December 27, 2020
QUail: This bird still sings
STORY BY Olivia McKeon / Photos BY quail / EDITED BY Nicole Brokaw
From left to right: Madison Carroll, Gabe Zall, Ali DeRagon, Sam Laemmle, Anna Young, Dan Yapp, Jacob Graham, and David Florentin, all eight members of Quail.
Combining elements of pop, R&B, funk, and rock, Quail is the eight-member band composed of Anna Young (‘22), Madison Carroll (‘22), Sam Laemmle (‘22), Ali DeRagon (‘22), David Florentin (‘22), Gabe Zall (‘22), Jacob Graham (‘21), and Dan Yapp (‘20) that makes music with a “grooving rhythm section, fiery horn section, power vocals, and boogie-worthy arrangements.” Quail currently has almost 10k monthly listeners on Spotify, with over 250k streams on their debut single, “Blue Sky.”
They hope to release a studio album in the near future, along with music videos for their songs “Crazy” and “Distance.” Their most recent release, “Distance,” describes society’s entrance into the world of COVID-19 and references hope for the future with the lines “take my color but not my roots” and “this bird still sings.” Quail hopes this song will help people through the current state of the world and showcase some of the experiences people are having in the age of a global pandemic.
Olivia McKeon corresponded with Anna Young (bassist and songwriter) of Quail, through an email interview. They discussed the formation of the band, future plans, and the meaning behind Quail’s songs during the interview, demonstrating the intricate thought process that goes into the creation of their music.
OM: How did you form the band?
AY: The band started [for six of us during] our freshman years. All eight of us knew each other in various ways and we all wanted to play music together. I remember hearing Ali, our tenor sax player, rip a solo in a jazz band rehearsal and thinking to myself, "I need to find out who this girl is. She needs to be in this band." The band officially formed in November of 2018 and we had our first show in February of 2019, as the opener for a Planned Parenthood fundraiser show at The Haunt. A year later, we headlined the same event. At that first show, we actually had a different vocalist, who I had played with in high school. She ended up leaving Ithaca and we gained Madison. Madison was our friend already and we knew she would be the perfect fit for Quail. Since she's joined, Quail has been complete!
OM: Who came up with the name “Quail” and what’s the meaning behind it?
AY: I came up with the name about four years ago. I was on a road trip with my family and one house we stayed at was across the street from a road named "Quail Trail." Being from NYC, I wasn't all that experienced with birds outside of pigeons, and I fell in love with the name "quail." I was playing Scrabble with my family later that night, and I don't play Scrabble correctly at all. I often just set my mind on spelling one word and that's my goal the entire game. For this game, my goal was to spell "quail." So, I decided that when I formed a band, it had to be called "Quail." Luckily, the band liked it!
OM: Do you want to pursue a career in music after college?
AY: All of us are music majors, with the exception of Gabe (emerging media) who plays the trumpet. I think we all definitely want to continue careers in music after college in one way or another. For myself, I am studying music education, so I plan to have a career teaching and playing music. I'm also actually studying percussion at school, with a focus on jazz vibes, so I plan to incorporate that in my musical career as well. I don't think any of us ever plan to stop making music.
OM: What’s the significance behind your song “Crazy”? If it’s about a certain person, do they know it’s based on them?
AY: Maddy and I wrote "Crazy" in a practice room at school. Over winter break last year, I sent her a voice recording of me playing it on piano with a rough idea of the arrangement and some lyrics. We decided that we wanted to finish it together. It became one of those songs that kind of wrote itself. The lyrics just made sense and kept flowing. The song isn't about one particular person or experience. We wanted the song to reflect the pretty unanimously known experience of women. Very often when a woman voices an opinion or opposes someone, we're called various names, a popular one being "crazy." The verses represent the realization that we can do things for ourselves and voice our opinions. The chorus, especially in the last line "I might be crazy, but I'm not crazy for you" is telling people essentially that whatever and whoever we choose to be has nothing to do with a man or a significant other. It's our way of taking back this word that's been used to demean women for so long.
OM: Your song “Blue Sky” has over 250k streams on Spotify. Were you surprised by how popular it became?
AY: "Blue Sky's" success was absolutely mind-blowing to us. From the success it had at shows, we knew that people in Ithaca liked the song, but we definitely never expected people across the world to be adding us to playlists and dancing to us. The reception was absolutely amazing. I remember finding out that it was starting to gain some momentum. I was visiting a high-school music program I was a part of, sitting in a basement with pretty bad service surrounded by kids blowing into their horns. I went on the Spotify for Artists app to check the numbers and it said we were put on people's "Release Radar" playlists, which had gotten us a lot of streams overnight. I actually just read back the texts from when we all found out, and I can feel how excited we were in the moment. It's still a shock to us that so many people enjoy our music around the world. It's one of those things that you dream of as a kid. We all had those dreams of, "when I grow up I want to be a rock star!" We've still got a long way to go to becoming famous rock stars, but it's pretty surreal to have part of your dream come true.
OM: Do you each have a specific role in the group or is it more fluid than that?
AY: With an eight-person band, everyone definitely has a specific role in the group. The roles came pretty naturally though. It wasn't a strict "You are assigned here, you are assigned here, etc." The roles formed from what each member took on and was interested in doing. For example, Dan has experience in tech work, so he runs our website. When we do virtual covers, Sam, who is studying audio engineering, does our mixing, and I do the video editing. We've also naturally figured out who is responsible for the business side of things. The only appointed roles we have in the group are our instruments and a social media team that we developed with four out of the eight of us. Regardless of the roles that we each have we never make big decisions without checking with each other. Our group chat is always buzzing, and we have weekly meetings to discuss anything that needs to be discussed.
OM: Who are some of your musical inspirations?
AY: As a band, I think our style draws from a lot of different artists. Some main ones are definitely Lawrence and Vulfpeck. We love the energy and passion they bring to all their performances. We're also inspired by all the artists we play with and see in shows. There's a lot to gain from every performer. In terms of writing, I can only speak for myself; I am inspired by so many different musicians and styles of music. For Quail, I take a lot of inspiration from, again, Lawrence, for their driving horn lines and soul-filled passionate chords, and Haitus Kaiyote. I love how Haitus Kaiyote feels groove. Even when they play really intricate and complex passages, the pocket is always so locked. I also draw from a lot of non-funk or soul bands too. There are so many but off the top of my head: The Punch Brothers, Taylor Swift, and Chika are some really big musical inspirations of mine, in their lyricism, arrangements, and songwriting styles. I also get inspired by certain songs too. "SONGS ABOUT YOU" by Chika, "Any Old Sunday" by Chaka Khan, and "Better" by corto.alto have been some of my favorite songs this year.
OM: How do you begin the process of writing a song?
AY: This is a tough one. For me, it's different all the time. Sometimes I'll start with chords, sometimes with a melody, sometimes with lyrics I like a lot. For our song "Higher," I started with the chords of the verse. They felt super nice in my hands and the melodies formed around that. For "Blue Sky,” I started with the line "I've been waiting on the blue sky." I was sitting in a music tech class my freshman year of college and this melody got stuck in my head. So, for me, I wouldn't say that there's really a set process or formula. The first step is just an idea, whether that be lyrical, instrumental, or musical. When I'm blocked, I like to listen to songs I love and find my favorite lines. I learn a line and then I try to figure out how I can write something that makes me feel the same way that line does. I actually have a playlist on Spotify called "Songs I Want to Write." Cory Wong, [an American guitarist in the band Vulfpeck], suggested this in a masterclass and it's incredibly helpful.
OM: What’s your favorite song to perform live?
AY: Every song has its moment when we play them live. "Higher" is always fun because of the heavy breakdown section that happens. "Blue Sky" is amazing to play because people in the crowd know literally every word to it. I remember the first time we played it after the single had come out. The song started and I remember being shocked people sang along to the horn line, but then kept singing along into the verse, and then the chorus, and the next verse, etc. We haven't gotten a chance to play some of our new songs, like "Crazy," live yet, but I think those will be super fun.
My absolute favorite song to perform is "Sip Of Water." It was the first real song that I wrote and arranged. I wrote it in high school, but it's been developed much more since then. The song is a funk-blues vibe until the breakdown, when it comes to a really mellow two-chord section. The lyrics, "talking out my mouth, I can't ease my mind," sneak in and there's a really beautiful moment where it's just Sam on guitar, Maddy on vocals, and myself on harmony. It's a rare low and intimate moment in our sets and then the song goes full power ballad. It's so powerful to have a room full of people singing the lyrics that you wrote and have been connected to for so long. There is no feeling like it and it never fades.
OM: Do you have any upcoming projects you’re working on?
AY: We're currently working on our album! It was supposed to come out over the summer, but the pandemic got in the way. We finished recording all the main tracks for it right before we left for spring break. I think the Quail album may have actually been the last thing to be recorded in Whalen before we went remote. Now there are only a few overdubs left to be recorded! We've had such a great team working on this album: our recording engineers, Jacob Friga and Eric Myers, and our mixing engineer, Nicky Young. We're so excited to share it with you all!
OM: What’s your favorite part about being in the band?
AY: It's hard to pinpoint what my favorite part of being in Quail is, there's so much to love. Performing is one of my favorite parts. The adrenaline of playing your heart out on the stage and dancing (probably like a fool) in front of a crowd is so amazing. It's been so hard not having that crowd interaction that we used to have. I would say the family that we've made is my favorite part of being in the band. Over the past two years, we've gotten so close as a band, but also just as people. I think regardless of where Quail goes and what our futures hold, if we've gotten anything out of this experience, it's lifelong friendship. I think it has to be that way too. When you share songs with someone, it's sharing a really deep and intimate part of yourself. There needs to be full trust and faith in the people you are sharing your music with. Seeing your music come to life is one thing, but the relationships that come out of that process are one of a kind.