Cool kids Echosmith hitting the road this summer

The Echosmith siblings will tour the country with Vans Warped Tour this summer. Check ‘em out in Cincinnati July 16.
Since the summer of 2012, Echosmith, an all sibling indie-pop band comprised of Sydney Seirota and her brothers Graham, Noah, and Jamie, has been gaining steady momentum as an emerging force in modern pop music. Their music was included as a part of the soundtrack for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the name Echosmith was appearing in magazines and on music television in 2013, and during the summer of that same year they were given a prime slot on the 2013 Vans Warped Tour, where they rapidly won fans over from city to city all over the United States. It is important to also keep in mind that during all of this rising success, they had released a mere three original songs on a summer sampler and a small handful of popular cover songs. Their debut album, ‘Talking Dreams’, finally hit stores in October of 2013 and Echosmith’s star traveled at hyper-speed. Edgy enough to remain credible to the rebellious youth, but structured just enough to break through to pop radio, Echosmith spent the rest of 2013 touring, gaining popularity all the way up to the present where they find themselves back on the Vans Warped Tour once again. This time they’re on an even bigger stage playing to even more people than last year. Just recently, Sydney Seirota spoke with Graffiti about the upcoming tour, their busy year, a new acoustic release, their creative process, and more.
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Graffiti: Hello Sydney. I want to thank you so much for speaking with me today. I know that you guys are busy, getting ready for this year’s Vans Warped Tour, again, for the second time.
Seirota: I’m at home packing, finishing up some things that need to be taken care of, and I’m trying to get everything done before we leave. Actually, for the first time in the world, I’m ahead of schedule [laughs]. I’m trying not to get stressed about it, we’ve toured so many times now. I’m very thankful to not be stressed!
Graffiti: So, this is your second time out on Warped Tour. Last year was awesome, but at that time you guys only had the Summer Sampler to go on, in terms of recorded material to promote. The album actually came out this past October, and you guys have been busy all year touring all around the world. Have you really had a chance to rest, from last year’s Warped Tour to this year’s Warped Tour?
Seirota: Um, yeah. We did a fall tour, and then we did a lot of random shows in between. We had a little bit of time off around Christmas time, and then we did a headlining college tour in the winter. Then there were a lot of other random things like South By Southwest, radio shows, and things like that. For the past month, maybe a few days more, we’ve had some down time with the exception of a few fly dates here and there. But we haven’t been on another straight tour, so it was good to have a few days off, even if it is just three days [laughs]. You appreciate the little things when you’re gone so much.
Graffiti: I’m sure, but at least you’ve got family out with you when you go out. That’s got to be really cool.
Seirota: Yeah, it’s nice. You don’t really get homesick as much. You can miss your friends, of course, but not your family when they’re all out with you.
Graffiti: You guys started in 2009, fast forward to 2013 when the album came out. How has the working relationship evolved, especially since you are all related? Is there a process you guys have that might be unique to your situation?
Seirota: Yeah, because we’re related and around each other so much – we all still live together [laughs]- it’s been a really cool process because we can just say to one another, ‘Hey! I have a really great idea. Do you want to come and check it out?’ You don’t have to wait, or send something over somewhere. I can just show my brothers an idea this very moment if I wanted to. It’s really nice that we can have the time and room to create whenever we want, whether it’s alone or together. We’re at an advantage. A lot of bands have a lot of members who live in various different states, and sometimes even different countries. I don’t know how that works, but it’s really sweet that we all live together. That gives us even more room to create and grow as a band.
Graffiti: Do you guys have designated days and times, when you’re home, that you make it a point to get together and practice, show new ideas, etc.?
Seirota: We used to do that when we were first starting out, like the first two years. We actually have a studio and rehearsal space out in our garage, so it’s really nice to be able to say, ‘Let’s practice now!’ Or ‘Let’s get together tomorrow.’ It’s really nice that we have that, it’s really convenient. But we don’t really have to worry about planning it like that because we all stay relatively available for the band and prioritize that.
Graffiti: Over this past year Echosmith has really blown up. You guys were named MTV’s ‘Band to Watch In 2014.’ Alternative Press put you all in their ‘Top 100 Bands You Need to Know,’ so you guys are on a lot of lists. You’re getting new popularity and fame. Being from Los Angeles, did you guys grow up around a lot of that? Around the music business?
Seirota: There’ve been a lot of things that have happened that we never would’ve thought would happen. Being on MTV’s list, or anything like that, it’s something that we never would’ve expected, so that’s a pleasant surprise. But because we do live here, we’ve got friends that are in the music industry, who have been to a lot of the same places that we have. It is really cool to have friends like that, to have those connections. Those people know what we’re out doing, and sometimes they might even help us through it because they know what it’s like. So, I guess we did grow up in that world, but it’s all really exciting to explore it and see what we can do with it.
Graffiti: Back to Vans Warped Tour for a moment, you’re going to be a part of their 20th anniversary tour.
Seirota: Yeah. I’m really excited to be a part of it and see how different it will be.
Graffiti: How is this year’s Echosmith show experience going to be different from last year’s? Are you going to be on a different stage? What is that set up going to be like?
Seirota: We’re actually going to be on the Journey’s stage, and that’s in the amphitheater. We are so excited about that. That means we have more room, and more time to work on our set. It’ll be really cool.
Graffiti: You obviously made a lot of friends last year. Tell me a little about the camaraderie among the bands and crew.
Seirota: It’s amazing there because it’s such a community. Some of my best friends in the world I met on Warped Tour, some people I’ll keep in contact with for life. I wouldn’t even had known them if it wasn’t for Warped Tour. It’s really cool to be able to have something like that, and that says a lot about the tour. It’s such a small place, you never see anybody alone unless they want to be. Some of them play heavy metal, I don’t. That doesn’t mean that we can’t still be friends.
Graffiti: After this year’s Warped Tour, what comes next for Echosmith? You have a new release coming out.
Seirota: Yeah, our ‘Acoustic Dreams’ is out. It’s four songs from the album that have been reworked, and one new song, called ‘Terminal,’ so I’m excited about that. It’ll be sold at Warped Tour and online. We’re figuring out the fall right now, and figuring out the rest of the year, but that’ll be lots of touring.