Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Preble and RJ Barnett.
Chris and RJ, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The four of us met in college, and when the last of us were graduating, and starting to think of where we wanted to be and what we wanted to be doing in life. We all had a pretty strong desire to be making music, so we found a place to rent together and turned the basement into a practice space/studio, then got to work writing and recording music together. Since then, we’ve put out an EP of the first songs we’ve recorded, and have been playing shows pretty consistently in the area while working on new material to put together a debut full-length.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Overall, the road so far has been pretty smooth. Some things have definitely fallen into place and made things possible for us that wouldn’t have been otherwise, and we’ve received amazing support from our friends, family, and people we’ve met playing shows. That said, sometimes we’ll run into problems staying on task, especially in terms of finishing songs we’ve been working on. Another thing that we’ve had to be pretty conscious of is that some of us come from different musical backgrounds and have different experiences playing music, especially when it comes to the songwriting process, but I think it’s something we get better at working with as we keep writing and playing music together.
We’d love to hear more about your music.
Well, we specialize in making ways. But for real, we are four guys who get really excited to play music for people, and we put on a live set that we are really proud of. Some of the comments we’ve heard from a lot of different people after shows is that they can tell that we love what we’re doing while we’re playing, or that we have so much energy on stage. Those are things that we definitely take pride in as a group, and that feedback really affirms what we’ve done up to this point as a band.
What were you like growing up?
Chris – I was a pretty nerdy kid, not that that’s changed too much, but back then I thought it was important to fit in with everyone else, and I’m pretty glad I got over that notion eventually. I played sports a bit when I was younger, but by the time I was in high school I spent a lot more time focusing on music and theater, not that I was the kind of person who needed all eyes on me all the time, but I took a lot of pride in rehearsing something to the point where I was confident that I had something worthwhile to show people. When I was in high school and realized I could earn elective credits by taking music classes I honestly felt like I was cheating the system, so I took all of them that I could, even the ensemble and choir classes that met an hour before school started. Unfortunately, the concert band didn’t need a guitarist, only a bassist, so I learned how to play bass. To be honest, it worked out pretty well, considering I’ve played bass for every band I’ve been in since then. When I was still in school it always felt like music was always something I would make work on the side, but recently with Waymaker, I’ve been trying to consciously see the band as “what I’m doing with my life” and see the other parts as working to support that.
RJ – I was always pretty quiet and introverted, and I loved spending time my family and friends. Creativity has been at the forefront of my life for as long as I can remember; since I was eight, all I’ve wanted to do is tell stories and write music. I’m blessed to have parents that actually supported this, so I was able to take guitar lessons and explore all that art has to offer. Growing up playing guitar and drums in church, I was able to develop an ability to play music with others and learn the value of using music for honest expression. I’ve seen music really bring all kinds of people together, and that’s something I wanted to be a part of. After meeting the other Waymaker dudes in/after college and seeing the passion they had, it was a no-brainer that these were the guys I wanted to pursue music and life with.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.waymakerma.com
- Email: waymakerbooking@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waymaker_official/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/waymakerma
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6hfcTmqLn99TWrRywdhUa0
Image Credit:
Noah Corrente, Tasha Becker, Nick Grisolia
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
