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

Benjamin Cross - Vocals, Zach Lock - Bass/Backup Vocals, Jon Dusenbury - Lead Guitar/Backup Vocals, Trevor Dunham - Rhythm Guitar, Scott Hanneman - Drums

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Now and Then? How long has the band been around?

Jon, Scott and Zach were all part of a band called On Hold a few years back, and have had a few small projects since then, but long story short they have been playing together in different projects on and off for close to 8 years now.

Trevor was in a band called Subpolar Low. Fun/cool thing is that Trevor really looked up to Jon, Scott and Zach when they were in On Hold, it was on the main reasons he started playing guitar. Fast forward 8 years and he's playing with them now!

Zach and Jon played with Ben in a short project called Hometown Session. The first 3 tracks of an EP were recorded, but shows never really got off the ground due to life happening to a few of the other members. Zach and Jon started writing again in September of 2015, and hit up Ben because they needed a vocalist. His voice fit and meshed really well with the sound we were going for, so it was a perfect match. Scott had been out in LA, but decided to come home and so he was of course going to be our drummer. Then we needed a rhythm guitarist, and we had known Trevor for awhile, so we brought him in for a try out and it was a great match as well. So, this band has roughly been around since September of 2015 if you go by the time writing for the project started, if you go by shows our first show was in March of 2016.

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

It probably took us 2 months to decide on a name for this band. We would just throw names out left and right, but nothing sounded right. Jon pulled up some old text file he had on his computer of band name ideas, and the name Now and Then seemed to pop out to all of us. A big reason this name fit for us was because we were frustrated about Hometown Session not getting off the ground floor, so NOW we were working on something that we would put out to the world, and THEN things were just never going to happen. We are also pretty nostalgic people as well, lots of us collect old vinyl and play retro video games, so Now and Then describes us in that facet as well. We've been asked by a lot of people if we named ourselves after the 90's movie called Now and Then, and the truth is we had no idea that was even a thing until after we dropped our first few tracks of our first EP "Quick Stops and Pick Me Ups".

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?

Musically, Jon and Zach write most of it. Jon normally comes up with a riff (his nickname in the band is The Riffinator), and then Zach helps Jon compose the "skeleton" of the song. Then we bring it to the rest of the band, and we kind of just bang it out and finalize it. Vocally, Ben writes most of the vocal melodies, and writes all of the lyrics.

Ben had a rough end to 2015 and the beginning of 2016, so a lot of his lyrics on our EP are about some of the struggles he was going through (alcoholism, being broke, feeling lost, etc.), but towards the end of the EP the lyrics come back to making the best of shit and doing what makes you happy.

I think over time, our lyrics will continue to stay very deep and emotionally driven, but the subject matter will certainly change depending on what is going on in Ben's life.

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

Way too many to name completely because we all music junkies, but I would say the big ones that everyone would know are The Wonder Years, State Champs, Four Year Strong, Bayside, Knuckle Puck, etc. Gotta give credit to older bands as well like The Early November, The Starting Line, Underoath, Blink 182, New Found Glory, etc. And of course other "local" bands we are with like Plans, Everyone Leaves, Anna Sage, Bonfires, Homesafe, etc. I think you find a good mix of new vs what we grew up with in our music, which gives it a unique but familiar sound.

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

Speaking from my own experience (Zach), I went and saw Metallica back in like 2003, and I was instantly hooked. Scott and I used to try and play Metallica covers after that, and I'm sure they were horrible because I was just learning to play guitar at that time.

I know Jon was inspired when he saw Blink 182 and Green Day on the Pop Disaster tour back in like 2002.

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

Most of us just watch the other locals, and try to relax and just have fun. Right before our set, Zach and Ben will go out to to get Ben's voice warmed up. Zach runs scales on his bass, same with Jon. Scott streches his arms out and runs drum rudiments on whatever he can bang on (usually a merch table). Trevor usually just hangs out and relaxes, then during sound check runs a few warm up items on his guitar.

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

We've had a lot of good ones so far in such a short time, but probably opening up for Hail The Sun at The Emerson Theatre and then getting to hang with them for a few hours after the show.

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

This is tough, just because we all love so many bands. Not taking genre into account, it would be us, The Wonder Years, Blink 182, The Beatles and Metallica. Getting to hang out with your heroes on tour would be a dream.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just that music is such a powerful thing, and we are thankful for every time we get to hit the stage, meet someone who enjoys our music, get to meet someone who has been a big influence on us, etc. At the end of the day, it's not always about the music, it's about how it makes you feel. We are thankful for every person that truly loves our music, and that we see singing along with us at shows. It keeps us driven, as the end goal is to to make the "rock and roll" dream come true. What that really means is we just want to do this full time, and meet as many people as possible. So, thank God for these vibrations that form the music we love to keep us all sane and that bonds all of us together.

Now And Then "Quick Stops And Pick Me Ups" Stream: https://nowandthenindy.bandcamp.com/releases