Roll of the Dice: 3 questions with The Co-Founder

Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.

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On 17 May The Co-Founder will release the new EP Never Miss A Good Opportunity To Shut The Fuck Up. Ahead of the release, the band has joined TGEFM for the latest in our Roll of the Dice interview series.

Who is The Co-Founder, how would you describe your sound, what should our readers know about you and of course, what’s next for The Co-Founder?

Eller:
“Writing-wise The Co Founder is Andrew and I. We meet a few times a week to hash out demo ideas and write together. It took a while for us to start speaking the same musical language but after a year and a half of writing, we’re very much on the same page these days. For Never Miss A Good Opportunity To Shut The Fuck Up  (NMAGOTSTFU) I would bring in a song idea and then Andrew and I would flesh it out together. Usually, I start at my computer with my bass and a microphone, then once I find a cool chord progression I’ll start to build out the rest of the song. Then once it has reached a point where I start hitting roadblocks I will take it to Andrew for a fresh perspective. Andrew’s an incredible guitar player and his musical knowledge always injects interesting perspectives into whatever I’m writing (plus his guitar solos are face-melting). We’ll usually work on each song for 2-3 months, working through different arrangements, part ideas, etc. Then once we’re confident with the version we’ve demoed we take the tracks down to San Diego to re-record everything with our friends Jordan Krimston and Daniel Charlson. Those two have been incredible from a production standpoint – Andrew and I always laugh and how much better the songs sound after we get done recording with Jordan and Daniel. Daniel mixed and mastered NMAGOTSTFU and that is a huge reason why the album sounds as big and anthemic as it does.
Our live show is currently a five-piece – our good friends Ryan Tuttle (Guitar), Colin Frost (Bass), and Brayan Tarazona (Drums) were down to jump in and fill out the lineup after Andrew and I shared the album with them earlier this year. Colin did a little bit of writing with us during the initial NMAGOTSTFU sessions too. Brayan and Ryan are incredible artists in their own right – we’re lucky to have them on the team. 
I know it’s kind of uncouth but, at heart, we’re a pop band; we try to write simple yet memorable songs that jump out to listeners on a first listen. But our influences are wide-ranging. I try to draw from bands like Militarie Gun, Spiritual Cramp, and Webbed Wing when I write. Big anthemic songs in a short and energetic format. Those bands are super important to me – Ian and Taylor have been especially big influences on my songwriting over the past few years. We call ourselves an Indie-Punk band for the all-mighty algorithm. I like to scream live.
We’re currently working on the next album, trying to stay busy and productive while we wait to share NMAGOTSTFU with the world. Gotta keep the details under wrap for now but we’re deep into writing the next album. Thinking we’ll debut a new song for our Summer tour, but those talks are still up in the air.”

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?

Eller:
“Dang that’s a really tough question. Musically I think my biggest regret is not taking time to be present and enjoy touring heavily in my early 20’s. I was touring 5-6 months out of the year from 23-27, but I was so focused on trying to ‘make it’ that I don’t think I gave myself the space to be present with my friends and enjoy the experiences we ran into. I wish I would have gotten more tour tattoos with my old bandmates Jake (Barrow) and Luke (Hogfoss). That is always advice that I give younger bands that are just starting – really enjoy every moment you have with your bandmates. Whether it’s practice or sitting in the van on a 12 hour drive to Denver – cherish those moments because you don’t know how many of them you will have. That regret has shaped the way that we run Co Fo these days. We are 100% focused on our friendships as bandmates as opposed to any expectation of being ‘famous’ or ‘making it’. I find that approach is way more conducive to creating art you’re proud of and want to actively share with communities. Plus being famous sounds like it fucking sucks, shout out Taylor Swift.
In terms of gigs we’ve turned down, we’ve played with some incredible bands over the years. Co Fo has always been super fortunate gig-wise. From tiny SF house shows with Mom Jeans to Taco Shops in Denton (TX) with Prince Daddy we’ve been lucky to share bills with incredibly talented artists. I don’t know of a time when we’ve gotten a crazy show offer and we haven’t been able to do it, though. Music is and will always be my number one priority, so anytime we have opportunities as a band I’m pretty hell-bent on making it work. One of our first shows back was at Bottom of The Hill with Into It/Over It. We got asked to play like 4 hours before the show started and we moved stuff around to make sure it worked out. That was an awesome experience. I know Into It/Over It is a huge influence for Andrew and being able to organize ourselves on such short notice was hella inspiring.”

Graves:
“My biggest regret is not prioritizing music during my childhood. While I started learning guitar in middle school, I only joined my first band in my 20s. I grew up playing soccer and dedicated pretty much all of my free time to it. I literally sat on the bench all throughout high school – I didn’t even like it that much! I think it felt comfortable and familiar for me, and I never took a step back to reflect on what I actually wanted to do. I’m a fairly shy and introverted person so branching out to do something different always felt challenging. Looking back, I wish I had taken that leap to become more involved in my local music community. Whenever I see a high school band playing at a local show now, I think about all the years that I missed out on. Playing 924 Gilman as a 16 year old would’ve been so cool. I love playing music with my friends and value it so much now, I wish my younger self knew how life-affirming it was.”

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? The flipside to that question, of course, is who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should know about?

Eller: 
” ‘What’s My Age Again’ by blink-182 was the first moment I can remember being drawn into music in a formative way. My parents were always playing Nirvana‘s MTV Unplugged when I was a kid, so “Polly” is up there too. I remember immediately being so focused on trying to understand how the songs were constructed – how was it possible to make music that was so catchy that it resonated with a huge audience? Arrangements are still the most inspiring part of the musical process for me – I love hearing a song with an unfamiliar arrangement and then trying to take that influence into my writing. You can connect with an audience with a really simple arrangement if you just tweak it ever so slightly.
The first local artist that blew my mind was my good friend Luke Hogfoss. He played in a band called The Palisades and I remember being blown away when I heard them for the first time. That was the first time I had heard a local band that sounded like they had their shit together. Incredible riffs, huge chord progressions, interesting arrangements and thoughtful/introspective lyrics. Shout out Noah, Peter, Toby, and Luke. Luke is still a huge influence for me – he now releases music under his name. I heavily recommend his new album Florida and his previous album Island.
I was super late to the game music-wise. I started playing guitar at 14 but I didn’t play my first show until I was 22. I didn’t have the confidence to jump into playing live. It took getting accepted into the Peace Corps in 2015 to push me to pursue art and music full-time. I needed that kick in the pants to get me to start sharing my art with people and pursuing making art more actively. 
I could talk for days about the Bay Area music scene, though! Some favorite bands right now are Spiritual Cramp, Scowl, Shut Ups, Star 99, Marbled Eye, Polkadot. 
I moved to the Bay five years ago specifically for the art scene. There are a ton of creative people here doing incredible things. I encourage everyone and anyone to check out Brunch Tunes, Twin Peaks Sessions, Slang Church, Lava Socks, Heavy Lemon – there are too many to name. If you come to visit the Bay or are passing through make sure to check out Bottom of The Hill, Oakland Secret, and Chromatic Coffee. They’re all sick spaces putting on crazy lineups with mad talented bands. Some bands outside of the Bay that I really love are Laminate (Seattle) and Bug Bath (Reno).
Graves:
“One of my formative music experiences was seeing Alkaline Trio during their “Past Live” tour ~10 years ago. They had 8 albums at the time and played each one front-to-back over the course of 4 nights. It was so fun going each night and seeing the same people, singing along to an entire discography. I still remember how loud everyone was screaming along to “Radio”. I brought a friend one night who wasn’t familiar with the band and he was like, “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.” Those nights were such a strong example for me of how much music can bring people together. I hadn’t witnessed such a strong connection between a band and crowd like I did at those shows, and it really inspired me to put more time into music. I’m pretty sure I joined my first band within a month or two of that tour.
Hayden already mentioned them, but for local music I definitely have to bring up Slang Church. They are an Oakland-based record label/art collective and they are core to the east bay music scene. Billy Bouzos and Colin Frost (CoFo bassist!!) co-founded the collective. They give so much to the community and they continue to inspire me to this day. Be on the lookout for their band big dumb and Colin’s solo project Hooplah! I don’t think I know anyone who loves music as much as him, the majority of his waking hours are spent with a guitar in hand.”