Quasi-Bullfight, an indie rock group out of the Metro Detroit area, consists of Blake Ellison, Malcolm McNitt, Kolton Sarate, Ian Lukas, Walter Braun, Sam Hirsch, and Avi Prochazka. Their debut album, Trampoline Dreams, is set to come out on the 25th of January and they are already planning the production of more music to be released in the future. Elizabeth got the chance to sit down and chat with the guys about their writing process, their music, and the future of the band.
Can you introduce yourselves for the people who may not know who you are?
B: So we’re Quasi-Bullfight. I’m Blake, I’m the drummer. I’m the third newest member of the band. I’m also the third drummer, but the longest standing drummer.
S: I’m Sam, I’m the most important member. I play bass. The name Quasi-Bullfight was my idea. I also said it was the worst band name I’ve ever heard in my life so..
A: My name is Avi, I do the recording and I also play trumpet on the album.
I: Hi, I’m Ian Lukas. I play trombone and I sing a little bit.
W: My name is Walter Braun. I play guitar and also bass and I guess sometimes I sing.
S: We’re also missing Kolton Sarate and Malcolm McNitt though.
W: Yeah, Malcolm McNitt is our singer and Kolton Sarate plays keyboard and guitar.
So, the band name. How did it come to be?
S: So we were playing — Kolton, Walter, Malcolm and I — were playing in the pit orchestra for our school musical, “Anything Goes,” and over the snare drum part it said “Quasi-Bullfight.” So like, play like a bullfight? And I looked at Kolton and I said “Wow, that’s the worst band name I’ve ever heard,” and then on the walk to Checkers — which was a tradition at that point — we were discussing how bad of a band name it was. And Malcolm was like, “Well I kind of like it, I think.” And that was pretty much it, it became the band name.
What drew you guys to the music industry?
W: Well, Kolton and I have been in a bunch of different bands, like since middle school probably. Just like, you know, we started out with the typical kinda cringey– we were a trio that covered classic rock as you do.
S: Their only gig was at a skatepark.
W: Yeah, we played for one of our friends’ birthday parties at a skatepark. Yeah, that was a very prestigious gig. That gig was the starting point, like, that gave us a lot of clout. From there it’s kinda downhill the whole way, we’re still trying to recover back to that. But yeah, Kolton and I were just playing in a bunch of bands together but we weren’t really writing any of our own songs. Then we just decided, “Okay, let’s actually start writing our own music.” Because at that point we had kind of matured and had wanted to do that. And from there we recruited Malcolm, who was the singer, and we recorded an EP of just random songs we made, and that’s what’s on Spotify actually.
All: It was a school project.
W: It was actually for my school project. We had to do this thing, the “MYP Personal Project.” So I was like, “Well what am I going to do? Music, I guess.” So we just banged out that and they said it’s “musical expression.” And they really ate that up, they really did. And I got like a perfect score on it.
B: What?! Did you really?
W: No. Okay, the school gave a perfect score, but then they sent it to, like, the MYP Board, and they gave it, like, half. So yeah, that’s how the first EP came about and then from there we just started adding more and more people and our song writing also matured.
Everyone: [Laughing because of the deafening sound of coffee beans being ground a couple feet away from us.]
W: And here we are now. I don’t think we ever really intended to get into the music industry, I guess; we just wanted to write our own music and people just liked it. We had friends who liked us and they liked our music. So that’s kind of why we’re here.
One of my questions was “what has been your favorite place to play,” but I think we already know it’s the skate park. But what’s your actual favorite place to play?
S: Well there’s the Loving Touch in Ferndale, which is our actual favorite place to play. They hate us though. Okay, well, we launched six beach balls and it’s not that big a room.
B: And I accidentally bumped their sound guy. I was sitting at the drumset and he decided to bring an amp on stage from behind me and I just turned around and I elbowed him. He gave me the dirtiest look ever, but I think we’re still good.
So, do you guys collaborate with others? If so, what’s the process like?
S: Well, Ian was initially a collaboration but then we just decided to make him a full time member.
I: Yeah, I just came to record the album I think. Like, that was the main goal of me being in the band for like five minutes. And I was like, “Okay, I’ll just ease out of there,” but they liked me so that was cool.
What’s something that’s happened in your music career so far that you’ll always remember?
S: First time at the Loving Touch. That was my first, like, real gig.
W: Yeah, just, like, that first experience of actually playing live music. I mean, I guess the skatepark was the first time, but it’s actually a really magical experience when you have a crowd that actually likes your music and likes you; just applauding for what you play, and not for fun.
S: We’ve all played in, like, orchestras and bands and stuff in high school but that’s never been our music. As opposed to the first time playing Loving Touch, that was the first time playing our music.
I: It was really interesting for me, because I’m a trombone player and that’s kind of “out of the loop” for rock stuff. So, it’s, like, really interesting to try and blend into that.
How would you describe your music style? Who are some artists who you would consider to have a similar style?
S: Hmm.. That’s a tough question. We’ve been thinking about that for years now. Initially it was American Football and Pavement, then it’s evolved to, like– well Walter really loves The Smiths now. Blake and I have been listening to like, Vulfpeck and Parliament.
W: Yeah, we kind of base it around the indie rock sound, I guess? We don’t really try to have a really polished approach.
B: We know a lot of bands will write songs for their audience, and I think that’s good in itself, if that’s what you’re into, but we definitely write songs more for ourselves. We’re just like “Oh! That sounds really good. Is it slacker rock and will it fit with other artists we know?” and it’s like, “No, but we like it so we’re gonna write it and play it.”
What can we expect to see from you guys in terms of new music?
S: We’re going to start recording the next stuff after the album drops. We’ve been working on the album for two years, and in that time, we’ve had a lot of time to work on other stuff.
W: There’s an album releasing soon but we have a lot of other material too. We have like 19 demos.
B: 13 are strong ones.
I mean, that’s enough for an album.
B: Right, but that’s probably going to get whittled down.
W: It’s kind of, like, a weird concept for us. For our first EP, we just wrote some songs and we were like “Okay, this is going to be an EP.” But then, with this actual album, we actually had to pick some songs to take off. There was a certain craft to it, I guess.
B: I’m excited to record the new stuff not in Kolton’s bedroom. The recording process for this new album was really stressful. Like, they would lay a junk track so I would know where I was in a song, and everyone would record separately. When you split everyone up like that, you lose the energy. It doesn’t feel right, or like, organic. Me or Ian said that last night: when you can do a live take of something, it fits and it grooves so much more.
I: Because it’s all communication. It’s like talking but through an instrument, but all of us talking at different times. Like okay, it’s like this conversation, but you ask us the questions, cut the take, and then we listen to it in a completely separate room. There’s, like, no actual communication.
S: There was one song where I recorded first because I wrote it and my part was the most important, but it was just me sitting with Kolton in his bedroom for, like, twenty minutes with a metronome just trying to play the song. It was absolute torture.
I: It’s in time.
S: It’s in time! It’s perfect! But it was torture.
W: Recording can easily become absolute hell. For me, the little imperfections that I would normally have while playing– I just think about the people who are listening to the definitive, recorded version are going to hear that and that’s not how I intended for the song to be. It’s hard to just go and say, “Yeah, that was good enough.”
Do you have any advice for bands or artists smaller than you that are trying to build a community like yours?
W: I think the most important thing is to not get bogged down with success or anything. Just make music for the sake of making music. Don’t be like, “Oh, this isn’t getting that many plays” or “People won’t like this one.” Just make music because it makes you happy. And if it makes other people happy, then so be it.
I: And don’t be too much of a perfectionist. If you want to be perfect, that’s never gonna happen. That’s in the craft of music. Don’t let perfection get in your way from releasing something good.
W: I mean, it’s always good to have that strive for quality, I guess. You don’t want to go, “Okay, I’m going to write a song in two minutes and then just post it.” You need to have some intent there.
S: The album was originally supposed to come out October 20th, and then November 3rd, but it never happened because we were worried about it being perfect.
A: It wasn’t even that. I was like, “Nah, you gotta re-record some of this.”
Make sure to follow Quasi-Bullfight on Instagram and don’t forget to stream their debut album, Trampoline Dreams, when it comes out on January 25th!
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