The Artisanals

Before I gave them a little tour of the Sun City and before they went on to play their show, I caught up with The Artisanals for a quick interview. They came to El Paso a few months prior when they opened for Band of Horses. It's also safe to say that I have listened to their recently released: EP Literally, Anywhere ten times since last week. The EP includes songs like "Roll With It" and "Angel 42", which are already recognized by fans who have heard them or seen them play. 

This good looking and stylish indie-rock band from South Carolina is made up of Johnny Delaware (vocalist), Clay Houle (guitar), Steven Walker (keyboards), Jordan Hicks (bass), and Josh Hoover (drums). First off, I asked the The Artisanals how they became a band and Clay responded: "We were all in different bands at the time. I was in another band in Atlanta and we played with Johnny's old band. After that, we went on tour together and became friends. When I moved to Charleston, we decided that we were going to start our own band together." **(Long story short)**. The cool thing about the guys coming from different bands is that they came with different styles and different tastes in music and that fusion made the EP sound "tasty" as Johnny put it. 

The guys have been traveling a lot and this is their second time in El Paso in less than a year. I had to ask them what their favorite place(s) were so far and the guys responded, "Athens, Georgia and El Paso, Texas" because of how engaged and lively the crowds have been. Johnny even added, "I was going to have a meltdown if we didn't come back to El Paso". He said that when they last came here, the crowd was loud and attentive and in the moment that is was necessary for them to come back. It's obvious that the love for these cities and their fans is there and the people in these cities feel the same way about them.

The Artisanals plan to play in front of as many people as they can. Their main initiative for the moment is to keep playing as many shows in front of as many people as possible and to keep spreading the "gospel" that is their music. 

I want to  thank the guys of their time, kindness and great spirit!  Go follow them on all their social media:

FB: The Artisanals
Instagram: the_artisanal