Summer concert season officially arrives in Cleveland on May 27 when Young the Giant headlines a stacked night at Jacobs Pavilion alongside fellow alt-rock heavyweights Cold War Kids and rising San Diego trio Almost Monday.
Made up of vocalist Dawson Daugherty, guitarist Cole Clisby, and bassist Luke Fabry, Almost Monday has quickly evolved from a buzzworthy coastal indie-pop act into one of the genre’s most infectious young bands. Armed with shimmering hooks, feel-good energy, and more than 1.2 billion cumulative streams, the group has become a festival favorite while scoring radio success with songs like “can’t slow down.”
Ahead of their Cleveland stop, CleveRock.com caught up with the band to discuss surfing culture, life on the road, massive arena crowds, finding connection through live music, and why fans should make sure they arrive early enough to catch their set.
A fellow California-based band who allegedly were heavy into surfing culture are the legendary Beach Boys. What a bunch of imposters. Principal members Brian Wilson and Mike Love never once waxed up a surfboard. Only one member (Dennis Wilson) actually surfed. (I doubt he was any good.)
As for Almost Monday?
“We’re the real deal, man,” Cole confirmed. “We’re the real thing! We all do.”
As genuine surfers, the lifestyle of chilling on the beach and catching waves undoubtedly has an impact of some sort on the band’s music style. Or does it?
“I think growing up in surf culture, there’s definitely the music that you listen to that is influenced by that through surf movies and skating as well. But I’d say probably most of the influence comes from just being a part of that culture and the music that comes along with it in terms of what gets placed in surf movies,” Cole said. “But I don’t know if the act of surfing necessarily influences the music directly, but maybe in some way, just growing up that way and stuff influences our experience, I suppose.”
“It makes touring real fun,” Luke added. “We’ve got to surf in a lot of cool places; some wave pools. We were just in Australia and New Zealand for a few shows and surfed a lot. It definitely makes touring a bit more of an adventure!”
Tour bus trailers are built for hauling artists’ gear, but there’s always some extra for accessories. Questioned on if they pack their surfboards on top of the guitars and drums?
“We don’t, but we should. We always rent,” Luke replied. “We find a shpt, but we kind of dream about routing a tour around surf destinations. That would be a pretty epic thing to do one day.”
Cleveland is one place the band will have trouble finding a spot to surf. I’ve never seen a surfer hitch a Lake Erie wave to the shores of Edgewater Park. The guys could try paddleboarding in the Cuyahoga River (the backdrop for Jacobs Pavilion), although there is an inherent risk of the river catching fire. (I cautioned against this.)
Almost Monday has amassed over 1.2 BILLION streams cumulatively across the popular platforms. (Mindblowing, considering that’s about ⅛ of the world’s population – though it’s necessary to factor in multiple streams per listener!)
Asked if this statistic has sunk in and what it means to them:
“I didn’t even know that that was a stat that we had,” Cole admitted. “That’s pretty insane to hear! I don’t know. I guess the numbers and stuff, it’s all just online and then where you really get to see it is where you go and play and tour and get to see faces and people and people showing up to gigs. I think that’s really where we feel the most impact and people connecting with the music.”
Although somewhat of a dying medium, FM radio is still around and a popular metric for evaluating the success of a given single. Almost Monday has had three singles that have been in the top 11 on the radio charts, including the #1 hit, “can’t slow down.”
“It’s kind of impossible to know what will connect,” Luke confessed. “You’re always hopeful, but sometimes we’ve been talking about it while writing the new album. You don’t want to jinx it. You don’t want to put expectations on it. I don’t know. It sounds maybe a bit superstitious, but I think it’s best just to write, put it out, and move on and write the next thing. And if something connects, it’s awesome, but you can never plan it.”
The band has played some of the most prestigious venues across the globe. Asked to pinpoint a favorite or one that meant the most to the group:
“I thought Madison Square Garden was pretty cool,” Dawson said (after just joining the ZOOM call).
“Yeah, MSG was pretty surreal,” Cole agreed. “The Forum was another one in LA that’s a pretty special venue, so that was pretty surreal. Some of the festivals we did this summer were pretty crazy to see the crowds that came out for us.”
From intimate clubs, to several thousand fans at venues such as Jacobs Pavilion, to huge festivals and arena gigs, each type of show has a unique vibe. Do the guys have to approach shows differently from one sized venue to the next?
“Yeah, I think especially the arena shows,” Luke said. “We got to do that run and played a bunch of arenas. It’s kind of like you’re playing three shows at once because you have the pit in front of you that you’re playing to, and then you also have the people that are on the way back and up top. So it’s kind of a trippy thing. We did one of our songs, we had people take out their phones and do the flashlight thing and there’d be a light somewhere that you’d never even in your field of consciousness paying attention to yet. And there’s somebody waving their light, it’s full of just humans so far away that you didn’t even notice that you have been paying attention. So it’s a pretty trippy thing versus if you’re playing a smaller show like a club show, you just kind of have that pit to play to.”
The world has gone bananas. Our country is divided and in severe turmoil. But fans coming out to a concert, even if just for a few hours, are provided with a temporary escape to have a shared experience with an artist and fellow fans. No matter what differences people in the venue have, there is a sense of unity and shared experience amongst everyone in attendance.
“Life’s definitely pretty heavy,” Dawson chimed in. “I think when there’s a ton of people around singing songs together, it’s pretty cool to have that communal experience. So being able to be the conduit for it is pretty cool and pretty meaningful, too. It feels cool to be able to provide that, I think.”
Almost Monday is sharing this upcoming tour with two other groups, and will be the first to take the stage each night. It is possible that some fans will come out to the show (hopefully early!) who are not yet familiar with their music. What do they hope a potential fan’s first impression is?
Cole handled this one: “I would hope that they thought it was worth it to come early, because we’ll probably be playing pretty early as a first of three. So hopefully, they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that was good to come early to the gig and have an early beer or something and watch the show.’ Maybe it’s enough for them to want to come see us again at our own headline.
Although they have a summer full of shows ahead of them and that is Almost Monday’s primary focus, I asked what their future plans are after the upcoming trek concludes.
Dawson answered: “New music is coming out soon, which is exciting. More touring; more ‘fun maxing,’ as we like to say. We go mini golfing, watch movies, and play pickleball.”
Sounds like maximum fun to me.
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