Every band has an inception story, but Dani Buncher and Scott Simons is not your typical tale. The two dated for ten years, and after spending some time enduring a long distance relationship, Buncher realized she might be gay and came out to Simons. After a few hard years of accepting the break up, the two decided they had to stay in each others’ lives, and a mutual love of music helped TeamMate rise from the relationship’s ashes.

Now, a few years after that fateful confession, Buncher and Simons are ready to share their music, and their story, with the world. The duo is gearing up to release its debut EP, The Sequel, on April 16. Written, recorded and produced by the band, despite living on opposite coasts, the four-song collection memorializes the twosome’s decade-long relationship. Buncher and Simons were nice enough to chat with me about their story, the EP, and TeamMate’s future plans

Katrina Nattress: How were you able to look past the break-up and start TeamMate?

Scott Simons: I don’t want to minimize the period between when we broke up and started the band. It was a few years, and it was really rough…we’re knotted into each other’s lives, so we just had to find a way. I lost my dad when I was 20–he passed away–and I didn’t have a decision of whether I got to keep him in my life, but I felt like there was a moment with Dani where we got to choose who…it felt more natural to have her around. The intent wasn’t to break up and start a band, that just happened organically.

Dani Buncher: Before we became TeamMate, I had been dating someone, and I was going through a break up. Scott wrote a song to help me get through what I was experiencing, and I tracked drums. That was the first time we played together, right Scott?

SS: Yeah, I think so. The song isn’t going to make the record [laughs]. It was more of a personal project. And I told her that if she needed to talk, just let me know, I’ve been dating lesbians way longer than she has [laughs].

DB: He totally gets it. He has way more experience than I do.

SS: Since we’ve known each other, I have run every song past Dani. She has an amazing ear and is an amazing musician, we just never played music together. When I started writing for the band…I got really inspired. It’s been kind of therapy for me, and it’s also just kind of a celebration too.

KN: This EP that’s coming out memorializes your relationship, and you coined your single, “Sequel,” as “The happiest break up song ever,” but what I find really interesting about this EP is the darkness in some of the lyrics, and the juxtaposition with the upbeat music.

SS: It’s really hard to explain to anyone. When I step back and look at it, I think it’s a crazy story, and it’s heavy and it’s weird, but at the same time, we’re honestly happy to still be in each other’s lives. We want this to be a celebration. I don’t want someone to listen to this EP and feel down. For every bad thing that happens, it happens for a reason. And there’s going to be something good–hopefully–that comes from it.

DB: We’re also a few years away from the break up. I think if these songs were written when our wounds were still fresh they would sound much different and be way more dramatic. I think since we’ve had such time to rebuild and step away from it, and start over in a lot of ways, I think that’s why we’re able to look at it with such happiness.

KN: What made you decide to only go with four songs for your debut?

SS: I think these four were the best to introduce people to the band and just get things going. Also, we have a bunch of songs that are in varying stages of completion, but there’s only so many that were ready to go when we were talking about the EP.

KN: When you play live, do you play these unreleased songs?

SS: Yeah, we have been. We’ve been touring for about a year and a half off and on…and we play everything. It’s good to play live and see what songs got reactions.

KN: Sometimes it’s nice to tour before releasing music so you can get that feedback.

SS: Dani will probably agree with this too, but we did so much separately, and we’re creating so much separately…it’s not the same as when we’re on the same stage or in the same room playing instruments that move air. The songs feel differently, so once we write [them] and start playing [them] a bunch, we start making changes.

KN: I saw that you have a few tour dates set after you release the EP. Are you planning a full tour?

SS: We’d like to. We’re in the building process, since we’re a new band. We do a lot of DIY touring, which is great and fun, but can be not so great and not so fun sometimes. Right now, we’re just trying to be smart about where we play and how we can do this slowly…we’re strategically hitting some place where we think we can build.

 

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