Based in Ft. Worth Texas, Loose Ends is the most recent project of Andy Rodesney, Kyle Durst, Ben Wesson and Matt Lang. The new group focuses on combining a variety of influences such as Yellowcard, Strung Out, Brand New into a musical casserole of pop punk/alternative rock songs that guide the listener on a captivating and emotional journey.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Ben Wesson: Lyricist/Vocalist

Kyle Durst: Producer/Guitarist

Matt Lang: Bassist/Mastering Engineer

Andy Rodesney: Drummer/Co-Producer

 For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to (insert band/artist name here)? How long has the band been around?

 (Andy) Well, Loose Ends as a project has been around since late 2015, starting with Matt Lang and I. As a band, we officially took up with the current line up in 2020 during the pandemic.

Prior to that, Kyle and I were in a pop-punk band called Betterluck based out of Houston. We did a few EP’s, conquered our home town and did some regional gigging. After Betterluck split in 09, Kyle went on to play and tour with The Rad, Courage Sleeps, Löwin, Lockhart, and Moving Castles. 

I joined up with Kid Liberty as their drummer, eventually writing and recording the ‘Fight With Your Fists’ LP. (Trustkill/Bullet Tooth Records) with Ben Wesson. Before KL, Ben was in Red Letter Union. He now has a killer folk project called Smith & Wesson where he exercises a lot of his strengths as a singer/songwriter and guitarist. His musicianship is unmatched in my opinion. Plays everything, and well. 

Matt has been in a bunch of outfits like Thrash Unreal, Lightweight Holiday, and Spindle (Triple Crown Records). He’s tech’d/worked for artists on Warped tour, recorded with some of the greatest artists and producers in the biz, etc. I was fortunate to to track drums under Matt’s production for Tyson Evans of Crooked Teeth’s first EP ‘Out Here, A Lone’ as well in 2016. So, in the words of This Wild Life, “we’ve got a lot of history…” haha.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

(Andy) The origin of the name really stemmed feeling burnt out and written off about dreams or goals we hadn’t quite seen through to their fullest potential, or what we thought their fullest potential was. It later took on a deeper meaning with relationship to existence and the meaning of it all. 

We haven’t really changed the name. Matt and I just threw it out for a project title back in 2015 when we recorded our first demo while living in Costa Mesa. And since we’re millennials, we thought, “okay well, we’ll go with that… for now.” And then never tried anything else haha.

 Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

(Andy) We all collectively write these songs. Most of these riffs were solid ideas I was sharing with Kyle between Long Beach and Houston, where he and I respectively live. Over a few shared videos and voice notes, and eventually a long stay in Houston to flip a house in summer 2020, we tracked out all the instrumentation when I would wrap work for the day. Matt came behind it with some killer bass work that he reworked to be his own and really aced it, and Ben writes and sings all the lyrics. Ben was a specific choice  is a singer/songwriter 

 What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

(Matt, Andy) We all have a variety of influences that went into this allowing us to put our own spin on it. Heritage pop-punk and punk acts like Yellowcard, No Use For A Name, and others are tucked in here for those that will recognize the familiarity. More recent influences would include The Story So Far, Four Year Strong, Neck Deep… Ben is a big fan of The Used, we’re all massive fans of the Deftones… So, kind of a hodgepodge. 

 Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band? 

(Andy) I think if I picked one it was a band who, at the time was called River Fenix, better known as Fenix Tx. They were from my home town of Houston and it was rad to see a local band climb to where they did. Houston used to have this really great music scene in the mid/late 90’s - 2k’s. Venues like Fitzgerald’s, The Oven, Numbers, Fat Cat’s, Walters on Washington, all had booking power that brought bands and tour packages from California, New York, Seattle, Florida… it was killer.

I saw NFG play the oven with Dashboard Confessional where people were crawling through windows to see the show. Just insanity. We were exposed to a lot of sound and possibility. The hardcore scene was thriving as well with bands like Will to Live, Pride Kills, Machine Gun Romantics, and one of my favorites, Eyeagainst.  I was hitting up shows and making friends by age 13 or so and building a network that led to playing in several bands with friends through that scene. 

(Matt) Not anyone band. Huge fan of pennywise, offspring, and bad religion. But I listened to like a million different bands in the 80’s and 90’s that made me want to be in a band.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

 (Andy) This actually hasn’t happened yet with Loose Ends. We all live in different parts of the country so, it’s a work in progress.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

 (Andy) I’d say the release of our first single/video. We’ve seen some pretty good traction with “Love In Heartache” to be honest. Love the push that it got and the response it received. 10k unique streams and climbing, and the music video is available on YouTube and has been picking up as well. 

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why? 

Deftones, The Story So Far, Neck Deep, Turnstile because of the energy.

Is there anything else you would like to add

Epstein didn’t hang himself.