denver in the winter at night was pretty crazy. We’ve done that now multiple times and I don’t think we’re ever gonna do it again. I think we’re just gonna put the phone away. Is that dangerous or something? Oh. So in the winter, there are main highways. There’s only two highways that go between those cities and it’s about an eight-hour drive. And in the wintertime, they’re both at pretty high elevation. If you hear about bands flipping their van in the US, like on tour, it is almost always on one of these highways, almost always. And we have now put on our previous tour that we did with Don Brokow. We had to go from Denver to Salt Lake. And at about three o’clock in the morning, we hit some black ice. Everyone’s fine, we didn’t crash. Our driver is a pro, he’s amazing. Hit some black ice. I felt it. And I didn’t really know what I was feeling until we regained traction and the whole thing. Boom! And I was, everyone was awake now and we were like. And Zesty, our driver, we’re hot! Run out! He was a pro because he knew that you’re supposed to accelerate when you’re doing that, not brake because as soon as you lose or regain traction is when people flip because now their tire is not moving anymore. Yes, he was currently accelerating. Anyways, that’s a crazy thing. That highway is a death trap. We are putting our foot down if there’s ever a tour. We’re saying, hey, sorry, we’re not playing that day. We’re not going to die. Lie.

.

.

Follow THE HOME TEAM
Instagram – Facebook – Spotify – Tiktok

.

.

AMNPLIFY – DB