Hi, great to talk to you! Could you guys start by introducing everyone in the band who you all are?
Howdy Rosie!
Indoor Creature is composed of Caleb Fleischer (vocals, keyboard, saxophone and synth), Travis Kitchen (drums and guitar) , Marcus Bell (bass and vocals), Terrence Kiser (guitar and vocals), Mason Ables (synths, guitar and vocals) and Zach Muller (percussion and vocals).
 
Would you explain how everyone in your band met and how you formed? 
I started Indoor Creature as a bedroom pop solo project and then I met Travis at a Japanese restaurant we both worked at. We began to collaborate on each other’s projects and performing as a duo which was fun.

I met Marcus at a rooftop party, he was a fan on the band so jumped on the opportunity to join when our former bassist Ian, moved to New York.

I met Terrence through a friend, jammed occasionally and became friends. We had a show in Houston and needed a guitar player last minute as our guitarist at the time bailed. I messaged Terrence if he wanted to play and he was down, and he’s been in the band since.

We all knew Mason from the Austin Music Scene. He played in a band Indoor Creature used to play with a lot. One night, Mason asked me if I needed anyone to trigger samples for the live set, and he’s played with us ever since as a synth player, keyboardist, guitarist.

I’ve known Zach since we were 10 years old. Zach moved down to Austin last year and wanted a performance outlet. He has a background in percussion, so I threw him and his infectious energy on the bongos.

How have you guys been doing in quarantine, has it been a good chance to take a chance and be creative, or perhaps been a creative block?
it’s been a bit of a creative block. I get a lot of inspiration from experience, so the limited experiences we can have in quarantine makes it harder to find that inspiration. I’ve made a fair amount of music but none of it felt like Indoor Creature. We did finish our next album during quarantine, but most of it was already done before COVID hit. We used a project syncing service called splice to record and socially distance.
 
How would you describe the music you make, do you enjoy experimenting or do you think you have found your sound?
I’ve always thought of Indoor Creature as Pop music. When I have to add more descriptions to it, I say Indie Pop music with some jazz influence. I experiment a lot. I really don’t like making the same song twice. Production wise, we’re always trying to change things up. If I wasn’t so concerned with consistent branding, the Indoor Creature catalogue would include house music, classic country, instrumental jazz, and fuzzed out punk.
 

How do you guys go about your writing process?
It’s never the same, sometimes the song is written entirely before we record it, sometimes it’s just a loop that’s fleshed out, sometimes it’s just a chorus. The music always comes first, and then lyrics.
 
I especially like your song ‘dreams or whatever’, which talks about dreams people have that are perhaps unrealistic. Did that song come from your own personal experience when embarking on making music or how did the idea come to you?
Oh yeah, that was autobiographical haha. I had just graduated from college, and obviously was very unsure of what do with my life. I had a degree in Science but my heart was in music. I was visiting my family in Ohio, and I had decided to set up a little studio in my Step Dads dry room. My brother was playing my keyboard over this drum loop I had programmed and I secretly recorded him. When he left, I wrote Dreams of Whatever over it. I was super inspired by this clear mile marker in my life. A lot of people have dreams and not everyone’s come true, it’s bittersweet but it's human. I was thinking about so many people in my life. I’ve been making music since I was a kid, and I realised so many of my friends whose music I admired and really believed in, stopped making music. I’ve watched a lot of talented friends waste their potential to drugs and alcohol and their dreams didn't come true.

Funny thing about that song, the vocal lead is pretty much a big improvisation I did. A lot of the lyrics too, I just improvised. I did have to translate a lot of them from complete nonsense to words but I was really feeling emotional and needing to express it that day. The only Idea I had when I started the take was the intro and outro hook, everything else I just improvised.
 
Who are some of your favourite artists, do any of them give you inspiration?
Collectively the bands favorite band is 100% Steely Dan. Some of my favorite artists are Frank Ocean, Astrud Gilberto, Andy Schauf, Stereolab, Brian Wilson, Kendrick Lamar, MF DOOM, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. All those people have giving me plenty of inspiration.
 
Have you guys got anything exciting planned for the future? Any more music or shows coming up?
Yeah we finished an album! This one sounds more like how we sound live. We have a booking agent now and whenever venues open up we’re def going to tour. Not sure when the album will be out, but we plan on dropping a song or two this summer.