Thank you for joining us today, The Drive-In Mondays. Can you tell us about the origin and inspiration behind the name “The Drive-In Mondays”?
Jon: That originated from me messing up the lyrics to the song ‘My City’ by Better Oblivion Community Center. There’s a line that says ‘This town is a crowded movie’ that my brain turned into ‘This town is a drive-in movie’. Ivy thought that made for a darker, less communal kind of town, with everyone isolated in their separate cars! So ‘drive-in’ was on our minds when we were picking a name. I always liked David Bowie’s song ‘Drive-In Saturday’, so I threw that out. Ivy thought Drive-In Monday had a better rhythm to it. I guess Saturday worked for Bowie because he put three or four syllables into the word ‘drive’.
Ivy: But if anyone asks, I just say they’re words that sound good together!
How did the band come together, and what motivated you to start making music as a group?
Ivy: Jon and I were previously in a band called Measures of Loud that mainly covered songs from the 60’s and 70’s, with some original music thrown in. At some point, I learned “California” by Joni Mitchell and sent him a low-quality iPhone recording of me playing it, and I commented that I really liked the song but didn’t think it really fit our band’s style. He responded that he’d always wanted to start an acoustic side project with lots of harmonies, and those are both things I love, so I said I was in, and that’s how the Drive-In Mondays began.
Jon: About a year and a half later, we saw Johnny playing djembe with a singer named Amber Cavanaugh. He sounded so cool we had to steal him from Amber. I hope she’s forgiven us for that! Amber, we love you!
What is the musical background of each member of The Drive-In Mondays?
Jon: The first music I played seriously in a group was old-time, string band music. I played fiddle and banjo for about ten years. Farmers’ markets, square dances, fiddlers’ conventions. Then I was in a couple of rock music cover bands, playing guitar and singing lead. The last one of which, Ivy was in. That’s when I started trying seriously to write songs.
Ivy: I grew up taking music lessons, and I was in band and choir in school. I spent a long time just playing as a hobby, not for an audience. When the pandemic hit, Jon invited me to play guitar with him and a few friends, and I agreed, thinking it would be a cool quarantine project. Not long after that, Jon announced that he’d found a gig for us, and it just kinda went from there.
Johnny: In the fourth grade I was tapping rhythms on the desk with pencils all the time. The teacher didn’t want to punish me. Instead she took me to the band director. He allowed me to start a year early in beginner band. I continued and ended up marching in the high-school band.
I started to listen to and jam with other musicians outside of school. Years later In life, I found the love again and started buying equipment and playing in my garage. I started hitting open mics and meeting people hoping to get an opportunity to work with them on any projects. The Drive In Mondays liked my work and we started jamming and It was a beautiful mix.
How would you describe the sound and genre of your music, particularly in the context of your single “Love and Strife”?
Ivy: Along with our original music, we also play quite a few covers in our live shows. I like to think of our style as a blend of old and new – we’ve drawn as much inspiration from The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel as we have from newer bands like Big Thief or Death Cab for Cutie.
Jon: I’ve never really understood the genre labels people use these days. We throw out words like indie, folk, acoustic. I think of ‘Love and Strife’ as being somewhat similar to the song ‘The Battle of Evermore’ by Led Zeppelin. But you don’t usually think of Zeppelin as indie or folk.
Can you share the story behind the creation of your single “Love and Strife”?
Jon: The title comes from a philosophy podcast I was listening to. There was an episode about an ancient Greek philosopher named Empedocles who wrote that two powers move the universe, Love and Strife. That idea of a struggle between cosmic forces brought to mind the images that became the verses of the song. The part in the bridge about ‘Red sky in the night’ is based on an old saying for weather forecasting, ‘Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning.’ We turned it into an emotional forecast, so to speak.
What was the recording process like for “Love and Strife,” and were there any unique challenges you faced during its production?
Johnny: The recording was an interesting process. I had never recorded in a studio before. Getting that feel and direction was a new experience for me. I enjoyed being a part of the creativity of the song from my point in the music.
Jon: We recorded at Silver Fox Sound, which is a studio just down the road from home. We wanted a fuller sound for the record than we usually have performing live as a trio. So Johnny played a full drum kit. Our friend Robby Eichman played bass. Robby is a songwriter, too, and he knew immediately how the bass should fit into the song. I asked Ivy to bring her mandolin to the studio even though we had always rehearsed the song with her on guitar. But when the red light came on, somehow she seemed to know what to play!
How do you approach songwriting as a band, and what collaborative dynamics contribute to your creative process?
Jon: So far how it’s worked is I do the basic writing and then we work together to turn my rough idea into a song. So I might come up with a chord progression and some lyrics. Then Ivy arranges the vocal harmony and figures out what she wants to play on guitar. Sometimes I’m not sure which verse goes where, and I’ll get her input. Usually, we do all this using BandLab to make and edit a demo. Then we rehearse the song together. That’s when Johnny brings in his ideas about percussion. And another round of rearranging might happen. Finally, we play it live several times to get comfortable with it. Then we go into the studio to record it, and end up changing the arrangement again on the fly again!
How has the band’s local music scene or community influenced your style and approach to making music?
Ivy: As Jon and I were beginning to play as the Drive-In Mondays, we developed our set list through playing at local open mic nights. We were surprised at how welcoming and supportive the open mic environment was, rather than being intimidating. We’ve made quite a few friends in the local music community through these events. Personally, one of my favorite things about music is sharing it with friends, and we’ve been fortunate to have many opportunities to do that.
Jon: In Huntsville, there are lots of small venues where a full band is just overwhelming. So that’s why we started thinking in terms of a duo or trio in the first place. But creatively, it’s fun to see how much we can do under the constraint of a couple of guitars, our voices, and a drum. Just strumming away song after song can get a little boring. So we play with dynamics and arrangements and instrument changes. Really, any trick we can think of to add variety.
Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations on the horizon for The Drive-In Mondays?
Jon: We’ve got another single coming out January 27. It’s called ‘Tonight’. It’s from the same session as ‘Love and Strife’ but it has a very different feel to it. It’s about the excitement you feel on the verge of a new beginning, where anything seems possible. It also features Robby Eichman on bass.
Lastly, how do you see the future of The Drive-In Mondays, and what goals do you hope to achieve with your music?
Jon: Our only goal is to make the best music we can. We feel like we’re always getting better, so each new song is more fun than the last. We try to do something different with each one. We’ve got more original music to record, and we’re looking forward to playing more shows this year, hopefully some festivals.
