Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Smith.
Taylor, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Eric Eisenman and I (Taylor) began jamming and writing way back in 2011 when we met whilst working at Domino’s Pizza. Loafers didn’t actually play our first show until March of 2012, at TrueLove Bar in Waco, TX and then had a few more shows there throughout the year. TrueLove was basically the ONLY place in Waco to play at that point. They gave us a chance and then we also helped them get established as a live music bar, as well as pool, karaoke, and Trivia Nights.
Either in 2012 or 2013 we played in Fort Worth at The Grotto with Moon Waves, and someone else… idk. We are still friends with everyone we met that night who have gone one to be in bigger/better bands (Rosegarden Funeral Party/Acid Carousel). Sadly pretty much nobody was at our show because some band called Sealion was playing down the street. What luck!? That was also the night we met Alex from The Longshots, who had opened for FIDLAR the night before.
Sometime in 2013 after listening to Sealion and meeting War Party, and a few other DDFW/Dreamy Life/Lo-Life/DDM bands, we slowly cut our teeth in that scene. To my knowledge, we were the only outsider band at that point being “welcomed in” to the North Dallas music scene. Waco only had about three non-cover bands during that time. From there we got to play at Doublewide, Three Links, Quixotic Theater, Bryan Street Tavern, The Prophet Bar, and many other notable venues that everyone plays in Dallas/Deep Ellum,
Fast forward to 2014 and after a few lineup changes and multiple drummers, we welcomed Savannah Loftin into the band. That the point when we started taking things a little more seriously and focused more on writing rather than playing live. In February of 2015, Savannah played her first show with Loafers, opening for Bass Drum of Death at Club Dada, thanks to Parade of Flesh!! POF definitely helped us out early on, as well as King Camel, Sealion, and a small handful of other gracious and nice people willing to let a punk band from Waco play their bills. We have now gone on to open for countless acts that I never would’ve dreamed playing with such as Vundabar, Together Pangea, The Chats, Jacuzzi Boys, The 5, 6, 7, 8’s, Bodega, The Buttertones, etc.
In 2016 we all decided to finally make the move to Dallas, after being drafted to “Team Dallas” by Hunter Moehring of Sealion just months earlier. We all have worked in Deep Ellum from that point on, and all four of us have been employed by Three Links at some point in time! Links are definitely our favorite venue in Dallas, and it’s where we feel at home. We have had a long journey to get where we are, but we’re just happy to be here.
In 2018 we welcomed our new drummer, Adam Locklear (our Dallas native) who has been in tons of other bands and has been working at Three Links for years. Rebuilding our sound from the ground up was a true test of our abilities and stamina, but we have never been a tighter group of friends/musicians. At the end of 2019, we went on a little tour, and met up with our long-time friends, Upsetting and played a few dates with them before heading back home for the holidays.
Now it’s 2020 and we have a lot that we want to do this year and the next few after that. We are releasing a three song EP at the beginning of February and have a show coming up at Three Links on 2/7 for a 2-day party called “Staff Infection”. Basically, a bunch of employees/ex-employees of Links will be playing that Friday or Saturday in Feb. We are currently writing our next full length that will be out later this year via Barf Wave Records, which we currently co-own with some other local area musicians.
Like I said, Adam work at Links. Eric and Savannah pretty much run The Nines, and I (Taylor) have worked at Lewellyn’s Print Shop for almost four years now. So pop by any of those Deep Ellum establishments if you’re wanting to see our smiling faces. Thanks for all the love and support from everyone in the DDFW music scene that we’ve received over the better part of a decade now.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been bumpy and wild and hectic. We got told that we would never be able to be booked at Doublewide again, after our first show there, simply because we didn’t have a draw. I still don’t know if we have a draw, but we played more sold-out shows in 2019 than any other year before.
Austin, TX has never been kind to us but we do enjoy playing there from time to time. Dallas feels like home. I (Taylor) was actually born in Dallas, then lived in Plano until we moved to Waco when I was 10. So I always felt like Dallas was where we were “supposed to be”.
We’d love to hear more about your band.
We are known for being an energetic live band that never plays the same way twice. We learned a lot from Party Static, Sealion and War Party about how to play live and interact or not interact with the crowd. We specialize in not sounding like anyone else in our scene, with the exception of Sealion, maybe.
Our live show is what sets us apart from others, generally because we just like to have fun, and don’t really care what anyone thinks about us. We have already done way more than I ever could have dreamed of when we started. I’m proud of the fact that we started Barf Wave and have now gone on to win 2 awards from 2 different Dallas music publications, Central Track and Dallas Observer.
Contact Info:
- Website: loafers.bandcamp.com
- Phone: 2544951496
- Email: bandofloafers@gmail.com
- Instagram: @loafersband
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loafersband/
- Twitter: @loafersband
Image Credit:
Vera Velma Hernandez, David Wilson, Erin Devany, Ellie Alonzo, idk.
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