THE BALL THIEVES – AN INTERVIEW WITH CALLIN PETERS

THE BALL THIEVES – AN INTERVIEW WITH CALLIN PETERS

By Ralph Beauchamp

Calin Peters and Martin Earley are the fantastic indie folk duo, The Ballroom Thieves. Based in the North East, the duo have released their newest full length titled Sun dust. The record is full of great melodies and features beautiful vocal harmonies and exquisite musicianship. Their minimal arrangements are filled with organic soundscapes that soar into the stratosphere.

“Tender,” is one of those melodic, textured tracks Sun dust. Comprised of the duo's signature vocal harmonies over an acoustic finger guitar and a haunting pedal steel that weaves effortlessly into the melody, “Tender” is an ode to the importance of creating space within a song. martin shares, “We were listening to Watchhouse at the 2022 Newport Folk festival and their sparse instrumentation and flowing melodies inspired me to start writing 'Tender' on the spot. We learn a lot from our peers, and in this case, the lesson was about the importance of creating space for your songs to breathe, so you can hear what's going on between the notes.”

Sun dust offers 10 pieces of pure magic. Each song explores the depths of the modern human experience. The duo started thinking about what they could do to be more self-aware of their mental health and those around them in a world oversaturated with social media, pop culture and digital consumption. Yet, The Ballroom ThievesThe mission to social awareness couldn't be more enjoyable as their tunes have an airy and lush attitude with a palette full of dazzling and soaring vocals.

Calin Peters took time out of her busy schedule to sit down with AMP for this informative interview.

AMP: How did The Ballroom Thieves come about?

CALIN: Martin started the band in his senior year of college. I've been in for about 2 years. We were a trio for a long time, but about 4 years ago our drummer left. We all lived in Boston, but because we were touring so much we decided to give up our apartments. It's so expensive to live there. So we didn't live anywhere. Kind of on the road for 3 years. It was fun for the first 2 but the last year was terrible, Martin and I brought a house to Maine. The story of the band is the story of our lives for the last 10 years.

AMP: Your new album, Sun dust, just dropped. Can you give us some information about the release?

CALIN: We've thought a lot about how our childhood shapes our adulthood. In my opinion, childhood created you for the personality of your adult life. We also thought about our ancestors and how their experiences come into play. This led to the discussion of how angry and sad people are today. We don't have the best of times as humans.

So we started asking ourselves a lot of questions. We all want a happy life and good communication with our relationships. We dug deep to look for the source of these feelings. From these thoughts, the songs of the album began to evolve.

AMP: “Tender” is a beautiful track and Sun dust seems to have a central theme. What do you want your listeners to feel about your music?

CALIN: Hopefully they feel our music is supportive. Breaking some generational cycles while examining social behavior is difficult. He might feel a little lonely. We don't like the idea of ​​anyone feeling isolated. So I hope our listeners feel supported. I want them to feel that we listen to them.

AMP: You have recorded Sun dust mostly in your home studio. What were some of the pros and cons?

CALIN: We had a lot of control over our day and our creativity. That control over where the songs were going was great. Being able to create without outside eyes on you was amazing. It was just Martin and I and we felt confident about the new material. You can experiment more when it's just the two of you.

One of the downsides was the fact that our house is a bit loud. You could hear noise from both inside and outside. So if someone was visiting or our dog was snoring, it was a difficult moment to record. Rainy days were especially difficult. We were prepared for a great session and in the mood, but then our dog starts barking at a squirrel. But we persisted.

AMP: Can you give us a description of your creative process?

CALIN: We create in various ways. We can start in any of 3 or 4 different ways. One way is for one of us to come up with some lyrics and embellish from there. Another way is one of us writes a whole song and the other one reviews it. We work on it until it fits our style.

One rule we stick to is that we won't keep working on a song if it seems to be going south. If we get bored or find it a struggle, we just stop. So far this has worked well for us. Generally, we don't want to feel uncomfortable with a song. We don't want to push for the hell of it.

AMP: What makes The Ballroom Thieves unique?

CALIN: This is a great question! It is interesting to answer through the band. I'm not sure this is just unique to us, but the one thing we struggle with is creating a character that represents our style of music. So each of our performances is truly authentic to the audience and even to us. What you see is what you get. We just can't seem to muster a unified personality. Having a new and unique identity for each of our shows makes us different from most. We're just trying to make it real and go with the flow.

AMP: You play with a full band and as an acoustic duo. Are the dynamics different for both?

CALIN: Very! With the full band, we have a drummer and myself on bass. In addition, we usually have another instrumentalist. The sound is really full and the energy is wild. Plus it gives us a lot of freedom to dance around the stage and engage the audience. It brings out our crazy side. As a duo, it's usually a much smaller venue and more of a subdued scenario. It's more intimate and we tend to tell more stories. In this state, the energy comes from us loving what we do.

AMP: You've toured extensively. Does any particular show stand out?

CALIN: Most definitely. Days before the pandemic hit and we came home, we had this show in Seattle at the old Crocodile. It was sold out with a line around the block. Definitely one of the best shows we've ever played. Both the crowd and us were on fire. We had just started the tour and everyone was full of unbridled excitement. Then 2 days later the crowd closed and we had to cancel the rest of the dates. We were home for 2 years. So, this show really stands out.

Another is more recent. We got to play Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood. It's such a beautiful venue and we were worried that we couldn't fill the room with sound. It was just the two of us. Additionally, we had pre-show jitter. We were opening for Guster and the show went great. it was a fun experience and a bucket list kind of show.

AMP: What makes you feel so passionate about music?

CALIN: So many things. I love playing with other musicians, even though playing the cello alone can be amazing. I like it when the notes come together. It's so cool when they bounce off each other. I love the harmony you get when you play with others. Especially when everyone is perfectly in tune and we find that sweet spot. The music just flows effortlessly. It's a big emotional lift for me.

AMP: Do you have a favorite activity outside of music?

CALIN: I wouldn't say I'm into gardening because I'm not good at growing things, but we both like to work outside of our home. We also love to redesign the interior of the house. We just enjoy remodeling our home to fit our ideas of what it should look like. It is very rewarding to see the positive changes and believe me, it was really needed.

AMP: Any last words for your fans?

CALIN: We look forward to seeing them. We're going on tour in about a week. This leg is on the east coast, while we hit the west coast sometime in the fall.

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