ECHOES OF HOME: X AMBASSADORS’ JOURNEY WITH TOWNIE
Left: Adam Levin; drummer — Center: Casey Harris; piano, and keys — Right: Sam Nelson Harris; vocals, guitar, saxophone, bass
I’m beyond thankful to 1824 for giving us the opportunity to cover this heartfelt conversation between the multi-platinum band X Ambassadors and a variety of outlets & publications. The rock-pop band has long since been established as a trio with members—Adam Levin; drummer, Casey Harris; piano, and keys and Sam Nelson Harris; vocals, guitar, saxophone, bass. However, the band found its roots in the brotherhood and hometown of artists Sam and Casey. Dripping with vulnerability, this 12-song album focuses in on the childhoods of the brothers. Through their album’s honest lyricism, candid conversations, and stunning video imagery; we get raw insight into the minds of young creatives — ones yearning to understand more about themselves and the world beyond their town’s limits. Sam and Casey effortlessly evoke their youth, perspective on creating art, living with success, grief, and their genuine human experience. Needless to say - Townie is Gorges (Ithaca Pun).
“Follow the Sound of My Voice”, is a beautiful song about the relationship between you and your brother. What was that process like for you both? - Michael, Hidden Beats
SAM: “Very hard and then very easy. I think that I overcomplicate our relationship in my own head a lot and the simple truth is that we really love each other and have been through so much together. In our own ways are very devoted to each other and have been there through a lot of ups and downs. I just wanted to honor that in a song. The hardest thing was playing it for the first time for him. It’s very awkward it’s very uncomfortable. But that’s kinda where the best stuff is always. It’s real. It’s honest. That one is one of my faves on the record.”
CASEY: “It’s interesting to me. Because to me, it’s less a song about me and it's more a song about you… And I remember for the first time hearing. It’s a fascinating window on how you felt while we were growing up— how you felt about our relationship. It’s a fairly surprisingly, universal message and it’s ended up meaning alot to alot of people. Because while it's pretty specific to our relationship as brothers, it’s really just its people needing each other. People depending on each other. People loving each other. It boils down to a simple message of just being there for each other.”
In the song, ‘No Strings’ you say, "This town will suffocate ya. First they love ya, then they break ya.” At what point did you know it was time to leave home? What advice would you give to someone searching to be something outside of what they've always known? - Rebecca, The Kore Publication (Asked by 1824)
SAM: “I wanted to leave as soon as I graduated high school. But I really wanted to leave a long time before that. It was also the time period when we were growing up. It was the early 2000s and we weren’t nearly connected as we are now. I felt very isolated in Upstate New York. I was around alot of people who were “Ithacans”—who were always there, they just settled and never left. And I was like, ‘I dont want to be that. I want to see the world. I want my world to be bigger than this one place.’ I will say though, now looking back. That I think it was a little naive of me to think that the people that decided to stay in my town were making a bad decision or were missing out on something. I think that it’s dependent on who you are and what your temperament is. I actually really have alot of respect for people who stay in the towns where they grew up. I wanted to get out and I thought that would fix my problems, and it didn’t. But if you have the foresight to think like ‘You know im pretty happy here, If I think that moving somewhere else will make me happier, maybe it will, but maybe it wont.’ It’s that age old saying, ‘wherever you go, there you are.’”
CASEY: “I do think that you have to let something go to figure out if you love it or not. Sometimes you have to move away— you have to go and travel because otherwise you don’t know what you had at the start. I think it’s important that, no matter who you are, everyone to get out and see the world. Cause the world is a big interesting, very diverse - wild place. It really is everyones’ job to see as much as you can and then decide where you end up— where you belong. And maybe thats back in your home town or maybe somewhere completely different. But no matter who you are, I think it’s very important to get out there, explore and find that out.”
SAM: “Travel is such a big empathy machine. It really is. It makes you realize how fucking similar we all are…”
I was curious— I love the artwork on the record. And there is a picture on the front of you guys on the front steps of what I’m assuming is your childhood home. And then Sunoco on the back, that you sing about. I’d love to know the significance of why you chose those locations and what was the inspiration behind those cover artworks. - Amelia Cordischi, Echo
SAM: “Thats a great great question. That’s our moms house in Downtown Ithaca. Technically not the house we grew up in. That’s the house that she moved to when we left town. Luckily, Casey was actually able to buy back the house that we grew up in…
The gas station kinda early on became a symbol for me, of this place and this record. Growing up we always used to meet up at gas stations— specifically at this one Sunoco Downtown. We would meet up at and then go from there— off to someone’s house or to some place in the woods or you know a party or whatever. But that was always the jump off point, but we would always still stay in the town. But id be there [at the gas station] ready to go to somebody’s barn and drink a 40. And there was somebody there who was leaving school— There’s two colleges there; Cornell and Ithaca College. So there would be somebody in their car ready to go off into the big bad world and we'd watch this happen all the time and we weren’t able to leave yet.
I think Upstate New York feels very transient. It’s beautiful and to some people it is a destination in it of itself. But usually, it’s a place you drive through to get to somewhere else. Driving through to get to New York, the city, or downstate. Or you're driving through it to go up to Toronto. Or wherever. — most of it is like woods and gas stations. But for me its more than that. I grew up there and Casey grew up there too. So it kind of became a symbol for that space. And it felt right to have it be the album cover.”
Your latest project is all about growing up in a college town and the childhood experiences which have shaped who you are today - so in light of that, can you share one of your favorite childhood memories with us? - Aki, Out Jamz
CASEY: “I have so many memories of being in the basement with Sam. The basement is where we played music first, but so many memories.. not even playing music— just doing stupid things, but just laughing so hard. The camaraderie of kids and teenager. It’s pretty magical. It’s hard to pin down one memory.”
After listening to the album Townie, What struck me was the track ‘First Dam’ - which offers a very stripped down sound. Can you talk with us a little about that? - Olivia, Echo
SAM: “In Ithaca, there is First Dam, Second Dam and Third Dam.They are places people go to swim, drink, smoke and copulate.. but they are important fixtures in Ithaca - I spent alot of time there as a kid and I had this idea to structure the album with those three dams- but only got around to one..
The first one, First dam. The story is a true story. When I was thirteen and hanging out wiht a bunch of friends. This kid threw a rock and it hit me in the face. Hit me like square on the nose- big ol hunk of rock. It instantly broke my nose. I’m bleeding profusely — I had just started smoking weed for the first time too. So I’m high and my nose is bleeding— so i’m like freaking out. My friends are like, ‘OH shit what are we gonna do?!’ Then they bring me to this random house, they call an ambulance. The ambulance comes and the police are there too. I’m paranoid. I think i’m gonna get arrested. What I took away as I started writing about that experience— because I thought it was a funny memory. Then I was like, ‘ok why write about this?’ I think at the core of it- I kind of liked the attention that I had when I was hurt and needed help. Sadly that’s just kind of the truth - I always felt a little starved for that attention for some reason, deep in my hear. And iin that one moment, I was a see-through boy no more.
And it’s maybe why I do this for a living. I put my pain on display—why? you know … Because I’m afraid of being invisible I think.”
Can you talk about your song ‘Women’s Jeans’? Specifically the lyrics—‘Spent my 20s with blinders on
Built my ego up so strong. Changed my shape 'til I fit right in. Still not fitting in my skin.’ - Libby, Lettuce and Cheddar
SAM: “I was laughing at how I still don’t feel like I have arrived into my adulthood. I am firmly an adult. I am 35 years old. I still feel like I’m that 14 year old kid—who like hated where he was and just decided like, ‘Alright I’m gonna dress like I live in new york— like a hipster in new york and I’m gonna put on some girls jeans. I’m gonna go down to American Eagle, get the low rise bell bottoms.’ I had some crazy bell bottoms. … I look back on that kid and I’m so proud of that kid. I love that kid for doing that and dressing the way that I dressed. Because no one was dressing like that in my town, at least very few people that I knew.
But, it was still a costume to some degree. I still feel like I’m putting on a costume and pretending like I’m this responsible adult. I still feel like a kid inside. Life just has a way of taking you along for the ride and there are some moments where you are like, ‘Woah ! Am I just a passenger here or do I have any autonomy?” And that I also touch on in this inthe chorus with, ‘Who am I now. What if I’ve changed my mind? I’m not who I thought id be.” Life doesn’t turn out the way you think it will. I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to check off alot of boxes in my life- that I had when I was that 14 year old kid. But it’s not exactly how I pictured it. I dont’ feel any different. I don’t feel any more stable or like accomplished so that’s kind of what that song is about for me.
LIBBY: “If you dont feel accomplished, then I’m shit out of luck!”
CASEY: “Accomplishment comes from within.”
SAM: “It’s a funny ol thing, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to and how many podcasts i’ve been on with people. Ones whho’ve done things where I’m like, ‘How could you not feel accomplished?” But I think it is kind of a universal truth, that alot of us never quite feel like we’ve arrived. And maybe will never. And maybe that’s kinda the point.”
Townie is a tribute to ithaca, but also to people that impacted your youth, so what do you want young people to take away from the album? - Sophie, Friends Not Fans
SAM: “I’m not sure. I will say I hope that there is a kid in ithaca who listens to this record. And as i’m name checking alot of places and locations in ithaca— gets to hear that and feels seen. And is like, ‘Oh man! I can’t believe that this band wrote a whole album about my town! Thats crazy.” I know If I had stumbled across a record like that when I was living in Ithaca … that would have been life changing for me.”
CASEY: “I think in general, society and culture we are so focused on— ambition, your future, how high you can climb, how far you can go, and this shiny big city you’re gonna move to. That’s all fantastic, but I think alot of times- in all that glitz and glamour, people forget about their grimy roots —for lack of a better term. And that’s what made you. You can be that shiny glamorous person, but don’t forget your dirty past.”
SAM: “And also, I think that there is a message on the record— and we talked about it early. About owning up to that little kid inside of you and embracing that kid inside of you— where that kid grew up and making sure that it’s always a part of your narrative moving forward. Cause you can try and shake it and try and act like you know what youre doing, but none of us really do.”
This album was a beautiful dedication to X Ambassador’s youth. As Sam said, in regards to traveling and seeing the world, alot of us are extremely similar. The fears that we have..about not being sure if we’ve arrived, if we are noticed, if we are where we are supposed to be — This is what makes us human. My time away from home, in Ithaca made me who I am today. I’m so grateful to get to share in this moment and be witness to a group of artists honoring all parts of themselves—fears and all.
Working on this piece was surreal. I was born in LA, but I have first-hand experiences with Ithaca myself. After high school, I left home to attend Ithaca to get my BFA. I met amazing people, hiked gorges, swam in the dams, attended music festivals, and ate alot! While the fall/spring leaves Ithaca over-run by college kids— it’s the locals that are the true heartbeat of the town. During my time there I had the pleasure of meeting many born & raised ‘Ithacans’. I have musical friends in Ithaca right now, ones who are performing all over the area. I think it’s cool to interview a band that was in their same situation not to long ago. Especially one that decided to take a moment, after years of success, and intentionally honor where they came from.
Thank you so much to X-Ambassadors for being brave enough to share your hearts and minds with the outlets and the rest of the world. And thank you to 1824 for giving us an opportunity to connect with the band! To keep up with all of their latest projects make sure to follow check out their YouTube page for updates, music videos, etc. — HERE + Find them on Instagram @xambassadors !
-Rebecca