Interviews
The Everafter are a Yonkers based pop-punk band that are taking the world by storm. The band is comprised of Cora Small (vocals), Rich Rivera (rhythm guitar), Ryan Lare (lead guitar) and Danny Nugent (drums). We spoke with Cora and Danny about their latest EP, Where I Came From and their goals for the future. It was a pleasure speaking to fellow New Yorkers about their journey in the music scene! WCBG: Thanks, so much for speaking with us, we really appreciate it! Can you tell us a little bit about you? Danny: Cora and I are from Long Island and we go to college in Westchester County. Our band formed in Yonkers, so we claim that we are a Yonkers based band. WCBG: If you could be any utensil in the kitchen what would you be and why? Cora: A knife so I could cut a b**** Danny: Um… Cora: A spatula, no wait a plate since people pile a lot of stuff on you. I could be the decorations. WCBG: How did you become a band? Cora: We all have musical backgrounds in one form or another. Rich, Ryan, and Danny are all part of the music program at Mercy [College]. I was the president of the Acapella group at Mercy. So, we all met through music and we realized we had a vibe going together. We connected well and we actually wrote our first EP in about two weeks. We all love music and have that passion for it. WCBG: [directed at Cora] How did you know you wanted to sing and [Danny] how did you know you wanted to play the drums? Cora: I play a few instruments. Everyone in my family sings, it comes naturally to me. I love it and have a passion for it. When I sing, I feel right, it’s always been there. Danny: I took an interest in music when I was about 7 or 8. I started taking community guitar lessons when I was younger. Then one year for Christmas or for my birthday my parents got me a drum set. I do still play guitar and bass. WCBG: What music are you currently listening to? Cora: I have a very broad range of genres I listen to. I love State Champs, Neck Deep, Knuckle Puck as well as, John Mayer, The Beatles and Taylor Swift. Danny: The classics. My favorite band is Bayside, I always go back to emo roots like Taking Back Sunday. It changes day to day. A lot of upcoming bands we play with or want to play with. We just opened for Sleep On It, Bearings, Between You And Me, Neverkept so a lot of them. Cora: Hot Mulligan Danny: Stand Atlantic as well. WCBG: What is your favorite part of a song you’ve written? Danny: Track 4 of our last EP, Where I Came From, “Self Assured.” The drums that I like to play and write the most are the most technical parts. The first verse is my favorite, the structured part with the fills. Cora: The 2nd verse of “In Between” when I say, “the pull of my sheets are stronger than me.” Can I spoil? Danny: Sure Cora: We have a song we are working on and I’ve been obsessing over this lyric I wrote “if you break the bones, the skin won’t show like it used to, layers of white over black and blue.” The demo isn’t done yet, I’m just really excited for it. WCBG: What’s studio recording like for you guys? Do you prepare or is it more spur of the moment? Cora: They prepare… Danny: I do a bunch of jumping jacks, I’ll put on an anthemic pop punk song to get in the right mindset. Coffee is big since we record ourselves, we don’t outsource. We record in the school studio; it’s a student run and student book studio. We normally have two days to record. Danny: Cora shows up in pajamas. Cora: I’ve slept in the studio before, I also bring a pillow and blankets. Danny: We go in for 14 hours, so I have to track about four songs a day. Cora: To prepare I avoid all dairy, alcohol or caffeine. I do a 5 min vocal warmup from this video by this guy on YouTube, I do it twice. I also do some neck stretches. I also have to take off my shoes; if I have shoes on I won’t get a good take. I also dance a lot around the studio. I have to mentally prepare myself to be in a box for a lot of hours. Danny: We discovered when we were writing one day, Cora was having a lot of rough vocal takes—she was very in her head about it. Once, she took her shoes off…it was one of our best writing days. WCBG: Describe your sound in 3 words? The Everafter: Energetic, Up-beat (instrumentally), and modern WCBG: What musicians inspire you to be a better musician? Danny: State Champs, Stand Atlantic, and Neck Deep Cora: Taylor Swift and Joan Jett or Janis Joplin. Being a woman in a male dominated music scene I get a confident boost from watching powerful women in the music scene. State Champs inspire me performance wise, sometimes I hear their songs and I’m like I have to go write something. Danny: Some mid-tier bands, our best friends in Goalkeeper in Philly inspire me on a daily basis. We can talk about all of our band friends for hours. Cora: There’s nothing better than touring with people you love. WCBG: What’s the local scene like? The Everafter: It’s interesting, non-traditional, especially for local pop punk. Long island is huge in the local music market. Yonkers caught us by surprise. It’s much smaller but not smaller in the sense that people are less into the scene; there are less bands and a lot less entities supporting the scene. The support here is intense, in the scene everyone is so supportive of everyone. We have this crazy support system. They all help out when someone else is down—they’re genuine. It never gets boring there’s never the same sounding band and that’s awesome. It is typically, unknown in the regional touring market and has a more DIY feel. Everyone is so professional in the way they present themselves. WCBG: If you could change one thing about the music industry what would it be and why? Danny: streaming revenue, not because we are in it to make money. It is very hard as an up and coming band to remain financially stable and to have as much available time in the day to make everything happen. From an artist standpoint we rely on touring and merch sales to make any revenue back. I know it is in the process of becoming an artist focused payout. Cora: The over sexualization of women in the scene. I talk about this in the song, “Self Assured.” I’m always told that sex sells and that I should dye my hair blonde and wear tighter clothes. I don’t feel like I have to do that; if that’s your style then go for it. It shouldn’t be about telling artists what they have to do to make it. I also get talked down to a lot. I’ve been kicked out of my own shows before because I’m a woman. We would go in early for load in and I’d be told “no honey you can’t just be a merch girl you have to actually be in the band.” The women I look up to are women that don’t do that. An example would be Hayley Williams every single guy in this genre that’s their crush—a lot of girls too. When they [Paramore] started their career, she wasn’t wearing skimpy things. It gets really annoying and I think it’s damaging for young girls to be told these things. WCBG: What is your favorite album in your personal collection? Danny: Wow that’s really hard. Cora: I’m looking at all my CD’s in front of me. I would have to say John Mayer’s In Your Atmosphere Live. It’s raw and intimate and there’s so much talent packed in there; it’s just incredible. Danny: Bayside’s self-titled. Cora: I knew that was coming. Danny: It’s my favorite front to back album. It doesn’t have a lot of inspiration for me for writing and drums it is just my all-time favorite record front to back. I don’t think any of our favorite genres are pop punk. Cora: I love folk! I think we all love it [music] with a passion. WCBG: What’s the weirdest or funniest question you’ve been asked before in an interview? Danny: In Poughkeepsie in August on tour we were asked this weird question outside the venue. Cora: It’s not coming to me right now. Danny: I might have to say the kitchen utensil one. If Cora didn’t answer for me, I don’t know what I would have said. Cora: I was thinking of interview questions in jobs and stuff. I was prepared for it, I had done the Miss New York pageants and I was being interviewed by the top 10 people and they asked me what’s your favorite food? I said spaghetti tacos and they asked who makes them and I panicked, and I didn’t know, do I make them, am I give spaghetti tacos? WCBG: What’s your favorite venue you’ve performed in? Cora: Knitting Factory [in Brooklyn]. They have an actual backstage; I was like a nerd. I also really like... so many venues have been so kind to us, there’s a different reason for why I love them. Creep Records in Philly is also great. Danny: Venue-wise the Knitting Factory, it was the most incredible experience. I’ve seen so many of my favorite bands there when I was growing up. Cora: What’s the venue in North Carolina? Danny: Kaboom Art Gallery? Cora: I also really loved that one. Danny: It’s in Garner, NC. WCBG: What’s your favorite state that you’ve been to? Danny: I’m going to say a province, Ontario. We were there for five days for the first time in August. Cora: Our 1st ever show in Canada was Toronto, it was also our first time out of the country. I also love Massachusetts and Pennsylvania since a lot of our friends are there and North Carolina because my mom’s side of the family is there. It’s this comfort level. Danny: Maryland is also great, I loved Baltimore. WCBG: We have some spitfire questions so say whatever pops into your head! Favorite color? Cora: Blue Danny: Orange WCBG: Favorite Book? Cora: The Hunger Games, the first one Danny: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cora: I love Go Dog Go Danny: You already picked one! WCBG: Favorite TV show? Cora: The Office…or Breaking Bad Danny: Breaking Bad WCBG: Favorite movie? Cora: The 1970’s musical version of Scrooge starring Albert Finney Danny: Step Brothers WCBG: What’s your favorite Restaurant? Cora: The Red Arrow diner in New Hampshire Danny: TGI Fridays WCBG: What are your goals for 2020? Cora: Personally, I want to work on cardio and stamina in general because it would be nice to do that without being as out of breath. I also want to work on vocals, and I want to expand my range even more. I also want to be kinder to myself. Danny: All my long-term goals have to do with the band. I want to book an opening slot on a national tour. Live shows are my whole passion. Cora: To adopt a dog Danny: To up our stream numbers, that would be huge and grow our fan-base and connect globally WCBG: What would you like to tell your fans? Cora: Thanks for giving us a chance. It can be daunting or tedious sometimes for people to check out new bands if they’re not as known. You make the world of a difference. Danny: If no one supported us and listened to our music came or out to small local bars or basements or bought tickets we wouldn’t be where we are. You keep us going. Follow the Everafter on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook Check out their music here
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