Desiderata is a band on the move.
The once-local quintet of vocalist Autumn Ford, drummer Will Roberts, keyboardist Jake Ostrowski, bass player Connor “Minky” Klimenko and guitar player Hamo Thorneycroft recently signed to the Nashville, Tennessee-based independent record label Gitcha Records, while also moving to the Front Range, now calling Fort Collins home.
However, once a local band always a local band, and despite now in a better spot to set out on the road for future tours, they’ll always keep Durango ties and play Durango shows, which includes playing a hometown show on Halloween night at the Animas City Theatre; also on the bill is Denver based jam-band Squeaky Feat.
If you go
WHAT: Squeaky Feet and Desiderata.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Oct. 31.
WHERE: Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive.
TICKETS: $25/$30.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.animascitytheatre.com.
It’s not Boulder, nor is it Denver, and fans of the music scene of Fort Collins will always favor its independent mindset.
“I’ve spent some time in Fort Collins, and I know that the music scene there is pretty busy. There’s a ton of artists and musicians in Fort Collins,” Ford said. “It’s got a young and excited community. We’re also close to Denver. But you know, being used to living in the mountains, it’s nice to not be in a bustling city quite as much, and you know, close to Boulder, too. So we thought it was a good middle ground for us.”
It’s all in an effort to take making music to the next let’s make a living at making and presenting music to the fans level. Signing to the new label is one step, which comes with dropping new singles. First came the cut “Dancing Flames,” followed by “Clear Water,” the latter released on all streaming platforms in early October. Both are signature Desiderata, a sound that lives somewhere between psychedelic soul with a cool, jazz groove; it’s both hypnotic and head-bobbing. It’s all one foot in front of the other for a band that wants to make music a full-time, real-job venture.
“It makes us very excited,” Ostrowski said. “We’ve been really looking to do this seriously. And this is also a push in that direction to just buckle down. And the pressure is what we wanted to focus us and bring on the intentionality of pursuing music professionally.”
Next will come more tours, as the music business at least for now dictates that the way you make money is you get out and play, and sell merchandise, in any town that will have you, as you need to bring the music to the people.
“We’ll be touring more frequently,” Ford said. “We recently just got a booking agent as well, so we’re just excited to get out and play as much as we can.”
If past Durango shows dictate future Durango shows, then it’s likely best that fans of the band get tickets for next week’s show in advance, as Halloween night will likely be a sold-out affair.
With a Music-City, independent label now in their corner, as well as a new booking agent ready to book shows from coast to coast, the dream is to move from selling out 300-seat theaters to selling out rooms double that size. Now that they’ve moved to a city that’s close to a major interstate, putting cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston in equal distance, upping that fan-base and theater size through touring is a doable reality.
“That’s definitely one of the goals,” Ford said. “We all had a discussion about where we want to be in a year and came to the consensus that we would absolutely love to be playing big theaters and having tours that don’t just pay for themselves, but you know, maybe pay us a little too. It’s just really like growing as musicians and people with this career.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
