Minneapolis metalcore quartet Odds of an Afterthought have graduated from a hard rock work in progress to a metalcore talent impressing across the Midwest.

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

Tanner Greely - Vocals 

Andre Bertrand - Guitar

Aaron Eickholt - Bass

Logan Greely - Drums 

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Odds of an Afterthought? How long has the band been around?

Andre played in a local MN rock band called Outcast Island before OOAA. Aaron played in two local bands called Let Yourself Go (pop punk from MN) and Weekend In Venice (Pop Rock from MN before joining OOAA.  Logan and I (Tanner) were a part of the original line-up of Odds of an Afterthought which started in the early months of 2013. This has been our only band.   

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

The origin of our name comes from the internet surprisingly (and maybe disappointingly) enough. The five original members of the band got together one day and we all decided we needed a band name if we were gonna be writing music together. We brainstormed a few key words that could be cool to have in the band name itself and inserted it into a band name generator online. The online generator came up with “Odds of an Afterthought”. We have not changed our band name before.   

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?

Our songs of the past have collectively been written by multiple members but the songs on our new EP were written (instrumentally & lyrically) by me (Tanner) and Aaron with some help from Logan. I always find it easiest to write about topics that are either personal to me or that other people can relate to. Our new EP is not a concept release but ultimately discusses how life isn’t stagnant and how people are constantly changing as well as everything around us. I think that my style and process of writing will not change over time but the topics we choose to write about will change and influence us based on what’s going on in the world at that specific time of writing. Our mindset for this new EP was to throw it back to the earlier years of metalcore (2008-2013).

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

Some of the main influences of our writing currently would be older Issues (Black Diamonds era), Attack Attack! (2008-2010 era), I See Stars (Digital Renegade, New Demons era) and A Day To Remember (For Those Who Have Heart - Common Courtesy era). 

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

Logan/Tanner - August Burns Red is a huge inspiration for Logan and his style of drumming as well as we both respect their level of talent and their live shows are remarkable. We both also listened to Your Memorial, older Red as well as Skillet and Thousand Foot Krutch at an earlier age.  Andre - Avenged Sevenfold, Motionless in White, and Slipknot all put on insane live shows that really got my attention and made me want to play and perform music. Sinister Gates was my guitar influence.  Aaron - Green Day, Alkaline Trio, Gaslight Anthem, Against Me, and Rise Against. All of these bands had solid bass riffs that made me want to join and band. 

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

We actually don’t do a whole lot to prepare for shows aside from the usual making sure we are hydrated and stretched out a bit. Our pre show rituals will start to include a lot more once we start playing these new songs live though. These new songs will be a test for us and will require exerting much more energy into our stage performance.   

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

Biggest highlight of the bands career so far would have to be either charting on a Billboard Christian Rock chart (2016), opening for The Classic Crime at Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis (2015), or playing to a packed out and close to sold out crowd in Omaha, NE on tour (2018). 

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

Tanner - Oh man, I think it would be awesome to tour with the original line-up of Paramore because they gave off such a positive energy when they performed and they seemed like they would be super cool people to be around on the road. 

Logan - Any era of August Burns Red because they are phenomenal in every way and I would never get tired of seeing them perform every night on the road. 

Aaron - A Day To Remember because they really captured my attention with their catchy hooks and breakdowns during their prime early years of being a band (2008-2013). It would be surreal to hear and see those songs being played live every night from side stage.  Andre - Van Halen or Guns N’ Roses because of their tour shenanigans 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for having us & keep your eyes peeled for a new single at the end of April.