Coming to a university with a random roommate can be anxiety-filled about how bad the living situation will go. For The Lonely Biscuits, this is how the band began.
Starting as a hobby in fall 2011,. The Lonely Biscuits’ founders, Grady Wenrich and Sam Gidley, were random roommates at Belmont University when they started the band as Gravy and the Biscuits. John Paterini joined in September 2011, and Nick Byrd joined later that year.
The Lonely Biscuits will bring their college sound to Baton Rouge when they play at Spanish Moon on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The bandmates came up with the name Gravy and the Biscuits as a joke. After a song or two caught on, became known as The Lonely Biscuits, Wenrich said.
“We’re constantly changing,” Wenrich said, “We’re constantly looking at different bands for inspiration.”
Since the band has grown, they’ve changed to seeking influences from early Weezer, The White Stripes and Mac DeMarco.
The Lonely Biscuits started with a hip-hop alternative vibe and have experiment with their sound since. Their new music will be more alternative and rock, he said.
The musicians said they inspire each other when they start to write. They experiment with sounds by jamming together to find a riff for a song and then use experiences in different relationships to create lyrics.
They started it as a fun hobby in college and had no idea it would take off like this.
“As it started to have more potential, we had to start being more careful about what we’re releasing because it might last for a while,” Wenrich said.
The Lonely Biscuits were busy touring this year. While they enjoy the experiences it brings, Wenrich said one part stood out the most.
He said the band was on a plane to Colorado when they were talking to their flight attendant. The bandmates mentioned they were playing in Colorado and staying at a hotel. She told them that she was flying to Los Angeles and they could use her house instead. She left her key in the mailbox for them.
“So we stayed at her house. She wasn’t there, but her house was cool,” Wenrich said. “There are a lot of experiences where people are being really awesome and more welcoming than you would think.”
Wenrich said while their favorite places to perform are usually their hometown of Nashville, Tennessee or festivals, they also enjoy playing in new places.
“I just think like any new city we go to is exciting, like people showing up to the show and screaming the words is a pretty cool feeling,” Gidley said.
After about a year of not releasing new music, The Lonely Biscuits are ready to put out some songs this year and will do so in the spring. They will perform about 30 shows between now and Christmas and are planning a spring tour, Wenrich said.
This will be their first time performing in Baton Rouge.
“We’re excited to come there and play. We’ve never played down there [Baton Rouge],” Wenrich said.