Racing Mountain Pleasant Interview

Absent Sounds: My name is Weadee- and I'm Weajue — and you are currently tuned to another episode of Absent Sounds here on CJAM 99.1 FM, Reaching Higher Ground in Windsor and Detroit. Each week on Absent Sounds we like to pick two albums and dive into them, but sometimes we think the best way to get to know an album is to get to know the artist. So today we are lucky enough to be joined by the band Kingfisher. Do you guys wanna just go ahead and say, “Hi, my name is…” and what you play?

CASEY CHEATHAM: Sure. Hi, my name’s Casey and I play the drums.

SAM DUBOSE: My name’s Sam and I sing and play guitar. We’re two of seven. So the other five of us aren’t here right now, but they’d probably say hello.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Yes, they send their regrets. So one of the things I thought would be interesting to start us off — I used to really like personality types and stuff. I have a list of seven different attributes or personalities. And if you could say who you think each person in the band would be. Maybe I’ll just read them out first and then I’ll go through them again if you need.

SAM DUBOSE: Awesome.

ABSENT SOUNDS: There is the Adventurous Explorer, the Analytical Thinker, the Creative Dreamer, the Supportive Listener, the Social Butterfly, the Organized Planner, the Humorous Entertainer, and the Wise Mentor.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Ooh, awesome.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Maybe the easiest to start with is where you fit.

CASEY CHEATHAM: I don’t know. The first one that stood out to me was the Adventurous Explorer. Are we assigning them to members in Kingfisher?

ABSENT SOUNDS: Yeah.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Then I think Kaysen.

SAM DUBOSE: I’m good with Kaysen.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Yeah.

SAM DUBOSE: Do you wanna say why?

CASEY CHEATHAM: Kaysen is probably the most outdoorsy of us all. She’s super into camping. She lived at this place called The Cabin in Ann Arbor, which is like almost a cooperative living space. That’s part of the Voyagers Club. Very outdoorsy.

SAM DUBOSE: They had ducks, and it’s right next to a river.

ABSENT SOUNDS: I’m getting the vibe for sure. Okay, the next one we have is the Analytical Thinker.

SAM DUBOSE: That’s probably either Sam Uribe — he plays sax and produces a lot — or Tyler, our bassist. They both majored in neuroscience and they both work in neuro labs right now. Definitely one of those two.

ABSENT SOUNDS: That’s pretty cool. Then there’s the Creative Dreamer.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Part of me thinks… oh wait, wasn’t there a better one for Callum?

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, there was a better one for him.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Then Creative Dreamer can honestly be you.

SAM DUBOSE: It’s probably me, yeah. That just fits.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Sam’s got the big ideas, for sure. Not gonna lie, when you said “you” I wasn’t sure if you meant me, you, or the listener. But yeah, Sam’s the dreamer. Speaking of listener, the next one is the Supportive Listener.

CASEY CHEATHAM: I’d say maybe me or Connor.

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, Casey or Connor. Connor’s our alto sax player. Both are very supportive and wholesome.

ABSENT SOUNDS: That’s the second alto sax player I’ve met who’s wholesome. Maybe it’s a trait.

SAM DUBOSE: Could be. Connor’s so wholesome. He’s actually downstairs right now — I live with him — but he’s sick with a bad cold, so he couldn’t make it.

ABSENT SOUNDS: The next one we had was the Social Butterfly.

SAM DUBOSE: That’s probably Callum. He plays trumpet and guitar.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Very out there. Then there’s the Organized Planner. For a group as big as you guys, there has to be at least one person who’s really good at planning.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Recently I think it might be Connor.

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, Connor. He’s got the notepad. He’s been taking a lot of notes lately. Definitely Connor right now.

CASEY CHEATHAM: If not Connor, maybe Tyler.

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, Tyler too.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Okay. There’s also the Humorous Entertainer.

SAM DUBOSE: That’s Callum.

ABSENT SOUNDS: That’s what I was gonna say.

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, definitely Callum.

ABSENT SOUNDS: And the last one: Wise Mentor.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Maybe also Connor.

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, let’s go with Connor.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Connor’s a triple threat.

SAM DUBOSE: Quadruple. He’s really stacking them up. He’s just a threat.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Good game. Killer game. You guys did that pretty quickly too.

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, great game.

ABSENT SOUNDS: One thing that’s always interesting with a big band is figuring out the direction. After releasing the album and going through life changes, where are you all at now?

CASEY CHEATHAM: I can speak for two of us right now. Callum and I are still in school in Ann Arbor. He’s in his last year — one more semester after this one. I’ve got two more years. We live in the same house. The rest of the band, minus Tyler, are in Detroit. Tyler’s in Chicago. Detroit isn’t too far, so we’ve been able to rehearse on weekends.

SAM DUBOSE: Five of us graduated, two are still in school. Four of us live together in Detroit. Tyler’s in Chicago. That makes things harder because when we were all in school we lived within a few blocks of each other. Now we’re figuring out how to still be efficient as a group. Tyler has made it out a couple of times, and he records from Chicago and sends it over. As a band, we’ve put shows on hold to focus on recording. Detroit is our hub for that.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Throughout this adjustment, do you still feel like you’re pursuing what makes you happy?

SAM DUBOSE: Absolutely. Everyone who graduated made choices to keep this group going. For me, this band is the thing I do. Writing, playing, recording — it’s everything.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Same. If I wasn’t in school, this would be what I’d do full-time.

ABSENT SOUNDS: I read in an interview that at your shows, “tears are encouraged but not required.” Have there been things in the past few months that made you emotional?

CASEY CHEATHAM: It was tough when everyone moved away. That made me more grateful for the time we do get together. Emotional in a sad way, but also in a really happy way too.

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, Connor and Callum started college with me, and when we moved it was tough. But we’ve all made a conscious effort to stay physically close. A lot of our friends are musicians and artists too, so it’s nice to still be around each other. We used to have these intricate visual elements in our shows with a whole team. That’s harder now, but we try to make it feel like last year. It hasn’t been devastating, but it is a big change.

ABSENT SOUNDS: From my perspective, Chicago seems like a bigger music hub than Detroit. Why did you choose Detroit?

SAM DUBOSE: I’m from Chicago — it’s definitely bigger. But a lot of our friends had already moved to Detroit and loved it. It’s only 35–40 minutes from Ann Arbor, so it feels far enough to be “post-college,” but close enough to get back easily.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Before we dive into the album, is there one memory that encapsulates Grip Your Fist, I’m Heaven Bound?

CASEY CHEATHAM: When we finished it, we all went to where Sam, Callum, and Connor lived. We dimmed the lights, Sam had these massive speakers, and we just sat and listened to the whole thing. That felt like, “Wow, we did this.”

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, for me it was just the process itself. It was our first big try at recording something ourselves, and it was fun. If it hadn’t been fun, I don’t know how long we would’ve lasted.

ABSENT SOUNDS: And that group is none other than Kingfisher. November 11th, 2023 marked the one-year anniversary of their debut record, Grip Your Fist, I’m Heaven Bound. We’re joined by Sam and Casey as they take us through the album. The first two songs we played were “Intro / Shannondale Road” and “Annie.” Shannondale Road is a street in Ann Arbor. If we were to go there, what would we find?

SAM DUBOSE: That’s near Sam Uribe’s family home. We wanted an inside joke kind of title.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Was that meant as a symbolic intro or just a nice nod?

SAM DUBOSE: No deeper meaning. I suggested it, Sam liked it, and it stuck. It was wholesome.

ABSENT SOUNDS: It seems like a lot of your naming process is intuitive. Is that how you named the record too?

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, most names are pretty in-the-moment. We’ll rehearse a song, someone throws out a name, and it sticks. Some of the new ones definitely need changing though.

ABSENT SOUNDS: The track “Song for John” — who’s John?

SAM DUBOSE: Our roommate and good friend. He’s literally in my living room right now.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Funny thing is we don’t even know that many other Johns. He’s the John.

ABSENT SOUNDS: So all the other Johns should just change their names.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Exactly. No competition.

ABSENT SOUNDS: The song “Annie” feels personal. Is it harder to bring those to the band?

SAM DUBOSE: Sometimes, but the band is my closest friends. They usually know what or who the song is about. “Annie” is just a love song.

ABSENT SOUNDS: “Reichenbach Falls” — Sherlock Holmes’ death in Switzerland. If it happened in Ann Arbor instead, what would be his downfall?

CASEY CHEATHAM: Probably the Huron River Dam — only about 20 feet — or one of the big bell towers. There are two carillons on campus you could fall off of.

ABSENT SOUNDS: The track “TAUS” — what’s behind that name?

SAM DUBOSE: It was half a rock reference, half a Zelda inside joke. John was playing Breath of the Wild a lot and there’s a monster called Talus. We joked about it. Also, there’s a bone in your foot called the talus, so it kind of works either way.

ABSENT SOUNDS: On the song with the voicemail collage — who are we hearing?

SAM DUBOSE: Mostly Sam Uribe’s recordings. We always wanted a soundscape section, and he made it. His mom’s in there, and some other voices, but you can’t make out most of them.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Do you guys save voicemails?

CASEY CHEATHAM: I had some from years ago. I kept a couple, but most I deleted. These days people just text, but voicemails are more memorable.

SAM DUBOSE: I don’t save them. I let the phone transcribe it, skim it, and decide if I’ll call back. For the record I did collect a few though.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Snow days — what were they like growing up?

CASEY CHEATHAM: In North Carolina, even an inch of snow meant school was canceled. We sledded down hills, built ramps on a neighbor’s driveway, and my mom went cross-country skiing.

SAM DUBOSE: In Chicago we barely got snow days, but there was one blizzard where school was closed for five days. I shoveled driveways for cash.

ABSENT SOUNDS: “Grip Your Fist” is one of my favorites. The title gives off grit and stubbornness. Do you ever get stubborn about parts?

SAM DUBOSE: Recording, not really. Writing, yes — seven people means lots of opinions. Connor often flags cheesy parts. We try everything. It can be frustrating, but we always work it out.

CASEY CHEATHAM: Yeah, it can take forever, but once someone plays the right thing, we know. It’s worth it.

ABSENT SOUNDS: How do you know when to stop?

CASEY CHEATHAM: Usually when people run out of ideas or agree that the last one works. Sometimes we go back to an earlier version that clicked.

SAM DUBOSE: There’s usually a “we found it” moment. For “Holy Hell,” it was Callum playing a riff that made everything fall into place. On a new song, Connor and Casey just started jamming something during a break and that instantly became the next section.

ABSENT SOUNDS: “For Heaven / Bound Home.” In your spaces, what are three things you always have?

CASEY CHEATHAM: A framed photo of my grandmother, instruments, and good vibes.

SAM DUBOSE: Movies alone in my room. And a can of Coke — always.

ABSENT SOUNDS: We’ve never tried Coke. Or coffee.

SAM DUBOSE: That’s crazy. Ginger ale will do.

ABSENT SOUNDS: “Do You Think I’m Pretty?” is such a vulnerable title. Did you feel comfortable in your skin growing up?

CASEY CHEATHAM: Not usually, but there were moments where I thought, “Okay, I can see it.”

SAM DUBOSE: I think everyone’s insecure sometimes. Dressing up helps. My mom once told me I have “pianist hands,” and I’ve held onto that.

ABSENT SOUNDS: Does the album capture that time for Kingfisher?

CASEY CHEATHAM: Definitely. It was the first big project we’d all done. I hope people think it’s our worst album one day — because that’ll mean we kept getting better.

SAM DUBOSE: Yeah, releasing it made us feel like a real band. The next album will be better. If people like it more than the old stuff, great. If not, that’s fine. KINGFISHER (ID): This is Kingfisher, and you’re listening to CJAM 99.1 FM in Windsor and Detroit.

ABSENT SOUNDS: That was Kingfisher. Thanks so much to Sam and Casey for being on the show — and by extension the rest of the band. Their album Grip Your Fist, I’m Heaven Bound turned one on November 11. Hopefully we’ll see them at a show soon, and hopefully you will too.