The Academic’s energetic tracks are just as contagious as their chemistry on Zoom. The group and I chatted about their recent EP, “Community Spirit,” produced and created all during quarantine. The group is set to play live shows this year, and we talked about their EP process, and a peek into what it’s like to see this fabulous band perform live.
I know with your new project, the pandemic caused you to shift the way you were going about creating music. Can you tell me more about that?
The Academic: It was a completely different approach for us, mainly because we had to learn how to get savvy at recording ourselves. And thankfully, Craig, over the past year or so, or few years has become pretty, pretty adapted at self-producing and stuff. Instead of going to a producer for this album, we just all hung out in a room together. It was more of a freeform approach. Less inhibited.
Amazing. Let’s talk about your latest single, “Kids.”
The Academic: Yeah! It’s an old song that we had when we were teenagers, and we played a version of it to the band, but it took a while to figure out. And it was because of the lockdown that we realized how to make sense of it. We brought it up to the band again and didn’t know we were going to be making an EP but just to work on music. The song is about talking about the fear of never getting out of your small town, and now it’s interesting to look back at us coming back as men, I suppose.
As someone who came from a small town, I love that. Is there a song on the EP you’re especially proud of or excited for fans to hear?
The Academic: Honestly, all of them, ha! We worked really hard on the EP musically, and it’s something we’re especially proud of.
I know y’all are playing Reading and Leeds Festival this year. For those who haven’t seen a live show by The Academic, what can they expect?
The Academic: Well, we love to bring the energy. We just always try to make the best of it as much as we can and get people involved.
Follow The Academics on Spotify and Instagram to stay tuned.
Samantha Fong
"At 15 years old, I begged my mom to take me to Walmart to get Taylor Swift's debut deluxe album and I never turned back. This was my very first entry point to stan fandom. Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee I was exposed to a ton of music - from rapping 3 6 Mafia to bopping to Justin Timberlake's solo discography. Now, in LA have a day job working in nonprofit development, but by night, I'm a full-fledged fangirl. I'll listen to generally any genre, but I'm a sucker for a good pop song. If you ever need someone to scream sing Carly Rae Jepsen's E·MO·TION with, I'm your girl. No, I still have not gotten over the One Direction hiatus. Please continue to respect my privacy. Twitter : samfonggg, Instagram : samantha_fong"
