Interviewing Local Cincinnati Band: PHYSCO

If you’re looking for fun and unique new music, look no further than local Cincinnati band, PHYSCO.  They’ve been a band since April 2014, and I recently sat down with the guys and talked with them about everything from how they got their name, their favorite songs to perform, to what animal they wish they could be.

 

Meet the guys of PHYSCO!

Joey Loebker (Vocals): He is studying education here at UC and in his free time he enjoys watching movies, kicking ceiling fans, and playing Red Dead Redemption.

Nick Ewan (Guitar): He is studying computer engineering here at UC and in his free time he enjoys playing golf and messing with electronics.

Jimmy Comodeca (Guitar): He is double majoring in marketing and international business, with a minor in Spanish, at Ohio University. In his free time he enjoys going to concerts and skateboarding.

Matt Morris (Drums): He is studying biochemistry at Miami and in his free time he enjoys lifting at the gym and takes part in an acapella group at his college.

Kainon Loebker (Bass): He is studying communications here at UC and in his free time he likes to go to Northside and check out local bands.

 

Who/what is PHYSCO?

Nick: “Joey I guess is PHYSCO. So we were at OU practicing at your (Joey’s) cousin’s husband’s place. It was in the middle of the woods and that’s when Joey was growing out his hair so he looked like a maniac all the time and I guess your (Joey’s) great grandfather Bixio had this trench coat that Joey put on. So he had his hair up all wild, he had this trench coat on and I tried to take a picture on Snapchat saying, psycho killer, but I’m just gunna say it was the autocorrect that killed it, or I just can’t spell. It was an attempt at psycho and it turned out PHYSCO and a year later I was looking at the picture and thinking it would be a good band name, and here we are.”

 

How would you describe your (PHYSCO’s) look?

Nick: “We didn’t want to be one of those bands that took really serious pictures up against like a wall of just like, ‘Hey brother…,’ we didn’t want that.”

Joey: “How it kind of started though was, I was at Goodwill my freshman year of college and I found this track suit, this 80’s track suit that definitely came from the house of some grandma and I was like, ‘I’m buying this thing right now.’ I started wearing it when I played shows and it’s just kind of snowballed from there where now everyone really has a weird costume.”

 

Who or what inspired you guys to play music?

Joey: “I like a lot of singer songwriter music. There’s this guy named Damien Rice who writes really awesome lyrics, and it’s really simple. So he was the first person that [made me think], ‘Wow, I really want to write music like that, not just play music like that.’ ”

Matt: “I started on piano lessons, because my mom wanted me to. I’d say first my brother, Micah, probably inspired me to do a lot of music. I gotta be honest, in high school, Joey really inspired me to be in a band.”

Jimmy: “I grew up learning how to play guitar to a bunch of classic rock, so like, Led Zepplin, Guns and Roses stuff, but I’ve kind of moved on from that a little bit. So now it’s a combination of older stuff with things like Oasis of course.”

Kainon: “I used to listen to nothing but Blink [182] and Panic at the Disco, and all that good stuff, but recently there’s a band called JANK that (I don’t know if they’re staying together), but they are amazing.”

 

What genre of music would you say you are?

Overwhelmingly, they all said Scandinavian black metal and then they actually answered with, “alternative pop.”

Joey: “If Pop Rocks were a band, this is it.”

 

How would you describe your sound?

Matt: “I think honestly every song of ours sounds different. Even on our EP, it’s like three completely different sounds. We’re not like a band that you listen to an album and you’re like, ‘Oh they’re good, but every song sounds the same.’ ”

Nick: “I think it’s because we all have very different backgrounds.”

Jimmy: “We don’t know what our sound is, because it could change.”

 

What bands do you get inspiration from?

Joey: “Right now it’s this band, Dawes. They’re like soft rock with solid story telling lyrics.”

Nick: “The Beatles, Zeppelin, and Adele.”

Matt: “My absolute favorite band is Young the Giant.”

 

What are you guys working on right now?

Nick: “We just got done recording an EP in Nashville. So we’re going to release that hopefully soon. We started that project in April and we’re releasing three songs, so we’ve had a lot of time to write more stuff. We’re trying to do a full length album next year, so we’re trying to get at least 10 solid songs that we can decide on.”

 

What is one of your favorite songs to perform?

Joey: “Good Time. It’s a song I wrote when I was like 16; it’s very emotional and it’s very story driven.”

Nick: “Waves. That’ll hopefully be on our full length album next year.”

Matt: “Mine is Something, [because] I get to shred.”

Jimmy: “The Grinch. I don’t know, I just think it’s fun, especially during the chorus.”

Kainon: “No Signal for me, because it’s so fun.”

 

Tell me about your songwriting process.

Jimmy: “I don’t think we really have a process it just kind of happens.”

Joey: “I write a lot of songs in the shower.”

Nick: “Yeah, I don’t know. I just feel like I end up playing my guitar everyday and I’ll just sit there and try to write something. We never come to band practice and are like, ‘We are going to write this song now!’ ”

Jimmy: “It’s natural. Organic.”

 

What kind of topics do you like to write about?

Joey: “I write a lot about, like getting up and doing what you wanna do and not being pigeon held to what other people say you should do…and not being scared to do what you want to do.”

 

When is your next gig?

Matt: “We’re playing with the Never Setting Suns in November.”

The date is TBD, but I’ll keep all you readers updated!

 

What are your hopes/dreams for the band?

Matt: “I think our dream right now is just that our EP does well.”

The guys would ultimately like to tour, but at the moment are very excited about the release of their first EP.

 

Okay, fun question. If you could be any animal what would you be?

Nick: “An Ocelot. That is the most majestic animal in the world.”

Kainon: “I have two for two different reasons. A hawk would be awesome, just flying in general. Any kind of bird would be sweet, but then being a dog would be the best thing ever; especially a cute dog; you literally just do nothing all day, or a cat, you just sit there and eat food and fart around.”

Joey: “The first thing that came to mind was a turtle, and then I thought that would be terrible.”

Joey later decided he’d want to be a horse, but specifically a “Seabiscuit kind of horse…races real fast.”

Matt: “I’ve always thought my neck was kind of long, kind of self-conscious. So I think I’d be a giraffe.”

Jimmy: “I would say mine would be an iguana, because they live in the coolest places. I wanna hang out in Costa Rica.”

 

What do you want your fans to know about you?

Matt: “We’re just a couple guys making bagels.”

 

What advice do you have for people who want to start their own band?

Joey: “I think Kainon said it very well when he said, ‘You don’t have to be the perfect musician to start a band.’ ”

Nick: “You don’t have to be incredible, you just have to enjoy what you’re doing.”

Matt: “You can’t just stay in your room forever playing guitar or songs by yourself, like to actually go out and play for people even if they don’t like it, you’re still playing what you like.”

 

Any shameless plugs?

Matt: “I’d say definitely come see a live show, because I think you’ll be surprised. Everybody usually has a good time.”

 

These guys are some of the nicest and funniest guys I’ve ever met. They really are “just a couple guys making bagels” as they say; I’m still not sure what that means. I had a blast interviewing them and highly recommend going to their next show. I will keep you all posted on that date as soon as I have it! Make sure to go follow them on Instagram (@physcoband) and Facebook (PHYSCO). ALSO, check out their first single ‘Honey’ they just released on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube!! CLICK HERE!

Their EP, recorded in Nashville, coming SOON!