The Oxford, Ohio-based indie rock band Under High Street will open for alternative pop band BabyJake Wednesday at Ace of Cups — located at 2619 N. High St. Credit: Shea Sooley | Lantern Reporter
The Oxford, Ohio-based indie rock band Under High Street will open for alternative pop band BabyJake at Ace of Cups Wednesday.
The band — composed of drummer Evan Flagel, guitarist Beauman Hartrum, guitarist Danny Overmeyer and lead singer and bassist Dylan Brackis — is set to take the stage at Ace of Cups, located at 2619 N. High St., at 7 p.m.
Overmeyer said the band is excited to open for BabyJake, an opportunity that arose through a friendship with BabyJake’s guitarist, Aidan Fox.
“We became good friends, and then once he got more established in Nashville, [Fox] started branching out, trying to find more steady guitar gigs and stuff like that, and finally landed with BabyJake,” Overmeyer said. “I let him know if BabyJake ever needs anyone to open up for him, hit us up. Sure enough, around January, he asked us if we could do Columbus, and then Indianapolis and Chicago just kind of naturally fell into place.”
Flagel said as the show’s opening act, Under High Street’s set will be limited to only 30 minutes, so its members are aiming to deliver the strongest possible impression of their band and original songs.
“For a show like this, where we have a really nice opportunity to showcase ourselves in front of BabyJake’s audience and hopefully some new people who haven’t seen us before, we’re just gonna try to give everybody the tightest, best example of what we can do with our original music,” Flagel said.
Hartrum said when performing live, Under High Street enjoys getting more creative with its songs, making each show a distinct experience.
“Our recordings are more like a run-of-the-mill commercial; it sounds good. It’s a tight package,” Hartrum said. “Whenever we go and perform it, we add extra sections to songs or just do different versions of them live.”
Flagel agreed, adding this approach gives the band more room to be creative.
“When we play live, we tend to take a little bit more of a jam-band approach,” Flagel said. “ We like to improvise a lot and play stuff that gives us a lot of freedom.”
Hartrum said when the band first formed, its style leaned toward alternative rock, but it has gradually evolved into a uniquely funky-indie rock sound as its members have spent more time playing together.
“The more time that we spend together and the more that we jam, the more that each song kind of takes on a life of its own and each live performance takes on a life of its own,” Hartrum said.
Flagel said the band is currently working on a new EP, which is set to be released this summer.
“We’re gonna be on the road a lot through April and May, but once the summer hits, we’re going to be releasing four new singles, which will be part of an EP,” Flagel said.
Tickets for the event can be purchased online for $20 via Eventim or at the door for the same price.
For more information about Under High Street, including updates on upcoming releases and shows, visit its website.
