This week, Dayton emo band Life In Idle joined Kaleidoscope host Juliet Fromholt for a live studio session and interview ahead of the November 4th release party for their latest album, Continuity Error(s). The band features David French (guitar and vocals), John Garybush (guitar and vocals), Joe Friend (bass) and Al Hall (drums). They played four songs from the new album live on the show, and spoke with Juliet about the themes of self acceptance on the record. They also talked about having the opportunity to perform alongside some of their own favorite bands, including Hawthorne Heights and Hot Mulligan.
In 2022, Life in Idle received an email from Hawthorne Heights, a Dayton band that helped shape the emo scene in the mid-2000s. It was an offer to play at the Kansas Is For Lovers Festival in Wichita that August, part of Hawthorne Heights’ Is For Lovers festival tour. The festival lineup featured some of the biggest names in the emo and post-punk world, including The Wonder Years, Thursday, and Hot Milligan.
Life in Idle knew they had to say yes. It was an offer they couldn’t have dreamed of in 2011, when they started the band while still students at Kettering Fairmont High School. Yet making the 800 mile drive to Wichita was a daunting challenge.“We were a little bit afraid, because we drive an ‘80s Chevy van,” John Garybush told Juliet, “We were afraid we weren’t going to be able to make it to Kansas.” Yet the band persisted. “We put some work in it, we got as ready as we could, and we fully sent it.” David French said. Life in Idle made it to Wichita for the festival, the first in a series of shows they would play with Hawthorne Heights, including this September's Ohio Is For Lovers festival in Cincinnati.
Life In Idle said the Just for Lovers festival series is just part of a broader national resurgence in the emo scene. David attributes the movement to the success of the annual When We Were Young music festival in Las Vegas. “I would point to When We Were Young,” he told Juliet, “They set the pop-punk and emo scene on fire again.” Life In Idle are doing their part to contribute to the emo wave; they released their second full-length album, Continuity Error(s), on August 18th. In the interview, the band members spoke with Juliet about the themes on the album.
David French: “It’s an emo album. It’s all about being in touch with your emotions, and saying it’s OK to not be OK, and being true to yourself with those feelings and true to other people with that. We kind of made this album because we’re very heavily involved with some mental health stuff, and we wanted to write and try to provide an outlet that other people could connect to and grab onto.”
John Garybush: “The only thing I can say is that I just hope that someone listening to this album can really relate to it, and it can help them get to a better point in their own life. We’ve all struggled with our own issues, and I'm sure that everyone out there has too. And we all just really want everyone to be happy and OK, and we understand that you’re not. That’s kind of where I see this album as coming from.”
Life in Idle will host an album release show for Continuity Error(s) at Dayton’s Yellow Cab Tavern on November 4th, with guests Night Beast and Weather Vain. The album is available now on all digital streaming platforms, and physical copies of the album are available at the band’s live performances. For more information about Life in Idle’s releases and live performances, follow them on Facebook or visit their LinkTree.
