Philadelphia-based, indie rock and folk trio, TEOA (The End of America) have released the music video for their single “Not The End,” out on April 30, from their EP Light Within, available on all streaming services. They are currently hosting a weekly show on Facebook Live every Thursday at 8:30 pm EST, and they were recently featured on NPR Mountain Stage, which can be listened to on the Mountain Stage podcast here. Their band name stems from Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road.”
Former frontmen of other bands, Brendon Thomas, James Downes, and Trevor Leonard’s latest EP, Light Within contains six original singles, previously recorded last year during their monthly single project, that is continuing in light of current circumstances. Since their formation in 2005, the three best friends have released three albums and will release a new single every month for the next year. TEOA’s single “He Was a Friend of Mine,” was featured on Spotify’s “Fresh Folk” playlist, and were voted “Most Wanted” Emerging Artists at the 2017 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, along with “Favorite New Artist,” at the 2016 Philadelphia Folk Festival. The trio have performed at SXSW, Savannah Stopover and the Baltimore Folk Fest, and shared the stage with Larry Campbell, David Bromberg, Gary Louris (The Jayhawks), Simone Felice (The Felice Brothers). They were even personally selected by Beck to perform his Song Reader sheet music release show in Los Angeles.
Discover more about TEOA’s new single and filming the music video for their new single “Not The End,” what “On The Road” means to them, their writing and recording process, and the moment they all knew they wanted to perform as a trio.
Your new single, “Not The End,” came out on April 22, Earth Day, and is even more appropriate with what the world is going through right now. What do you hope listeners take away from this beautiful single?
James Downes: We hope that listeners will find some strength in hearing the words “this is not the end.” I stopped reading the news about two weeks ago because it was all just too heavy. I think we need to protect our optimism by immersing ourselves in something positive every once in a while.
You guys released the music video for “Not The End,” the same day the single was out. What was filming like for the video?
James: The filming was a blast. We took our buddy Kirby Sybert (who, in addition to being a great videographer, is also an amazing musician and member of the band Mo Lowda & The Humble) on the road with us for a short tour to capture some footage. It happened to be the run where we played NPR’s Mountain Stage Show in West Virginia. It was a wild production and concert and we were lucky to have him along to document all the usual tour bumbling.
Love that the band’s name “TEOA (The End of America) was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. What does that book mean to each of you?
James: The reason we took the name from that book is because it all represented the same thing to us: pushing your boundaries in search of meaning and inspiration. It’s all about pushing limits.
You guys are hosting a weekly show on Facebook Live. How else are you all coping creatively during quarantine?
James: We’re doing a lot of writing and demoing. New material is percolating in these moments. Sometimes I freak out because I feel like I’m not doing enough or that my industry is spinning out of control. But those moments come in short waves. For the most part, we’re spending our time creating and Zooming with people we care about.
Love you guys’ harmonies in your songs. What is each of your writing and recording processes like singularly and collectively?
James: Thanks for the kind words. Singularly, we all tend to write with a guitar in our hands as we feel around in the dark for a vocal melody to pop up. Sometimes there are lyrics attached to those melodies. Other times not. Sometimes we may have concepts in mind before we start writing. Other times, the song illuminates the concept. When we have the luxury of being in the same room, we’ll bring parts to the table and piece songs together in real-time. When we’re remote, someone will email a complete skeleton of a song around (probably guitar and lead vocal line) and everyone else will fill in their parts in their own home studios and send it back and compile it.
Although all three of you previously were frontmen of bands and often joined each other on stage, do you guys remember the moment you all knew you wanted to pursue music as a trio?
James: Good question. I do remember that moment. Brendon and Trevor’s solo projects were on a tour together and they stayed at my house in New Haven, CT for a few days. We decided to create a few songs that we’d sing together and really lay into the three-part harmonies, which is something that we’d never done before. We were rehearsing a version of “Blackbird” by The Beatles in my living room when it clicked. In the moment we realized we sounded good, it was like something clicked. That night we performed that song at a house show in Providence, RI and our buddy Jeff, who was in attendance, said: “You guys would be idiots not to start a project.” And that was that.
TEOA (The End of America) – photo provided by press contact
