Pick up some Skyline Chili, make a few friendship bracelets and grab your buds as Midwest Friends Fest is returning to the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area for its sophomore year. Midwest Friends Fest is once again taking over the Southgate House Revival in Newport, KY.
The 2-day festival with multiple stages and amazing national and local acts like Signals Midwest, Cinema Stare, The 1984 Draft and Tooth Lures A Fang will take place from 30 & 31 May with tickets available here.
Ian Meyer (guitar/vox) of Year Twins has joined TGEFM to discuss this year’s festival for this installment of our MWFF interview series. Check it out below and we’ll see you at the bonfire in the woods!
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! What should our readers know about Year Twins; your history, your mission, your sound?
“We write music that we would want to listen to. Loud and fast with a balance of complex instrumentals and catchy melodies. We like weird, experimental music but love a good pop tune also. Meeting somewhere in the middle scratches that itch for us. We always try to push ourselves but in a way that could tickle someone’s fancy, whether you just want visceral energy and melodies or you want to hear a band get into the nuts and bolts of things.”
You are gearing up for Midwest Friends Fest in the coming months, what does the festival circuit mean to artists like yourselves?
“Festivals are super important to any music scene/community. It’s a chance to buy a ticket to see the bands you like, but then you get to watch new bands and fall in love with other groups and different sounds. That’s the icing on the cake! Most festivals you really get a lotta bang for your buck. We’ve only done a few so far and we’d love to get in on more fests. Hang out, play a set, make friends, listen to new bands.”
What does Year Twins have planned for us beyond MWFF?
“We have a ton of shows in the works! We’ll be hitting some New York and Pennsylvania cities this May right before MWFF (5/13-5/17) some local shows, then heading out to Chicago and probably making a little tour of that in late August. The vinyl for our 2nd album “Leveled” just expected to arrive tomorrow as i’m writing this! We’re excited to shill those around the country. And we’re writing like crazy right now, a couple new tunes are already done which sound different than what we’ve done before but still touch on the sound we’ve constructed. We’re super stoked on em and hope to get them out soon, either as singles or write more songs and release an EP.”
What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?
“I would say playing shows down south on our first tour was super special. We stopped at record stores and Buc-ee’s and other regional food places we always wanted to try. The realization of making an adventure of tour with your best friends was real. It was also our first time hitting the road for consecutive dates and the comradery of it really sunk in. We’ve been great friends irl but we’ve never went on road trips or long drives like that. It really solidified our bond and shared passion for this what we’re doing. Most unexpected moment was when our first song “Mystics in Bali” blew up (in a sense) when we were still nobody basically. It got a lot of traction on reddit and that day we were just watching the Youtube views go up by the thousands and just stunned lol. It took our creativity out of the basement and into the public real quick.”
Regarding live sets, what are you most excited to bring to the Midwest Friends Fest audience? What do you want the attendees to say about your set when they tell their friends about you?
“So if you want to hear a band play their songs perfectly you can just listen to the album. Like playing Pokemon, playing the energy card is a must haha. The best live shows are always when the band is clearly feeling it, and when they convey that comfort the people watching and listening can feel it too. Making connections, having people either relate to the lyrics of be able to just get lost in a song or go nuts for a minute, that’s what makes everything worth it. We’d want people to say “those guys are nuts and pretty damn tight on stage too.”
We’ve all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?
“There have been a few gigs we turned down with some bigger bands that we wish we’d taken, but it’s not the end of the world. We try to not to live in the past and dwell on regrets because that can eat you up inside. After playing as Year Twins for over 6 years now, I’ve learned not to “compare and despair” as they say. As long as we’re expressing ourselves and letting out those emotions, and whatever audience we have can relate and listens, that’s all we ever need.”
The punk, ska and indie scenes have almost always been at the forefront of inclusion and diversity within the music scenes. The flipside of course is that the gatekeeping in the scene is also very prevalent? Why do you think the genre brings in such a welcoming community and is so happy to let everyone in and also seems to shut the doors so quickly behind themselves?
“That’s a very important question! It feels like within rock (and metal) communities that comes up so often. People are quick to state “oh that’s not actually emo or (blank genre) or i’ve listened to them for years you just found out about them on TikTok (lol). People really just need a reason to pat themselves on the back at the expense of others sometimes, unfortunately. Eventually you’ll (hopefully) outgrow it and just be happy the genre you’re passionate about has sunk its teeth into new different demographics and younger generations. No one really cares you were in it beforehand and you’ll probably not gain anything from anyone, the best thing you can do is just be humble and chill about it.”
This festival is all about friendships and music. What do you value most in friendships amongst yourself and your stagemates?
“Probably the leniency that comes with having a tight friendly bond with your bandmates. It can be the difference between a scowl or glance with a chuckle if someone goofs on stage. And when it comes to writing, musically and lyrically, it can yield more open creativity as your bandmates will probably level with you more and have a deeper understanding of where the others are in their life, their influences, their leanings towards a certain direction etc..There have also been so many people in bands from other cities we’ve grown a real bond with! Just playing with random people then finding yourself in an hour-long conversation with them, you really don’t forget those people. “
I’ve got to be honest, I wasn’t very familiar with Year Twins before you joined the MWFF roster. Now that I’ve listened, I’m really digging last year’s LP; Leveled. Tell me a little bit about the record? What was going on at the time that helped kickstart the songwriting process?
“That’s okay! It’s cool when someone’s entry to us is through or newer stuff. We definitely took more time to work out songs with layers as opposed to first LP, which was a lot off the cuff, on our sleeve kind of songs. There were sparse riffs that I started writing as the first album came out, it was during the height of COVID so when we were actually able to get together, we would build around one of the little riffs, messing with rhythms and bass and when we wanted to write another song it was like “okay, what else you got?”. Our drummer Eli even brought some ideas to the table (like on ‘Shootin’ the Rodeo’ for example) and if they worked with what we had going, we’d change the key and piece it together until it was like “damn that actually works well”. He also wrote the guitar for ‘Jimmy Can Jump’ before we even formed officially. None of the songs on the “Leveled” are outwardly about that period of being quarantined but there was some real existentialism happening and the feeling of being trapped reared its head into the lyrics.”
The world has been going through some shit over the last few days, weeks, hell, decade. What impact, if any, have the cultural and political landscapes of the last few years had on your music or the live scene in general?
“In the course of our bands history, starting in 2018, the country we live has had some peaks and valleys. We were younger when we wrote our first album, and while there are some frustrated or angry moments there was a lot of escapism we were trying to convey to deal with what had been going on since 2016. From 2020-2024 there was some political optimism but obviously things were still going on for a lot of the world, but there was still little progress. A big point of “Leveled” deals with bettering yourself in relation to those around you because at that point it felt like even if you can’t fix the religious and political atrocities in the world, you can at least try to promote kindness within yourself and with others in your community. Now in 2025 the rights of our friends and families are yet again under scrutiny, and the threat of the U.S. backing wars on the side which barely anyone agrees with is despicable. Piling on the blatant screwing over of our own people so the elderly can make lifetimes of income they can never spend, the internal threat is more real now than it was then. It’s hard to contain your anger when writing lyrics and keeping things poetic, the bands that do it perfectly have our utmost respect.”
What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst? On the flipside to that one… Who are some non-MWFF bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
“Around 2014 is when we really got into the resurgence of emo and the way it coincided with math rock. Pulling collectively from our influences, to name some albums, it would be Marietta–Summer Death, CHON–Grow, TTNG–13.0.0.0.0 and A Great Big Pile of Leaves–You’re Always on My Mind. And damn, gotta give it up for Into It. Over It. and the first two albums by the Japanese band Tricot. Our genre enthusiasm is pretty vast, but we were blasting these albums on repeat. There was some time between our discovery of these bands and when the band formed, and many years of influential build up, but when we got together and actually started writing songs, it was clear what sound we gravitated towards. Year Twins wouldn’t sound like we do if it wasn’t for us incessantly listening to these bands!”
I don’t know if you’ve heard about this newcomer by the name of Taylor Swift. Her growing fanbase trades friendship bracelets. If you made a bracelet for MWFF, what word or phrase word you put on it?
“I used to ride the bus to school and our bus drive would play the radio and i’d have “Our Song” stuck in my head all day during school. Pop music is essential to the general landscape of music tastes and Taylor Swift has become so ingrained in the public’s life at this point. Having phrases on merch makes me think of like, hardcore tees with a black and white photo of the crowd with a phrase above it. Kind of an equivalent the equivalent of a friendship bracelet phrase, more like a thesis statement of the band’s message. It would probably be “It’s not your fucking fault” from our song ‘Turn Into Dracula’. That lyrics is followed with “You gave it your best and that’s enough”. It’s meaningful to us. It solidifies the feeling a lot of people have of regret for the past, but all you can do is try harder the next time around.”
Post show jam session in a large, empty field. What song are you singing around the bonfire? (Pardon my playful biases, but everything I know about the Midwest comes from shitty movies and songs by the Kinsella Bros. so I assume everyone playing here has spent some time at bonfire parties in the fields off some lonely county road)?
“We spent a lot of time around bonfires in backyard surrounded by cornfields. We were born and raised in northwest Ohio, quite a ways out from Columbus where we live now. When you’re in those settings you find yourself just playing songs you know people know, like old soul songs and classic rock songs, everyone’s dad played those old standards on the radio. Playing some Weezer songs usually goes over with most, but if you have some people around who are in-the-know I would whip out some Taking Back Sunday and Modern Baseball or maybe some Death Cab and Bright Eyes. Around the fire you wanna play some that chord-driven and easy enough and at least one other person can holler along with you!”
Midwest Friends Fest is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?
“Oh geeze, we have so many friends playing this fest with us. Some are from out of town and we’re so exited to see them again! From Columbus we’re stoked to see Manor Gates again, we play a lot of shows together but it’s been a minute. Hummus Vacuum are good friends of ours, their bassist is also in Palette Knife and their usual drummer is my cousin-in-law (is that a term?!) Leisure Hour are our tightest Indiana pals, we’ve played some really fun shows with them in Ohio and Indiana. And LayLow and As It May are some Cincinatti natives we’ve crossed paths with before, some super cool people in both of the bands.”
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
“Just be on the watch for what we have coming next! We always just wanna have fun and make songs that are fun and at least sorta meaningful. We’re always playing shows around Ohio and planning tours for cities around the country. Hopefully we can hit some new cities soon and states we haven’t yet ventured to yet. We have new songs always brewing and unique physicals of our existing music. We always love new stuff for our personal entertainment and for our fans! Can’t wait to share the stage at MWFF and make some new pals. Hope to see some new and familiar faces! Cheers!”
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/