On Feb. 15, The Plus hosted a Valentine’s Day concert with Quietchild and several other bands.
Hailing from Minneapolis, MN, Quietchild is a new indie-pop band made of three members: singer Drew Dravis, producer and drummer Galen Austin and singer and pianist Cuyler Monahan.
Though they are currently based in the Twin Cities, the band actually hails from Wisconsin. Austin and Monahan met in middle school and even made an extended play (EP) together in high school.
Monahan and Dravis became friends at UW-Eau Claire, but the band wasn’t officially formed until after college.
During her time at UW-Eau Claire, Dravis honed her singing ability in extracurriculars such as theater and Callisto Acapella. So when Austin and Monahan started creating music, they knew someone they could call on when they needed a singer for the band, and now the band has been performing for about a year.
The band has been performing around Wisconsin and the Twin Cities. They get together frequently to practice and create songs. They already have a large tracklist, with songs and albums available on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music.
Since Austin lives in Madison, WI the band meets weekly over Discord to create music. Austin often starts songs since he also produces for the band, but all 3 members play their part in creating music.
“Whoever has the strongest vision, that’s who we follow when creating a song,” Dravis said.
According to Dravis, a song will reflect the interest of whoever was leading its creation, regardless of whether it has more pop, R&B or electronic influence.
“One thing we really focus on is incorporating what we want to hear that isn’t defined by any specific genre,” Monahan said.
The band doesn’t just make and perform their own music, they control their own marketing and promotion as well. Monahan’s girlfriend Ashley Lange also works as a manager for the band.
“If you want to make it in the music industry right now, you can’t just be good at music,” Monahan said.
The band explained that they allot their time outside of making music to marketing, promoting, networking as well as curating the sets and outfits for performances.
The band members do all of this in addition to their regular 9-5 jobs.
“It’s our second job, for sure,” Dravis said.
The band is interested in adding visual appeal and artistry to their performances. They want to create an entire experience for their audience.
The performance on Feb. 15 was heartbreak-themed, so the band was in matching pink and red outfits with accessories like heart-shaped glasses and jewelry. The lights at The Plus and in many of the band’s promotional pictures were also shades of pink and blue.
“It’s important to bring color into music,” Monahan said. “For a few hours, you should be able to forget everything and enter the Quietchild universe.”
Quietchild played last in a setlist including the artists Teawhyb, Nova Garden and Anything You Want.
Besides playing at The Plus in Eau Claire, the band recently played at The White Squirrel bar in St. Paul as well as other underground music venues in the Twin Cities.
Quietchild has another upcoming performance at White Squirrel on March 22, a show at Pillar Forum on April 26 and they have music coming out every month.
Sonnek can be reached at sonnekrl6881@uwec.edu.
Correction: A previous version of the story said Drew Dravis’ last name was Davis.
