If you like artists like Briston Maroney, Hippo Campus and Bad Bad Hats odds are you’ll love The Greeting Committee!
Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, this four-piece indie rock group began making music when lead singer, Addie, and bass player, Pierce, were in high school. The Greeting Committee released their first EP, It’s Not All That Bad, in 2015 and have since opened for multiple artists including MisterWives, Saint Motel and Briston Maroney. They put out their first album, This Is It, in 2018. Earlier this year, the group released their second full-length album, Dandelion.
With only 4 tour dates left, The Greeting Committee is wrapping up the To Feel Alright Again Tour. We had a chance to chat with lead singer Addie Sartino and learn more about how the band has changed in the last year, who influences their music, how they wrote their single “Hopscotch” and more!
BTS: You’re really active on Twitter! What’s your favorite way to interact with your fans and why?
Addie: Twitter for sure. I really like this community we built on Twitter. I’m not really sure how it happened, but we call them ‘The Garden.’ I love them. I like being really sarcastic with them. I think anyone who has met me at a show knows that I’m not actually a bully, but I think it’s really funny to mess with them online, so I really enjoy doing that. And they hit me back too!
BTS: There have been a lot of changes with the band this past year, what has been the toughest part about that? What’s been the best part that has come from all of the change?
Addie: The toughest part has been having to keep people in the dark. It’s not really up to me fully on what gets shared and what doesn’t. A lot of teetering between wanting to be private and looping people in. I feel like we’ve always been very honest with everybody and it was really tough to not be able to do that. I’m hopeful that one day we’ll be able to share everything; it’s really hard to watch speculation happen and have to bite your tongue.
The best part about it has been our current lineup because everyone is so gracious and we work together so well. There’s a very genuine friendship that happens between the 4 of us. I really love being able to see Pierce shine in a way that I don’t think people were aware of even though it’s always been there and I just really love being able to champion him and I think we do a really good job of doing that for each other. It’s been the best thing that could’ve happened.
BTS: Can you talk a little bit more about your experience writing and recording “Hopscotch”?
Addie: Hopscotch was written pretty quickly. Pierce sent me an instrumental demo and I just knew that there was something special about the song. I was driving around in my car, trying to write lyrics (which is a typical thing for me to do) and Hopscotch Double-Dutch kept coming to mind, which was actually from a Notes App note of mine from a few years ago and that kind of just stuck with me.
From there, the rest of the lyrics really just flowed. I shared it with Pierce, who really loved it and we had this incredible opportunity to kind of not exhaust ourselves with writing and demoing to such an extent because we knew that we could trust Jake to come in and sprinkle some of his magic on there. It was such a great experience – it was the least stressful writing experience I’ve ever had in this band. It was so wonderful.
BTS: What’s your favorite part about touring?
Addie: Connecting with fans, 100%. I love meeting new people. I love getting to experience my lyrics with the people that listen because I am and I have been in their shoes plenty of times, so being able to feel a little less alone is just as great on the other end of it (as the artist).
BTS: We love how much you play in Kansas City! Do you have a most memorable show there?
Addie: The first thing that popped into my head was when we played Record Bar in 2017. That’s a 500-person capacity venue and we sold it out really quickly and I think that was the first time we felt like maybe something is really happening here. Our fans brought marshmallows and threw them at us that night, which was so goofy and of course made the venue staff mad because that sticks to the floor really badly. That’s just the first one that comes to mind! I’m sure maybe if I thought about it my answer could change, but I’m gonna stick with that one.
BTS: How do you think The Greeting Committee’s sound has evolved over time? How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music?
Addie: My go-to for someone who has never heard our music is dancey indie rock you can cry to and I think that’s remained true. I would say we’ve progressively maybe leaned more into pop song writing while trying to not alienate fans that have stuck with us from the beginning. I think we’re very conscious in balancing that sound out. So if we have a really pop-written song, we try to make the production very indie and vice versa.
BTS: Who are some of your musical influences, past and current?
Addie: Taylor Swift. She is the moment. She’s been the moment. I love her, I think she’s such an incredible business woman. I would die to meet her. Hayley Williams from Paramore, too. I love Lorde, I love The 1975. Growing up it was The Killers and Death Cab for Cutie, and I’m sure I’m always forgetting other bands that I adore and then I go read this interview and I’m like ahh, I should’ve said this person.
BTS: What do you think your biggest accomplishment as a band has been so far?
Addie: Probably that we’ve gone through so many changes and still remained to hold such dedicated fans. That’s just something we feel very lucky about, I would say. I was really worried with the changes that were happening in the lineup that we would lose people. I pay attention, I notice when we go to cities and certain people aren’t there that have been there before. I feel very lucky and very fortunate that those people still believe in me and Pierce.
BTS: The Greeting Committee was formed in 2014 when Addie and Pierce were in high school. What advice do you have for young artists looking to start a band?
Addie: You are never going to be ready, just do it. If you were to go back and listen to our catalog, it exists on Spotify, go listen to a song from 2015 and then to the Dandelion record, it’s like night and day. But if I hadn’t done that music and put that music out, I wouldn’t be where I am today, so just do it. Just release it. You’re never going to think it’s good enough, you’re always going to be your worst critic, just go!
BTS: What final message do you want to send to your fans and listeners?
Addie: I think I always advocate for people to be vulnerable and for people to use their voices. I think that speaking up about whatever it is you’re passionate about, no matter how big or small, is really important.
The Greeting Committee also just put out a new single called Anything But You. Stream it here!
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