November 20, 2025 • 30 mins
A clarinet in fourth grade doesn’t usually lead to fuzz pedals, pedal steel, and a packed tour van, but that’s the path Brendan Wright of Tiberius traces on Troubadour. We start with the spark—how a quiet kid found a home in melody—and follow the trail to the moment those bedroom songs finally stepped into stage lights. Through it all runs one through-line: honesty. The kind that feels safe when you’re singing alone, and the kind that feels a little dangerous when a room goes silent to hear it.
Brendan talks about walking that line between catharsis and the reality of sharing their work. They used to write like they were passing secret notes to themself. Now the notes have to breathe among strangers. They open up about shifting from super-specific diary lines to lyrics built around wider feelings—anxiety, persistence, the weird fog of transition—so more people can slip inside the songs. It doesn’t dull anything; it actually sharpens it. You can hear it in a line like “Why do I try to keep on trying?” and in the way the band lets silence hang before a chorus hits.
We dig into the making of Troubadour, from the piece-by-piece construction of Fish in a Pond to focused sessions at The Record Co. in Boston. Drummer Ben Curell, bassist Kelven “KP” Polite , and guitarist Christian Pace helped pull the songs into their live shape, with Nate Scaringi behind the board helping the drums land just right. The result is a sound Brendan jokingly calls “farm emo”—folk bones, a little country dust, and an emo heart—wrapped in those loud-quiet-loud dynamics that feel as much Neil Young as they do modern indie. It’s tender one moment, towering the next, built for small rooms that don’t stay small for long.
We close on motion. The northeast run—Burlington, Portland, Boston, Albany, Philly, New York—feels like both a celebration and a goodbye to a set they’ve lived inside for two years. New songs are forming. Brendan’s headspace is shifting again. That’s the promise here: a record that captures exactly where Tiberius is right now, and an artist already leaning toward whatever comes next.
If this one hits you, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a cathartic chorus, and leave a quick review—it helps more listeners discover Tiberius and stories like this.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
colleyc (00:36):
Alright, people, here we are, another episode of
ifitbeyourwill podcast.
Brendan Wright, Tiberius,singer, songwriter, musician.
This music is it's just damngood.
It's you know indie, rocky,it's emo-y, it's uh it's got so
many different layers.
At times you get the shoe gazylike uh punch in your face.
(00:57):
Uh and uh interestingly calleduh farm emo, which we'll get
into with Brendan in a minuteabout uh where that term came
from because I find it like Ilove it.
Uh I mean I'm a country guy, soanything around farms and emo,
boom, bring it on.
So, Brendan thanks so much fortaking some time out of your
(01:18):
your day here to share some ofyour thoughts about uh your new
record coming out, uh TroubadourNovember 14th.
People check that out.
It will be uh we'll talk aboutthat record a little bit and
also how he's gonna besupporting that record.
Uh probably at a place near yousoon.
We'll see.
So, Brendan, thanks so much.
I really appreciate uh youtaking some time and sharing uh
(01:38):
sharing with us.
Thanks so much for uh well Iappreciate that, and I
appreciate too this record.
Uh I just mentioned to you asbefore we hopped on that uh your
PR guy, Jamie, who's just a uha a swell guy.
I I just love this guy.
So like he just is selfless,you know, just totally for you
(02:01):
guys, and I just feel that helike uh you guys are a family
there at uh because it's beingreleased on audio anti-hero
records, just by the way.
So Brendan, kind of I heard ona podcast that music for you
started at a very, very youngage, and it almost seemed like
it was intrinsic that that wassomething that you were gonna
(02:21):
do.
I heard a story of in gradefour when you uh wanted to start
an instrument, right?
You're like, I want to play aninstrument.
I think you went with your momto check some instruments out,
and in the end you ended upgetting a clarinet or something
like that.
Yeah, just because you wantedto play.
Open that box up a little bitand like what was it about music
(02:42):
that just grabbed you by theheart and your emotions and were
just like, I want to producemusic.
I want to that's reallyinteresting.
Tiberius (02:51):
Um, I don't know.
I think well, the thing withthat, I think there was in
fourth, third and fourth gradein the Rutland City Public
Schools, you could you couldstart to play an instrument, and
I think third grade was the theorchestra.
You could start with likeviolin, viola, cello, bass.
(03:11):
And I kind of missed thattrain.
And I I think it was likefourth grade.
I was like, I really want to dosomething in the band, like the
Woodwinds.
And I wanted to do, I think thesaxophone was the thing that
stood out to me the most.
And I think my mom was lookingat a catalog and was like, well,
the saxophone's a littleexpensive.
Maybe we'll try the clarinet.
It looks like it's a little alittle cheaper.
Because you know, she didn'tknow if it was gonna like stick
(03:32):
or not.
And so we went and started aclarinet.
And I actually met waiting, Iremember in line, one of my best
friends who became my my bestfriend in in high school and
lifelong best friend.
And first band mate was my palJordan Tannen.
And she she and I grew upplaying in clarinet together.
(03:54):
And then eventually, when wekind of like got into middle
school and we both kind of hadour musical awakenings and kind
of started to develop our owntastes, we ended up playing, we
learned the guitar together.
And along with her brotherNoah, we uh formed a little
band, a little garage band, andthat's kind of when like we
really got into the music thing.
Amazing.
colleyc (04:15):
And like, can you like like what was it about music
that still today, I mean, uhit's I mean, music is not an
easy business, you know?
Like if you're looking like toexpand and you know, yeah,
conquer the world, right?
What was it about the musicthat that allowed you to look
beyond all of that and that itwas a very I mean it must have
(04:36):
been a very intrinsic internalthing that you were just told to
do.
What was it about music likewhen you were younger that was
so so appealing for you and andthat kept it alive into high
school and then onward andonward and records, and now you
have a new record coming outNovember 14th?
Like, can you can you put alittle meat on that bone for us?
Tiberius (04:57):
Yeah, I think music was, I think I was I think I was
always a pretty sensitivechild.
And music, I think, especiallyin when I kind of got to that
age of like 13, 14, music was soit was kind of like the first
thing that I had that felt likeit was really my own.
And I was able to like I Iremember, I think, I think
(05:22):
everybody has this phase as ateenager, but like I got into
Nirvana and Kirk Cobain andfeeling this real sense of like
teen angst in connection withthat.
And it was kind of like thefirst opportunity for me where
I'm like, wow, I really feellike I'm connecting with you
know people who have been in myposition before.
(05:44):
And music for me was alwayslike had this this therapeutic
and cathartic element to it.
And so when I I was like, Ireally wanna get a guitar and I
really wanna like try writingsongs, and I think immediately
just kind of started to do it inmy bedroom and it just became
this it became this therapeutictechnique for me.
(06:08):
It just became really likesomething special and something
that I I don't know, it becamepart of my my coping strategies
as as a young person and and itand it always has been at this
point.
So I just kind of grown andgrown and it it's really hard to
imagine a life without havingthat outlet uh for my feelings.
colleyc (06:31):
Yeah, totally.
And when did it when did thetransition happen between kind
of using it, you know, to dealwith your anxiety to well, I
want to share this with peoplebecause it's I mean it's kind of
two different uh ways of seeingthings where it's a a personal
thing, as you said, where I'myou know I'm dealing with things
and it it it's it's a way forme to kind of vet it out.
(06:53):
When did it switch over or didit that uh now I want to start
sharing these kinds ofexperiences or thoughts that I'm
having with a greater audience?
Tiberius (07:04):
I don't know.
It kind of felt like it wasalways I I don't know if I was
ever really conscious of that.
I guess like, you know, I thinkit's always nice to think as
like a teenager, it was likethis is my way of communicating
things that I wouldn't be ableto communicate otherwise to like
friends and family and peoplethat were around me.
(07:25):
And then I think it just becamea thing where I just realized
that that process was somethingthat was kind of addicting.
And as as I've gotten older,it's weird.
Kind of doing it at a point nowwhere like you know, my my
conversational skills and myability to be vulnerable to
(07:46):
people is a lot better than Ithan it was as a child.
And I think that a lot of Ithink I think my communication
can be, you know, it it's it'smuch better and more appropriate
to communicate it kind of moreat face value for like, you
know, I'm trying to tell someoneoh I'm upset about this.
But there's something aboutthat like cathartic sharing and
(08:10):
trying to like before it waslike almost like sharing journal
entries, and now it's more likeI'm trying to write songs that
feel like speak to maybesomething that is a little more
broad or a little more generalthat I relate to and that maybe
anyone else who's in that areacould also maybe grab onto
probably like half the world ormore than half the world,
(08:34):
really, right?
colleyc (08:34):
I mean we're seeing like anxiety rates anyway in our
in our youngest people, youknow, how they're dealing with
it, and it's uh it's it's Iappreciate that because I I'm in
education and I believe you'rein education as well, and we are
exposed a lot to these youngpeople and uh just the stresses
and it uh some of your story isringing true to me also.
(08:56):
So I mean I think these areuniversal feelings that uh that
we at times feel like no, it'sjust me, but in reality it's
thousands, millions of peoplethat are uh have these similar
feelings.
Totally.
Yeah, totally and uh it broughtme to this lyric too, which I
loved and it comes from SAG.
Why do I try to keep on trying?
(09:18):
Yeah.
Can you is that kind of likewhere uh the headspace you were
in, kind of like uh figuring outyou know, uh should this be
personal?
Should I open the doors up?
Should I not?
Like it sounds like you're kindof still like battling, even in
this latest record, of uh yourplace or uh what's too far, or
(09:42):
is this too you know personal?
Should I hold back a littlebit?
How do you how do you manageall of uh that?
Like when do you know when asong can be like, okay, I don't
mind if everybody listens tothis and sings along to it at a
show, as opposed to a song thatyou'd be like, I just don't know
if people are ready for this.
Like I well navigate that.
Tiberius (10:04):
I feel like this is yeah, I think this particularly
is one of those records whereI'm feeling that a lot
throughout the whole process.
I think I still struggle withit.
I think there's times where Ifeel like comments makes me a
little nervous to put out therein front of everybody, or like I
there's this joke with someonewho's come to some of our shows
(10:27):
where like I'll we'll play awe'll play a set and I'll feel
like especially if the songs arereally fresh, like I've just
like kind of like confessed myheart out, or I've like got
naked on stage, and then peoplecome up and be really nice and
be like, oh nice job, andthey're really positive, but I'm
just like feel totallyembarrassed and naked.
And we were joking, we werejoking about it's like it just
(10:48):
feels like it's weird if peopleare so positive about it after,
and then this person was like,Well, next time I see you, I'm
gonna say, Oh, I'm so sorry.
And so every gig I see themwhen we play, they're like, I'm
so sorry.
But but yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know.
(11:08):
I I think it's hard.
I think it's hard to I'm alwaysI think the idea the concept of
songwriting is something thatI'm always kind of like thinking
about.
And I think particularly inrelation to you know, the music
industry or like the practice ofreleasing music and how when
(11:28):
you really think about thesemantics of all of it, it it's
really strange to kind of belike, okay, here's this like
really personal thing that Iexperienced.
And you know, I think on onelevel, I think it's really
beautiful to to share that maybevulnerable experience or that
creative experience with anaudience.
But then there's this otherlevel of like being like, okay,
(11:51):
like this is terrible thing thathappened to me.
And like if you could just likestream it and share it and play
it and you know, market it, andit that gets to a place where
it feels really like you'retaking something and really
commodifying it in a way thatfeels really weird.
colleyc (12:11):
I think I struggle with that a lot.
A bit more removed though fromthat, you know, because I mean
you write a lot of songs or youstarted writing a lot of songs
on your own, right?
You're pretty much ado-it-yourself artist and you
were in control of a lot of whatwas going on.
When did the evolution startwhere you wanted to open those
doors up to other collaboratorscome in?
(12:32):
And you had mentioned that youyou had a very, you know, one of
your best friends that you guyseventually became into a band
with.
And like, how do how do youknow when like what was the
timing knowing that I I wantmore collaborators to come in
because I don't, you know, wasit too intimate?
Was it like too hard to removeyourself from what you were
(12:53):
doing?
Or I don't know.
I'm just uh can you can youfill in on that?
Tiberius (12:58):
Well, I started doing Tiberius when I was, I guess I
was like 18, about 10 years ago.
And I was just I I had thisband with my my friends in in
high school, and we we were allgoing off to different schools,
and so I I wanted to keep doingmusic in in college and started
(13:18):
kind of doing Tiberius's like,I'm just gonna, you know, I had
recently discovered oh, I can dogarage band loops, and I
thought that was the greatestthing in the world, and really
just started making all thesedemos in college, and the songs
could get really I was reallylike there's no limit limitation
of these things.
They can get really out thereat this point.
And so really digging deep.
(13:40):
And then I think towards theend of college, I I felt really
uncomfortable with the idea ofdictating parts to people or
being like, you know, for peopleto take up their time to play
my music felt really kind ofselfish or self-centered,
self-absorbed.
And I I had a friend who waslike, you know what, actually,
(14:04):
like I think this these songswould be really good to play in
a band, and if you want, likeI'll get some people together
and we can play it.
And I didn't think it was gonnawork, but I was like, if you
get the people together, likeI'll I'll give it a shot.
And we we did, and it actuallywas really fun.
And one of the people that cameto that first session was the
(14:24):
our bass player and one of mybest friends, KP, who Calvin
Polite, who just was just kindof stuck by the project for all
of these years.
And that kind of firstiteration of the the band only
lasted like about six months orso because it was towards the
end of end of college.
But I I moved to Boston, andthe intention was like, oh, I
(14:48):
really want to keep doing moreband-related stuff.
And the pandemic happened, kindof slowed that process down a
little bit, did it more on myown.
But then in 2021, I reallystarted to get some folks
together here, and it became amuch more collaborative process
at that point because it's uhit's hard to it's hard to be a
(15:10):
band of people when you only gotyourself.
So it's it's nice to it's niceto play it with the pals.
Yeah, I would I would say so.
There was a little bit of a fewrecords, like there was one
record in college where I had myfriend Noah from my first band
come and play drums on.
(15:31):
But this was like the firstthis was the first record that
really like I'd had kind of morelike bones of songs, and my one
of my drummers, Ben Ben Carell,and I kind of started to like
workshop stuff together, and hehelped come up with drum parts
and form.
And the person who was playingguitar with us at the time,
(15:55):
Christian Pace, added a ton totheir like guitar playing and
their the parts that they wereright, and Kelvin added so much
with their bass parts, and allof a sudden it kind of it went
from just being these songs thatI would just create.
And I guess like on therecordings, a lot of it would be
overdubs that I do in my room,but like they all had so much
(16:15):
more of a they were all birthedout of much more of like a band,
more of like a live bandexperience.
And that record and those songswouldn't have been anything
without the people that I wasplaying with at the time.
colleyc (16:29):
Yeah.
And a solid record too.
I mean, I've been listening toit quite a bit, just getting
ready for the for our chat.
And I mean, I even went backinto 2015 and I looked at trial
and error.
I mean, oh my god, yeah.
That was I mean, it's reallysolid songwriting there,
Brendan.
Like it has that that seed ofwhat that was to become.
(16:51):
I've seen such a beautifulevolution, and even uh like I
said, I I had the opportunity tolisten to the the new one
coming out in November,Troubadour, and I mean the
growth in it is is unbelievable.
Just from an outsider that Imean this is the first time
we've ever chatted, but I feelthat through the music.
I guess my question is like,how did Troubadour come to be?
(17:14):
Because I mean, Fish and Uponwas 2023, and then two years in
between, Troubadour coming outnow.
What were the circumstancesthat brought this record to
life?
That's a good question.
Tiberius (17:27):
I well, Fish and Upon is kind of created over those
like 2021, 2023, was reallyinspired by doing a lot of these
house shows in Austin Brightonwith that group of musicians I
was talking about.
And then Ben and I had kind ofstarted doing some demos for
(17:47):
just we'd written a couple ofsongs, done SAG and SAG and Felt
and Tag, and those were kind ofthe first couple on the record.
And then I ended up taking sometime, I went on took a few
weeks to do some traveling inthe summer of of 2023, and I
(18:09):
kind of was like, it was like areal like time of transition.
Like our guitarist Christianwas moving to New York.
I was off from I was I work asa as a teacher and I was off for
the summer and I just had a lotof time to kind of just do some
more songwriting at home.
And I also had had like areally nice Neil Young phase
(18:33):
going on around the same time.
And I just started demoing alot more of these like I guess I
guess more rustic inspiredtunes.
And a lot of these songs kindof just came really fast.
And I it was like fish in apond was was coming out, but all
of a sudden I was like, okay, Ihave these all these new songs
(18:55):
I want to start getting into.
And thankfully I had a goodfriend, Nate Scaringe, who
helped engineer the the drumsfor Troubadour, and then would
later come and help do kind ofassist with some of the mixing
stuff too.
But they they were able to getus into the record co in in
(19:17):
Boston.
And we uh Ben did Ben and Ijust did a session where they
recorded a bunch of drums forthe record, and then I filled
them in with the rest of therecord, and then we did another
session with the drums and thenfilled it in again.
So it was kind of like thismore it was a much more concise
recording process as opposed toI think I guess fish it upon is
(19:41):
like every time there was aevery time I kind of had a song
ready, I was like, okay, youwant to try recording drums, and
we'd go to the practice spaceand do a drum recording, and
then I work on that one for awhile, and then we'd go to the
next one.
I think that I'll a lot of themstart with like a melody and in
guitar chords and I'll I'llsing and if it feels good to
(20:03):
sing and to play, I'm usuallylike, okay, this feels like it
has a lot of potential, and I'lldo that for a bit.
And then I think that a recordusually comes to be when I've
written, you know, a group ofsongs and I start to kind of
notice a a theme or a trend ormaybe kind of a topic that's
that's going on.
And then from there, it feels alot easier to kind of like put
(20:27):
together a body of work.
Because I guess I've I'vealways tried to do more of like
I think all the records I I wantto make are are loosely
conceptual, kind of have like anoverarching point to them.
And yeah, I guess that's kindof for me, it's like an
opportunity to tell a story inlonger than like three and a
(20:48):
half minutes.
So I um So I think with withTubador, like when kind of that
group of songs started to cometogether, I was like, okay, this
feels like it could be arecord, or sometimes I'll be
like, it could be like a groupof EPs, or maybe it'll be like I
I I for this record, I thoughtit could be interesting to
release it in three parts, orrelease like one song and then
(21:08):
another song, and then anothersong, and it was really being
like it doesn't have to be arecord, but then it just kind of
it just felt like eventually itfelt like it it could be a a
good cohesive one.
Right.
colleyc (21:21):
And now kind of and and was this kind of the birth of
this farm emo, like because youwere saying it kind of had more
of a country feel to it, likeand it does.
I mean, it's so melodic, but italso has this kind of slow,
fast play that you uh that thatyou like to play around with,
which I love.
Like it has that like pixies,Nirvana, as you were mentioning
(21:42):
before, kind of thing whereyou're playing around with this
slowness and then it hits you inthe in the head.
I mean, not not it's not we'renot talking hardcore here, but
it has like the emotion justkind of like bubbles up.
Tiberius (21:56):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I mean I love it, I love itwhen things are quiet and
really loud and building thatcontrast as much as possible.
Yeah, I I guess the the farmemo thing, I think, I think just
like people are always like,what what what kind of music do
you play?
Like, what's the genre?
And like it's always weird tosay, like, oh, I play like indie
(22:17):
rock, but I think that they'reall kind of like if you strip
them all back to their barebones, they're all kind of like,
you know, they're like folksongs or like singer-songwritery
songs, but they're they're veryemotional and they're very like
can get very loud and distortedand fuzzy.
And I think no matter, nomatter what, I think I'm always
(22:39):
gonna like there's always thattemptation to like click on the
distortion pedal or like whatwould it sound like if it got
really crazy here?
Right.
And I think I'm just I can'thelp myself with that, usually
when it comes to the writing.
So I think that the the farmemo thing came out of the idea
of like, okay, it's like it'semo-y, but it's not quite like
(23:00):
Midwest emo, but it's got alittle country folky in there,
but it's not quite that either.
Someone we were on tour, mypedal steel player and I, and we
were playing with some someother like we got on like a bill
with some country duos, andthey're excellent.
And then this this person inFar Wayne came up to us and is
(23:21):
like, Oh, you guys are likey'all alternative.
And I was like, That's great,actually.
colleyc (23:28):
That's so cool.
That's really cool.
And kind of like as we come toa close here, uh, running,
thanks so much again for thetime you've taken to share some
amazing stories.
Your your your history is veryuh engaging.
I've just loved listening toyour stories about the band and
the starting and your writingprocess.
(23:48):
Uh I guess my last question islike, what uh what happens after
this record comes out?
So November 14th, it hits thethe world.
What else is in the works thatpeople could anticipate or look
forward to?
Tiberius (24:04):
Well, we're gonna do we're gonna do a little
northeast run in November, whichwill be nice.
So we're gonna do Burlington,Portland, Boston, and then
Albany, Philly, New York to kindof celebrate this book and this
little chapter of of Troupador.
And my drummer will actuallyput it really well.
(24:26):
Like, we've been playing thesesongs for like two years at this
point, and he was just like,Yeah, like it's like it's an
album release show, but it'smore like an album goodbye show,
like or an album for awheelchair.
Because it's at this point,we're like all like we're really
excited to work on some newstuff.
And I've been trying to write,and my mind has been much more
(24:46):
in a different place than it waswhen these songs were written,
a really different place,actually.
But it's I think I'm reallytrying to start working on
writing some new tunes andwriting some new music.
And hopefully I definitelydon't want to stop playing these
tunes or or stop doing thisrecord because I'm hoping that
we can continue to expand.
(25:08):
And I I definitely want to dosome more tours next year and
kind of in the meantime wherewe're where we're milk in this
era.
colleyc (25:16):
I look forward to the well, I mean, I'm still really
loving this because I mean andpeople are gonna love this.
You're gonna love this fullrecord.
Uh there's four singles out onit, uh, but listening it to it
from start to finish is just uha real treat.
Uh excellent songwriting,excellent bandmanship.
Uh you guys sound tight andlike on the same wave uh
(25:38):
throughout this record.
Uh and I hope I get to see youguys live maybe uh down the road
you'll head north a little bitand come up visit us.
Uh and I just wish you all thebest with this release.
Uh I know that these are a lotof work, these records, and then
it just the day comes and thengoes.
And it's like, what happened?
(25:59):
What's going on?
But the effort is is well, theeffort is always memorialized
forever.
So I I'm I'm glad that thiseffort is gonna be uh a part of
our uh world for uh well till itends, really.
So I appreciate that and goodluck on the tours too.
Uh I hope that that gets theattention it deserves.
(26:21):
People go and check out uhTiberius, uh buy a record or a
cassette or a shirt, go see theshow, go and say hi to the guys.
These are all important thingsfor these bands that are
particularly independent andthey rely on these live
performances.
Take care of yourself.
Yeah, it's been a realpleasure.
(26:42):
I hope that uh when the nextone drops, uh, we can continue
this conversation.
Tiberius (30:05):
What are you doing?
Alright, people, here we are, another episode of
ifitbeyourwill podcast.
Brendan Wright, Tiberius,singer, songwriter, musician.
This music is it's just damngood.
It's you know indie, rocky,it's emo-y, it's uh it's got so
many different layers.
At times you get the shoe gazylike uh punch in your face.
(00:57):
Uh and uh interestingly calleduh farm emo, which we'll get
into with Brendan in a minuteabout uh where that term came
from because I find it like Ilove it.
Uh I mean I'm a country guy, soanything around farms and emo,
boom, bring it on.
So, Brendan thanks so much fortaking some time out of your
(01:18):
your day here to share some ofyour thoughts about uh your new
record coming out, uh TroubadourNovember 14th.
People check that out.
It will be uh we'll talk aboutthat record a little bit and
also how he's gonna besupporting that record.
Uh probably at a place near yousoon.
We'll see.
So, Brendan, thanks so much.
I really appreciate uh youtaking some time and sharing uh
(01:38):
sharing with us.
Thanks so much for uh well Iappreciate that, and I
appreciate too this record.
Uh I just mentioned to you asbefore we hopped on that uh your
PR guy, Jamie, who's just a uha a swell guy.
I I just love this guy.
So like he just is selfless,you know, just totally for you
(02:01):
guys, and I just feel that helike uh you guys are a family
there at uh because it's beingreleased on audio anti-hero
records, just by the way.
So Brendan, kind of I heard ona podcast that music for you
started at a very, very youngage, and it almost seemed like
it was intrinsic that that wassomething that you were gonna
(02:21):
do.
I heard a story of in gradefour when you uh wanted to start
an instrument, right?
You're like, I want to play aninstrument.
I think you went with your momto check some instruments out,
and in the end you ended upgetting a clarinet or something
like that.
Yeah, just because you wantedto play.
Open that box up a little bitand like what was it about music
(02:42):
that just grabbed you by theheart and your emotions and were
just like, I want to producemusic.
I want to that's reallyinteresting.
Tiberius (02:51):
Um, I don't know.
I think well, the thing withthat, I think there was in
fourth, third and fourth gradein the Rutland City Public
Schools, you could you couldstart to play an instrument, and
I think third grade was the theorchestra.
You could start with likeviolin, viola, cello, bass.
(03:11):
And I kind of missed thattrain.
And I I think it was likefourth grade.
I was like, I really want to dosomething in the band, like the
Woodwinds.
And I wanted to do, I think thesaxophone was the thing that
stood out to me the most.
And I think my mom was lookingat a catalog and was like, well,
the saxophone's a littleexpensive.
Maybe we'll try the clarinet.
It looks like it's a little alittle cheaper.
Because you know, she didn'tknow if it was gonna like stick
(03:32):
or not.
And so we went and started aclarinet.
And I actually met waiting, Iremember in line, one of my best
friends who became my my bestfriend in in high school and
lifelong best friend.
And first band mate was my palJordan Tannen.
And she she and I grew upplaying in clarinet together.
(03:54):
And then eventually, when wekind of like got into middle
school and we both kind of hadour musical awakenings and kind
of started to develop our owntastes, we ended up playing, we
learned the guitar together.
And along with her brotherNoah, we uh formed a little
band, a little garage band, andthat's kind of when like we
really got into the music thing.
Amazing.
colleyc (04:15):
And like, can you like like what was it about music
that still today, I mean, uhit's I mean, music is not an
easy business, you know?
Like if you're looking like toexpand and you know, yeah,
conquer the world, right?
What was it about the musicthat that allowed you to look
beyond all of that and that itwas a very I mean it must have
(04:36):
been a very intrinsic internalthing that you were just told to
do.
What was it about music likewhen you were younger that was
so so appealing for you and andthat kept it alive into high
school and then onward andonward and records, and now you
have a new record coming outNovember 14th?
Like, can you can you put alittle meat on that bone for us?
Tiberius (04:57):
Yeah, I think music was, I think I was I think I was
always a pretty sensitivechild.
And music, I think, especiallyin when I kind of got to that
age of like 13, 14, music was soit was kind of like the first
thing that I had that felt likeit was really my own.
And I was able to like I Iremember, I think, I think
(05:22):
everybody has this phase as ateenager, but like I got into
Nirvana and Kirk Cobain andfeeling this real sense of like
teen angst in connection withthat.
And it was kind of like thefirst opportunity for me where
I'm like, wow, I really feellike I'm connecting with you
know people who have been in myposition before.
(05:44):
And music for me was alwayslike had this this therapeutic
and cathartic element to it.
And so when I I was like, Ireally wanna get a guitar and I
really wanna like try writingsongs, and I think immediately
just kind of started to do it inmy bedroom and it just became
this it became this therapeutictechnique for me.
(06:08):
It just became really likesomething special and something
that I I don't know, it becamepart of my my coping strategies
as as a young person and and itand it always has been at this
point.
So I just kind of grown andgrown and it it's really hard to
imagine a life without havingthat outlet uh for my feelings.
colleyc (06:31):
Yeah, totally.
And when did it when did thetransition happen between kind
of using it, you know, to dealwith your anxiety to well, I
want to share this with peoplebecause it's I mean it's kind of
two different uh ways of seeingthings where it's a a personal
thing, as you said, where I'myou know I'm dealing with things
and it it it's it's a way forme to kind of vet it out.
(06:53):
When did it switch over or didit that uh now I want to start
sharing these kinds ofexperiences or thoughts that I'm
having with a greater audience?
Tiberius (07:04):
I don't know.
It kind of felt like it wasalways I I don't know if I was
ever really conscious of that.
I guess like, you know, I thinkit's always nice to think as
like a teenager, it was likethis is my way of communicating
things that I wouldn't be ableto communicate otherwise to like
friends and family and peoplethat were around me.
(07:25):
And then I think it just becamea thing where I just realized
that that process was somethingthat was kind of addicting.
And as as I've gotten older,it's weird.
Kind of doing it at a point nowwhere like you know, my my
conversational skills and myability to be vulnerable to
(07:46):
people is a lot better than Ithan it was as a child.
And I think that a lot of Ithink I think my communication
can be, you know, it it's it'smuch better and more appropriate
to communicate it kind of moreat face value for like, you
know, I'm trying to tell someoneoh I'm upset about this.
But there's something aboutthat like cathartic sharing and
(08:10):
trying to like before it waslike almost like sharing journal
entries, and now it's more likeI'm trying to write songs that
feel like speak to maybesomething that is a little more
broad or a little more generalthat I relate to and that maybe
anyone else who's in that areacould also maybe grab onto
probably like half the world ormore than half the world,
(08:34):
really, right?
colleyc (08:34):
I mean we're seeing like anxiety rates anyway in our
in our youngest people, youknow, how they're dealing with
it, and it's uh it's it's Iappreciate that because I I'm in
education and I believe you'rein education as well, and we are
exposed a lot to these youngpeople and uh just the stresses
and it uh some of your story isringing true to me also.
(08:56):
So I mean I think these areuniversal feelings that uh that
we at times feel like no, it'sjust me, but in reality it's
thousands, millions of peoplethat are uh have these similar
feelings.
Totally.
Yeah, totally and uh it broughtme to this lyric too, which I
loved and it comes from SAG.
Why do I try to keep on trying?
(09:18):
Yeah.
Can you is that kind of likewhere uh the headspace you were
in, kind of like uh figuring outyou know, uh should this be
personal?
Should I open the doors up?
Should I not?
Like it sounds like you're kindof still like battling, even in
this latest record, of uh yourplace or uh what's too far, or
(09:42):
is this too you know personal?
Should I hold back a littlebit?
How do you how do you manageall of uh that?
Like when do you know when asong can be like, okay, I don't
mind if everybody listens tothis and sings along to it at a
show, as opposed to a song thatyou'd be like, I just don't know
if people are ready for this.
Like I well navigate that.
Tiberius (10:04):
I feel like this is yeah, I think this particularly
is one of those records whereI'm feeling that a lot
throughout the whole process.
I think I still struggle withit.
I think there's times where Ifeel like comments makes me a
little nervous to put out therein front of everybody, or like I
there's this joke with someonewho's come to some of our shows
(10:27):
where like I'll we'll play awe'll play a set and I'll feel
like especially if the songs arereally fresh, like I've just
like kind of like confessed myheart out, or I've like got
naked on stage, and then peoplecome up and be really nice and
be like, oh nice job, andthey're really positive, but I'm
just like feel totallyembarrassed and naked.
And we were joking, we werejoking about it's like it just
(10:48):
feels like it's weird if peopleare so positive about it after,
and then this person was like,Well, next time I see you, I'm
gonna say, Oh, I'm so sorry.
And so every gig I see themwhen we play, they're like, I'm
so sorry.
But but yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know.
(11:08):
I I think it's hard.
I think it's hard to I'm alwaysI think the idea the concept of
songwriting is something thatI'm always kind of like thinking
about.
And I think particularly inrelation to you know, the music
industry or like the practice ofreleasing music and how when
(11:28):
you really think about thesemantics of all of it, it it's
really strange to kind of belike, okay, here's this like
really personal thing that Iexperienced.
And you know, I think on onelevel, I think it's really
beautiful to to share that maybevulnerable experience or that
creative experience with anaudience.
But then there's this otherlevel of like being like, okay,
(11:51):
like this is terrible thing thathappened to me.
And like if you could just likestream it and share it and play
it and you know, market it, andit that gets to a place where
it feels really like you'retaking something and really
commodifying it in a way thatfeels really weird.
colleyc (12:11):
I think I struggle with that a lot.
A bit more removed though fromthat, you know, because I mean
you write a lot of songs or youstarted writing a lot of songs
on your own, right?
You're pretty much ado-it-yourself artist and you
were in control of a lot of whatwas going on.
When did the evolution startwhere you wanted to open those
doors up to other collaboratorscome in?
(12:32):
And you had mentioned that youyou had a very, you know, one of
your best friends that you guyseventually became into a band
with.
And like, how do how do youknow when like what was the
timing knowing that I I wantmore collaborators to come in
because I don't, you know, wasit too intimate?
Was it like too hard to removeyourself from what you were
(12:53):
doing?
Or I don't know.
I'm just uh can you can youfill in on that?
Tiberius (12:58):
Well, I started doing Tiberius when I was, I guess I
was like 18, about 10 years ago.
And I was just I I had thisband with my my friends in in
high school, and we we were allgoing off to different schools,
and so I I wanted to keep doingmusic in in college and started
(13:18):
kind of doing Tiberius's like,I'm just gonna, you know, I had
recently discovered oh, I can dogarage band loops, and I
thought that was the greatestthing in the world, and really
just started making all thesedemos in college, and the songs
could get really I was reallylike there's no limit limitation
of these things.
They can get really out thereat this point.
And so really digging deep.
(13:40):
And then I think towards theend of college, I I felt really
uncomfortable with the idea ofdictating parts to people or
being like, you know, for peopleto take up their time to play
my music felt really kind ofselfish or self-centered,
self-absorbed.
And I I had a friend who waslike, you know what, actually,
(14:04):
like I think this these songswould be really good to play in
a band, and if you want, likeI'll get some people together
and we can play it.
And I didn't think it was gonnawork, but I was like, if you
get the people together, likeI'll I'll give it a shot.
And we we did, and it actuallywas really fun.
And one of the people that cameto that first session was the
(14:24):
our bass player and one of mybest friends, KP, who Calvin
Polite, who just was just kindof stuck by the project for all
of these years.
And that kind of firstiteration of the the band only
lasted like about six months orso because it was towards the
end of end of college.
But I I moved to Boston, andthe intention was like, oh, I
(14:48):
really want to keep doing moreband-related stuff.
And the pandemic happened, kindof slowed that process down a
little bit, did it more on myown.
But then in 2021, I reallystarted to get some folks
together here, and it became amuch more collaborative process
at that point because it's uhit's hard to it's hard to be a
(15:10):
band of people when you only gotyourself.
So it's it's nice to it's niceto play it with the pals.
Yeah, I would I would say so.
There was a little bit of a fewrecords, like there was one
record in college where I had myfriend Noah from my first band
come and play drums on.
(15:31):
But this was like the firstthis was the first record that
really like I'd had kind of morelike bones of songs, and my one
of my drummers, Ben Ben Carell,and I kind of started to like
workshop stuff together, and hehelped come up with drum parts
and form.
And the person who was playingguitar with us at the time,
(15:55):
Christian Pace, added a ton totheir like guitar playing and
their the parts that they wereright, and Kelvin added so much
with their bass parts, and allof a sudden it kind of it went
from just being these songs thatI would just create.
And I guess like on therecordings, a lot of it would be
overdubs that I do in my room,but like they all had so much
(16:15):
more of a they were all birthedout of much more of like a band,
more of like a live bandexperience.
And that record and those songswouldn't have been anything
without the people that I wasplaying with at the time.
colleyc (16:29):
Yeah.
And a solid record too.
I mean, I've been listening toit quite a bit, just getting
ready for the for our chat.
And I mean, I even went backinto 2015 and I looked at trial
and error.
I mean, oh my god, yeah.
That was I mean, it's reallysolid songwriting there,
Brendan.
Like it has that that seed ofwhat that was to become.
(16:51):
I've seen such a beautifulevolution, and even uh like I
said, I I had the opportunity tolisten to the the new one
coming out in November,Troubadour, and I mean the
growth in it is is unbelievable.
Just from an outsider that Imean this is the first time
we've ever chatted, but I feelthat through the music.
I guess my question is like,how did Troubadour come to be?
(17:14):
Because I mean, Fish and Uponwas 2023, and then two years in
between, Troubadour coming outnow.
What were the circumstancesthat brought this record to
life?
That's a good question.
Tiberius (17:27):
I well, Fish and Upon is kind of created over those
like 2021, 2023, was reallyinspired by doing a lot of these
house shows in Austin Brightonwith that group of musicians I
was talking about.
And then Ben and I had kind ofstarted doing some demos for
(17:47):
just we'd written a couple ofsongs, done SAG and SAG and Felt
and Tag, and those were kind ofthe first couple on the record.
And then I ended up taking sometime, I went on took a few
weeks to do some traveling inthe summer of of 2023, and I
(18:09):
kind of was like, it was like areal like time of transition.
Like our guitarist Christianwas moving to New York.
I was off from I was I work asa as a teacher and I was off for
the summer and I just had a lotof time to kind of just do some
more songwriting at home.
And I also had had like areally nice Neil Young phase
(18:33):
going on around the same time.
And I just started demoing alot more of these like I guess I
guess more rustic inspiredtunes.
And a lot of these songs kindof just came really fast.
And I it was like fish in apond was was coming out, but all
of a sudden I was like, okay, Ihave these all these new songs
(18:55):
I want to start getting into.
And thankfully I had a goodfriend, Nate Scaringe, who
helped engineer the the drumsfor Troubadour, and then would
later come and help do kind ofassist with some of the mixing
stuff too.
But they they were able to getus into the record co in in
(19:17):
Boston.
And we uh Ben did Ben and Ijust did a session where they
recorded a bunch of drums forthe record, and then I filled
them in with the rest of therecord, and then we did another
session with the drums and thenfilled it in again.
So it was kind of like thismore it was a much more concise
recording process as opposed toI think I guess fish it upon is
(19:41):
like every time there was aevery time I kind of had a song
ready, I was like, okay, youwant to try recording drums, and
we'd go to the practice spaceand do a drum recording, and
then I work on that one for awhile, and then we'd go to the
next one.
I think that I'll a lot of themstart with like a melody and in
guitar chords and I'll I'llsing and if it feels good to
(20:03):
sing and to play, I'm usuallylike, okay, this feels like it
has a lot of potential, and I'lldo that for a bit.
And then I think that a recordusually comes to be when I've
written, you know, a group ofsongs and I start to kind of
notice a a theme or a trend ormaybe kind of a topic that's
that's going on.
And then from there, it feels alot easier to kind of like put
(20:27):
together a body of work.
Because I guess I've I'vealways tried to do more of like
I think all the records I I wantto make are are loosely
conceptual, kind of have like anoverarching point to them.
And yeah, I guess that's kindof for me, it's like an
opportunity to tell a story inlonger than like three and a
(20:48):
half minutes.
So I um So I think with withTubador, like when kind of that
group of songs started to cometogether, I was like, okay, this
feels like it could be arecord, or sometimes I'll be
like, it could be like a groupof EPs, or maybe it'll be like I
I I for this record, I thoughtit could be interesting to
release it in three parts, orrelease like one song and then
(21:08):
another song, and then anothersong, and it was really being
like it doesn't have to be arecord, but then it just kind of
it just felt like eventually itfelt like it it could be a a
good cohesive one.
Right.
colleyc (21:21):
And now kind of and and was this kind of the birth of
this farm emo, like because youwere saying it kind of had more
of a country feel to it, likeand it does.
I mean, it's so melodic, but italso has this kind of slow,
fast play that you uh that thatyou like to play around with,
which I love.
Like it has that like pixies,Nirvana, as you were mentioning
(21:42):
before, kind of thing whereyou're playing around with this
slowness and then it hits you inthe in the head.
I mean, not not it's not we'renot talking hardcore here, but
it has like the emotion justkind of like bubbles up.
Tiberius (21:56):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I mean I love it, I love itwhen things are quiet and
really loud and building thatcontrast as much as possible.
Yeah, I I guess the the farmemo thing, I think, I think just
like people are always like,what what what kind of music do
you play?
Like, what's the genre?
And like it's always weird tosay, like, oh, I play like indie
(22:17):
rock, but I think that they'reall kind of like if you strip
them all back to their barebones, they're all kind of like,
you know, they're like folksongs or like singer-songwritery
songs, but they're they're veryemotional and they're very like
can get very loud and distortedand fuzzy.
And I think no matter, nomatter what, I think I'm always
(22:39):
gonna like there's always thattemptation to like click on the
distortion pedal or like whatwould it sound like if it got
really crazy here?
Right.
And I think I'm just I can'thelp myself with that, usually
when it comes to the writing.
So I think that the the farmemo thing came out of the idea
of like, okay, it's like it'semo-y, but it's not quite like
(23:00):
Midwest emo, but it's got alittle country folky in there,
but it's not quite that either.
Someone we were on tour, mypedal steel player and I, and we
were playing with some someother like we got on like a bill
with some country duos, andthey're excellent.
And then this this person inFar Wayne came up to us and is
(23:21):
like, Oh, you guys are likey'all alternative.
And I was like, That's great,actually.
colleyc (23:28):
That's so cool.
That's really cool.
And kind of like as we come toa close here, uh, running,
thanks so much again for thetime you've taken to share some
amazing stories.
Your your your history is veryuh engaging.
I've just loved listening toyour stories about the band and
the starting and your writingprocess.
(23:48):
Uh I guess my last question islike, what uh what happens after
this record comes out?
So November 14th, it hits thethe world.
What else is in the works thatpeople could anticipate or look
forward to?
Tiberius (24:04):
Well, we're gonna do we're gonna do a little
northeast run in November, whichwill be nice.
So we're gonna do Burlington,Portland, Boston, and then
Albany, Philly, New York to kindof celebrate this book and this
little chapter of of Troupador.
And my drummer will actuallyput it really well.
(24:26):
Like, we've been playing thesesongs for like two years at this
point, and he was just like,Yeah, like it's like it's an
album release show, but it'smore like an album goodbye show,
like or an album for awheelchair.
Because it's at this point,we're like all like we're really
excited to work on some newstuff.
And I've been trying to write,and my mind has been much more
(24:46):
in a different place than it waswhen these songs were written,
a really different place,actually.
But it's I think I'm reallytrying to start working on
writing some new tunes andwriting some new music.
And hopefully I definitelydon't want to stop playing these
tunes or or stop doing thisrecord because I'm hoping that
we can continue to expand.
(25:08):
And I I definitely want to dosome more tours next year and
kind of in the meantime wherewe're where we're milk in this
era.
colleyc (25:16):
I look forward to the well, I mean, I'm still really
loving this because I mean andpeople are gonna love this.
You're gonna love this fullrecord.
Uh there's four singles out onit, uh, but listening it to it
from start to finish is just uha real treat.
Uh excellent songwriting,excellent bandmanship.
Uh you guys sound tight andlike on the same wave uh
(25:38):
throughout this record.
Uh and I hope I get to see youguys live maybe uh down the road
you'll head north a little bitand come up visit us.
Uh and I just wish you all thebest with this release.
Uh I know that these are a lotof work, these records, and then
it just the day comes and thengoes.
And it's like, what happened?
(25:59):
What's going on?
But the effort is is well, theeffort is always memorialized
forever.
So I I'm I'm glad that thiseffort is gonna be uh a part of
our uh world for uh well till itends, really.
So I appreciate that and goodluck on the tours too.
Uh I hope that that gets theattention it deserves.
(26:21):
People go and check out uhTiberius, uh buy a record or a
cassette or a shirt, go see theshow, go and say hi to the guys.
These are all important thingsfor these bands that are
particularly independent andthey rely on these live
performances.
Take care of yourself.
Yeah, it's been a realpleasure.
(26:42):
I hope that uh when the nextone drops, uh, we can continue
this conversation.
Tiberius (30:05):
What are you doing?
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