
Photo:
courtesy of THEM
Even in the DIY world of independent music, it’s not often that a band’s parents drive the tour bus. But when you are part of the local band THEM, with three out of four of its members too young to rent a car or enter a bar, you have to do some things differently.
One of those things is prioritizing all-ages shows so people your own age can attend. Playing 21-and-older venues, as THEM recently did on tour, is far from glamorous when you’re underage. Band members were often stuck waiting outside — sometimes in the rain — until it was their turn to play, only to have to pack up and leave the moment their set ended.
THEM formed seven years ago, but most of its members were in middle school at the time, so they only embarked on their first tour last summer. Opening for Solya and Baby Bugs, they played nine shows in six states over two and a half weeks. Life on the road has its share of challenges at any age, but THEM loved every minute of it, from waiting outside the 21-and-older clubs to working merch tables in the all-ages venues. They note with satisfaction that eight of their shows sold out.
“I feel like I can speak for us all when I say we never wanted it to end. We were living the dream,” says Hudson Steere, 19.
THEM released the “Girls Mind” EP last summer and made a video for their single “Koolaid” in September. Now they’re working with a female producer to record more songs.
Named for the initials of the band’s four founding members, THEM comprises Steere, a sophomore at California State University, Northridge; Ellie Vann, at 22 the oldest member of the band and a recent graduate of LA Film School; and Thompson Whitehead, 20, a student at South Seattle Community College (SSCC). Nineteen-year-old Lydia Mellott, also an SSCC student, joined the band earlier this year after the departure of the original “M” in THEM. A longtime friend and fan of the band, Mellott attended THEM’s earliest shows, helped out with photo shoots, and even produced most of the band’s videos before taking her place behind the drum kit.
“It was honestly a seamless add. We needed a drummer, and she stepped up,” says Whitehead.
Switching around
Mellott sometimes plays bass in the band as well. That’s another way she fits right in. Although you’re most likely to see Vann playing keyboard, Whitehead on guitar and Steere on bass during a live show, everyone in the band plays a variety of instruments.
“We love to switch it around and mix things up, so we keep it interesting,” says Steere. They all write music, and who plays what on a given song is often a result of what they were playing when they wrote it. They share similar musical origin stories, too: starting early with music lessons and picking up new instruments as they grew. Vann’s musical family started her piano lessons when she was 5. Steere asked for a sparkly red guitar “like Taylor Swift’s” for Christmas in the third grade. Their stories came together in a rock band class at Mode Music and Performing Arts in West Seattle in 2017.
“We started learning cover songs together and we just really clicked,” says Vann. When COVID shut down music classes, “that inspired us even more to get together outside of the class and write songs and grow our band on our own.”
Their first real headlining show came in 2021 at West Seattle’s Skylark Cafe. At the time, they had only released one song, “Bad for You.”
“That was such a turning point. I remember being on stage, and hearing people sing the words to ‘Bad for You’ and that was like, people know this song I wrote in my bedroom!” recalls Steere.
Breaking out
Bringing that bedroom pop to the stage took a combination of personal drive, musical mentorship and family support.
“We have played so many empty shows at the smallest venues. We loved doing it. We loved music and we especially loved playing together,” says Steere.
Their band teacher, multi-instrumentalist Eva Walker, who is also a DJ on KEXP, became a mentor and champion for the fledgling band.
“She not only taught us music, but she’d tell us what it was like booking shows and going on tours. When we started releasing music, she was the first to play it on KEXP on ‘Audioasis,’ and that was really cool for us,” says Vann.
One of THEM’s biggest shows was opening for Walker’s band, The Black Tones, at the Nevermind 30th Anniversary event at the Paramount Theatre in 2021. Another high point for the band was performing on live TV for Seattle’s 2024 New Year’s Eve fireworks show.
“We were literally at the top of the Space Needle with fireworks going off all around us, and it just felt insane that our music got us there,” says Vann.
With Walker and their moms as role models (three of them own independent businesses), the band is committed to pursuing THEM as a career.
“Some families encourage a stable career path,” says Steere, “but my parents have always been incredibly supportive and have never put my dream down in any way, and I think that really contributed to our success, because we believed in ourselves and our parents did, too.”
Their families provide practical as well as moral support.
“They come to every single show, and they pay for all of our music lessons!” says Whitehead.
Steere adds, “And a shout-out to my dad, who drove thousands of miles because we can’t afford a bus driver.”
More teens doing great things: |