GURL: Introductions first, who are you lovely people?
Sub-Radio (Adam): The boys of Sub-Radio are: Adam Bradley (lead vocals), Matt Prodanovich (guitar/vocals), Michael Pereira (drums), John Fengya (keys/guitar/vocals), Kyle Cochran (keys/guitar/vocals), and Barry Siford (bass). We’ve been friends for literally decades. We like a good bop, a good drink, and not taking things too seriously.
GURL: What’s the backstory behind the band?
Sub-Radio (Adam): Most of us met as kids in middle school and started playing and writing songs together as teenagers. We all managed to stay local for college which is when we wrote much of our first album Same Train // Different Station. After graduation we all got Real Adult Jobs but it was clear this was where our passion and energy was, so after some minor local success and an appearance at the Firefly Music Festival in 2017 we decided to make it a full-time thing.
GURL: That’s adorable! Lifelong friends who happen to be musically talented and have the passion to share it with the world – we’re here for that.
GURL: When did you play your first official gig?
Sub-Radio (Adam): Ah, memories. Our first gig as a band (not as Sub-Radio, though) was literally at our high school for a battle of the bands. We did not win as we were very bad at the time. Our first show as Sub-Radio was actually the sold-out release show for the album, which was a little more polished (hopefully).
GURL: Let’s be honest, how many of us didn’t compete in battle of the bands at some point? You’ve came a long way since though and not having won probably set you on the right course to develop yourselves into the wonderful band you are now.
GURL: What has been the best experience you’ve had so far?
Sub-Radio (Adam): There’s been so many, but getting on the road for our first national tour in 2019 was really special for me. We met so many fans who we’d only known via the internet, saw the entire country, and really got to know each other in a way we hadn’t before.
GURL: Sounds like you had a great taste of the tour life, fingers crossed you’ll be back on the road soon to share your music and put a smile on a whole lot of faces.
GURL: You recently released your fabulous single “King of My Heart” which is a total bop – is there a story behind the lyrics?
Sub-Radio (Adam): Thx! “King Of My Heart” only really came together for me after hearing a full instrumental demo, which included some chintzy fake horns in the chorus. That put me in a very campy frame of mind and eventually I landed on these lyrics that basically boil down to “You’re hot and I’ve got a big crush on you.” That it’s more or less explicitly queer is also fun, it’s not something I’ve really gotten to do yet in a Sub-Radio song (I’m bisexual) and not something I see in many songs, period, so it’s been a fun one to introduce to people.
GURL: You’ve done a fantastic job at creating an absolute ear-worm and the fact that it’s got a queer vibe is exactly what we need right now. Thank you for bringing an open and unapologetic moment to the industry and we gotta say, you look great in a flower crown!
GURL: Do you have any traditions or processes when recording?
Sub-Radio: By the time we get to really tracking our songs they’ve been pretty fully fleshed out, demoed sometimes more than once, and we all have a good sense of what the sounds and parts ought to be. Currently we self-record and self-produce all our music — Kyle is a sound engineer and is quickly becoming an in-house producer as well. The writing process has definitely evolved through a combo of experience and COVID; where we used to get together weekly and just jam on riffs for several hours to see what happened, now it’s a more deliberate process of sending ideas back and forth, writing and recording solo at home and sharing parts with each other. I think both methods have their strengths.
GURL: It sounds like you all know exactly what you’re doing when it comes to music and have adapted well to the unfortunate events of COVID. You’ll be back to jamming in no time though with any luck so there’ll be a chance to combine the strengths you’ve built up.
GURL: Which of your songs would you say has been the most fun to play live?
Sub-Radio: We’re in a strange position where we’ve been playing shows for thousands of people each week, but we never get to see them or hear their reactions to songs or parts. I would say “Flashback” is always a slam dunk live, doing the body percussion really gets people going. And “King Of My Heart” is going to rock when we get on the road.
GURL: A completely different vibe to actual stage performances that’s for sure, no doubt the fans are still having a good time but we totally get that it doesn’t have the same level of interaction. We fully want to be front row to hear both of those live tbh, we’ll be fangirling the whole time.
GURL: Do you have any fun stories from being on tour?
Sub-Radio: Too many. One day on the west coast we had a date cancelled last-minute and found ourselves with a surprise day off, so we booked some motel rooms in Susanville, CA, way out north of Tahoe, and it ended up being exactly what we all needed. We were in a tiny town surrounded by beautiful California forests and mountains, we took a long hike and kinda cleared our heads — it’s a day we talk about all the time. Also we went to Niagara Falls which was pretty dope.
GURL: That sounds amazing, you really turned a bit of a downer into a wonderful time and no doubt got some stunning pictures while you were at it too. The rest of the tour must have came with such a refreshed state of mind too.
GURL: Who’s the biggest troublemaker in the band?
Sub-Radio: If you don’t keep an eye on Kyle and Barry they will slip a Bud Light tallboy into your hand and before you know it you’re going to the gas station to get tacos at 2 AM.
GURL: Kyle and Barry sound like our kinda guys tbh, we can party with them for sure!
GURL: Which of you has the strangest party trick?
Sub-Radio: I don’t know about strange, but Matt has an incredible ability to catch thrown objects in his mouth, specifically grapes or other grape-shaped items. Very impressive.
GURL: That’s a handy skill to have, especially on tour. We must admit we’re intrigued by the other grape-shaped items with a combination of dirty minds and pure curiosity.
GURL: What are your plans for the future?
Sub-Radio: Oh there are many plans. In the near term we’re writing and recording a ton of music to release later this year and early next, and we’ll be getting on the road for some tour dates in 2021 which is really just thrilling. Cannot wait to see real people.
GURL: We’ll be keeping an eye out for the new music that’s for sure. It’ll be great to build yourselves up a set-list for when you get back to live performance and gives you that opportunity to see how people react to a whole bunch of fresh sounds.
GURL: Now’s your chance, give us another couple of fabulous fellow bands/artists to follow?
Sub-Radio: I’ve been loving the new music from Claud, who’s a non-binary artist from Chicago. And we all love Sammy Rae and The Friends, some pals of ours from New York who are just the most fun band alive.
GURL: Well those are some incredible suggestions right there, absolutely love the vibes both are giving off and a solid back catalogue for people to enjoy, thank you!
Go follow these handsome gents on Instagram and show some love!
