Music group Twin Cities rocks out
Michael Engdahl of local band Twin Cities strums his bass guitar at ICT Fest Saturday, a concert that features local bands.
Midwestern Emo?” Twin Cities frontman and communication graduate student Ryan Stold asked.
“Yeah. You can say it’s Midwestern Emo/Indie Rock,” responds bandmate Will Erickson.
Twin Cities performed Saturday at ICT Fest, a concert featuring local bands. Spearheaded by Stoldt, the group released on Sept. 1 their new album “The Things You Say You Just Went Through” completely free of charge. As they wrapped their latest concert at the ICT Fest, Twin Cities spoke about some of their goals as a band, as well as their personal motivations.
“I enjoy playing here because it’s a big pool of Wichita musicians,” Erickson said. “There’s not as many people as there would be at a big music festival, but it’s nice to be at a place where you can just listen to music.”
While they maintain their priorities outside of the Wichita independent music scene, Erickson, Stoldt and guitarist Michael Engdahl devote a fair amount of time to Twin Cities. Nevertheless, they insist that their content will remain free for as long as they can keep it that way.
“We just enjoy making albums right now,” Stoldt said. “It’s a lot of fun to write songs with a thematic message. A lot of our songs are about feeling down and the idea that even if you’re feeling terrible, there’s other people who have also been there.”
Erickson, who plays drums, explained that the inspiration he draws from bands like Shylac and Vitrius fuels his performances.
“It’s cathartic, playing drums for Twin Cities. I just want other people to have that same cathartic experience — it can be a release for other people,” he said.
Engdahl noted the dissimilarities between Twin Cities and his usual projects, but he said playing at the ICT Fest is a completely different experience.
“This is a completely different direction of what I usually do,” he said. “It can’t be said with words.”
“The Things You Say You Just Went Through” is free to download on twincities.bandcamp.com
“Right now we’re just making music for the sake of making music,” Stoldt said.
“And being loud,” Erickson added.
