In advance of their upcoming Sunday night show at The Frequency, I chatted with Tim Wilson of Ivan & Alyosha. Speaking to me from a grocery store parking lot outside in a town outside of Asheville, N.C., the singer/guitarist enlightened me on his songwriting process, how it is working with his brother, Pete, as well as what this up-and-coming rock, pop, folk band is all about.
Coming from Seattle, their new album, All the Times We Had, is filled with an incredible array of music and inundated with heartfelt lyrics that are sure to resonate deep within your soul. Wilson, along with brother Pete, co-founder Ryan Carbary, and Tim Kim are standing out for their crooning harmonies that are equal parts poetic and rock ‘n’ roll. Ivan & Alyosha seem like a band that will achieve commercial success yet stay true to their beautiful sound — a rarity in this modern age of music, but these guys have what it takes.
So take advantage of what will be an awesome show this Sunday night at The Frequency and get to know a band that will be looked at as a classic years from now.
So, you and Ryan (Carbary) founded the band in 2007. How did you meet and start playing together
“Ryan and I actually met through some old bandmates of mine. I think he had come out and done sound or something like that, or recorded the show. But, this was a long time ago, probably 8 years ago or something, 9 years ago. Ryan had heard some songs that I had been writing, but they were a lot different than the band I was playing in, you know, just some simple pop songs.
“He was fresh out of audio engineering school and came up to me at a birthday party that we were all at and said, ‘I really like those songs. We should record them’ and I said ‘alright.’ It kind of went from there and we were both working jobs and had to, you know, take our time to kind of figure it out early on — writing the material, recording that first record. Just kind of went from there and kind of progressed pretty naturally and organically.
“My brother, Pete, and Tim Kim, our guitar player, were also in another band. That band broke up and we kind of absorbed them and they started playing live with us and we all got in the studio for the Fathers Be Kind EP. Then, obviously, the first full-length was really the first time we had a band and that kind of got our feet on the road and, well, we played a lot of the songs that are on the full-length on the road. Five years later, we’re kind of where we are now. It was kind of a slow build but that’s where we’re at!”
Deciding the band’s name…how did that come about?
“You know, we were looking for a band name, like, several years back, and the guy that helped us produce our first EP, his name is Eli Thompson, he plays bass in a great band called Everest Snow. We were like, ‘what’s a good band name?’, and he was like, ‘Ivan & Alyosha’.” (laughs) “He’s a big Brothers Karamazov fan. So, Ivan and Alyosha are two brothers in the book called Brothers Karamazov, and at the time we just thought it sounded like a cool band name. Over the last couple of years it has taken on much more meaning for us and our fans. But, at the time, it was just a band name.”
“Running for Cover” was a free download on iTunes a few weeks back, which was probably the greatest steal iTunes has ever offered. Is there a song off the new album that’s a favorite of yours personally?
(Laughs) “I think ‘The Fold’ is probably the song I’m most proud of. I think lyrically it’s pretty honest and it’s kind of written almost about someone else that I feel like it’s kind of… well, that song is just about myself. It’s kind of wrapped in a different sort of language, almost like a third person. I’m also really proud of ‘Running for Cover,’ which my brother Pete wrote. It’s pretty obvious that that is like the calling card for the record and it’s really done a lot at radio. As far as getting people’s attention I think it’s a great song to lead with.”
What motivated you guys to create the new album, All the Times We Had? Where was it written and are there any particular bands or type of music that inspired your writing?
“I felt like a lot of the songs that I wrote for that record were written at home. My wife and I have a little condo in Seattle. I used to have this beautiful, old upright piano in there, so a lot of the stuff I wrote there was sitting home, really bored, at my upright piano and I feel like a lot of great stuff came out of that room. Then, a song like ‘On My Way,’ I wrote that in California when we were doing the first draft of the record. We kind of ended up not using any of that, the recordings, not the songs.
“So, that song was written in Los Angeles and kind of, for the first time in a while, had some time off the road. We stayed with some friends and, you know, with a pool up in the hills — had time to relax and finally write some songs out. I feel like a lot of these songs were written a long time ago and then we had played them on the road quite a bit the last couple of years so that was really beneficial for us, then going into the studio and recording the full-length because we knew what we wanted to do.”
I read an article recently that said you guys were “somewhere between The Smiths and Simon and Garfunkel.” Would you say that you’re happy with that assessment?
“That is awesome! That’s… I mean, not to say we’re on par with those guys whatsoever. We’re huge, huge Simon and Garfunkel fans. Paul Simon’s Graceland we play a lot on the road. I’ve actually more recently gotten into The Smiths and the Morrissey stuff and it’s just gorgeous. I think maybe some of the more rock ‘n’ roll stuff is lent more to the Smiths thing and maybe the harmony lent more to the Simon and Garfunkel stuff. I’m just glad that people go there rather than comparing it to something more modern like, you know, it goes without saying the more modern pop thing.” (laughs)
Yeah, you don’t have to mention any specifics.
(Laughs) “Which, we are happy to be a part of but at the end of the day, you know, every band is so different and, to me, if there is a song in there, it’s all pop music to me. If it’s good, it’s good and I’m glad that people are hearing more of a broad influence on the band, and I heard the other day someone said it was like a ‘Rootsy-ier, less-bombastic Killers’.”
That has a nice ring and actually kind of makes sense!
“I appreciate comparisons like that, that go beyond the obvious. Like, ‘oh, you have an acoustic guitar, I get it!'”
Your brother, Pete, as you mentioned is also part of the band. What’s it like working with him?
“He’s awesome. I think he brings a lot to the band and he brings a lot that we didn’t really expect as far as the songwriting. He’s got a lot of stuff on the pipe that is just amazing, you know, that will definitely make it on future records. ‘Running for Cover’ and ‘All the Times We Had’ he wrote, and we kind of wrote ‘Be Your Man’ together. He also wrote ‘Fathers Be Kind.’ I think we have very different writing styles but it’s kind of nice to have that pressure taken off as far as having to write twelve hit songs. Now I only have to write like six or seven.” (laughs) “It’s a great collaboration. I think our influences are similar but different enough that there will be variety there.”
Any artist of band that you’d love to tour with one day?
“Oh, boy. I mean, who wouldn’t we like to tour with, you know? We’re really into Lord Shira right now. As far as shooting for the stars, we love Wilco. They’re an amazing band and kind of the standard at this point. To go even further, you know, to open up for U2…” (laughs) “Just picked the biggest band in the world.” (laughs) “You know what? That’s it, that’s all I want.”
We’re always on the lookout for new bands. What are you listening to now that you could recommend to some of our readers?
“Let’s see, as far as stuff that’s coming out in our hometown up in Seattle… there’s a great band called Pickwick doing well right now with a new record. Our buddy Kris Orlowski, who we played our CD release with in Seattle. There’s a band called Deep Sea Diver; they’re awesome. There are so many Seattle bands doing really, really well right now.”
Would you say that the Seattle music scene was a big influence for you?
“Yeah, I would say that. I mean, I don’t know about so much musically but certainly community-wise. I think the Seattle music community has supported us, even with radio and getting the support of KEXP has certainly been a real bonus. To be a part of that whole world, I think there’s just a lot of bands coming up in Seattle right now, and kind of goes beyond the whole folk thing — a lot of bands doing really well that are not folky at all. Macklemore is hitting really well. So, I think not so much musically but the support and friendships of the bands and radios in Seattle is a huge blessing for us.”
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for doing this. We’re all looking forward for the upcoming show.
“Yeah, awesome. Come up and say hi. Thank you, take care.”