Live Shows are Good for the Soul

 

The Farmers is an indie-rock band made up of UCSB alumni, Franky Sansone on rhythm guitar, Julielle as the lead singer, Oliver Chavez on lead guitar, current student Allison Corwin on bass, and Cal Poly San Louis Obispo alumni, Max Davis on drums. Sansone started the band at UCSB in 2019 with a few different members who eventually left due to post grad plans away from the area, but despite changes, have maintained a steadfast upbeat, rock sound getting inspiration from the Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes. COVID has also been a source of change for the band as they weren't able to gather together to play as often as usual and couldn't perform those same crowded live shows, but they adapted and now, with restrictions going away, are coming back with full force.

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Q: You all performed live before COVID, did those shows stop once COVID struck?

Sansone A: Our shows definitely slowed down when COVID struck, since we couldn't have that same rowdy crowd experience, but as things started loosening up again we sometimes played at socially distanced areas while wearing masks. That was a weird experience, feeling slightly constricted by a mask even though I was just playing guitar. We were all kind of waiting in anticipation for things to settle down again to get back to the fun shows we used to play.

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Q: What's your favorite part about performing live shows?

A: The rowdiness of the crowd in IV is my favorite part. Everyone is ready to party and dance and sing with us, so it makes for a great show atmosphere. Rowdy crowds can get annoying too sometimes with people spilling things on stage or on our equipment, or even just seeing the crowd get too crowded can be overwhelming sometimes. We don't usually focus on that though, we have a good time and enjoy the fact that people are excited to be back listening to live music. 

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Q: I know you've performed outside of Del Playa parties, what is that like? How did The Framers get to that point? 

A: Yeah, we've played in downtown Santa Barbara at Sandbar, SOhO, and James Joyce, and more recently we played in San Louis Obispo which was really fun, being around a different crowd. We all work really hard at every practice and every show, no matter how small. I think that's what has gotten us the big following that we have now. We've released a couple songs on Spotify and we really try to connect with our audience, we even have merch that fans can buy. It's definitely something that has taken time and work, but its been so rewarding being able to perform at such diverse venues. We've played at venues downtown at bars and music venues, but IV parties still call us back, we love playing here with students, especially since some of us are alumni. It's great to be back where it all started.