Twin Cities band Tacklebox are reeling in a new sound
by Macie Rasmussen and Jaida Grey Eagle
March 29, 2023
Condensation fogs the windows of the dimly lit Pilllar Forum Cafe in northeast Minneapolis during a triple bill concert of rising Twin Cities talent. A coffee and skateboard shop by day, Pilllar feels like a sauna as young show-goers push each other around, ride on each other’s hands, and kick light fixtures in the middle of the cafe.
Along with explosive punks Heart to Gold and St. Paul emotive experimenters Gut Czech, there is a quartet of musicians known as Tacklebox. They share songs from their debut EP, Sle(ep), released in December of 2022, and others from an upcoming EP expected out in May.
The next day, a Sunday afternoon, the members of Tacklebox are back at Pilllar. This time, they’re sipping coffee and tea, and reflecting on the entanglements connecting their musical paths, which began in their teenage years. Now in their mid-20s, the musicians are already Twin Cities music scene veterans.
TV’s most-famous painter, Bob Ross, once said, “We don’t make mistakes; we have happy accidents.” Such happy accidents are essential for Tacklebox, according to lead singer and guitarist Joe Graves.
For years, the group’s members repeatedly crossed paths. Graves and drummer Connor Peck have been creating music together since the early 2010s in the indie rock band Goodnight Gorillas.
Graves and Peck first met bassist Stephen Paulson at a house show in Minneapolis’ Como neighborhood. It’s a part of the city not far from the University of Minnesota – where three of the four Tacklebox members attended – with many basements filled with musicians and young people beginning to embrace their peers’ creativity. Paulson has also played in bands with Tacklebox guitarist Dane Folie since middle school, a time that Folie refers to as a “young little whippersnappers” era.
Over the past decade, Paulson gained notoriety beyond Minnesota playing emo, pop-punk tracks alongside his younger brother Erik in the Twin Cities-based band Remo Drive. Although not an official member of Remo Drive, Folie has toured with them and recorded piano parts for the group’s upcoming album.
One summer during their college years, Remo Drive and Goodnight Gorillas took a small Midwest tour. “I feel like that kind of cemented our relationship,” Graves says. On what Paulson calls a scrappy 13 days, they also slept on cement.
At the beginning of 2022, the quartet emerged to announce the group’s beginnings as Tacklebox. The members enjoy the Midwestern feel of the band name — which Peck forged from a collection of random ideas — but they feel like posers because none of them actually fish. It makes sense in a way, though. Tackle boxes carry assortments of unique gear, and these four musicians are fusing their talents to reel in a new sound.
During the pandemic’s quarantine period, Goodnight Gorillas was taking a break, so Graves began solo songwriting. When songs began falling into place, he knew he wanted to record with other collaborators and gradually began recruiting people.
Graves first started sharing his work with Peck, but felt like the songs belonged to a project outside of Goodnight Gorillas. Then after talking over a game of tennis, he sent demos to Paulson and later invited him to a jam session with Peck. Playing with new people was nerve-wracking for Peck at first, but it quickly felt natural. Realizing that some songs were still a bit bare after a few rehearsals, they thought, “Let's get Dane involved.”
Luckily, improvisation is effortless for Folie. “I'm kind of used to hearing things and then finding what my puzzle piece could be in that bigger picture. It was really exciting for me, not intimidating or scary,” he says. “[The songs are] a play field with these really cool templates in place, but lots of different ranges to experiment with.”
After two or three rehearsals, a strong connection formed. While the members appreciate the other bands they play with, working as Tacklebox has its unique charm.
On stage and off, Graves seems to lead with humble confidence, but more than ever, he feels as though the songwriting process is a two-way street. In the past, he’s sat in the director’s chair, but now it’s exciting to plant the seed of an idea and watch the others set the tone. “I can take time to come up with feelings and stuff and lyrics that resonate with me,” he says. “But when it comes to musical parts, I'm like, ‘You guys know better than me.’”
Graves’ lyrics usually aren’t centered around specific events, but a blend of experiences of anger, sadness, or loneliness. Most of the words that make the final cut are the ones that escape his mind accidentally, then are shaped over time. He gains clarity of his own ideas when bandmates shift the rhythms.
Folie enjoys the inclusive process that leads to a finished song. It’s all about the surprise “jaw-dropping moments of a drum fill or a bass groove” that lead the members to experience a song’s realization in each other’s company.
Paulson values collaborating in a room with a full lineup, which he hasn’t experienced recently as Remo Drive’s members roam around the U.S. It’s refreshing to play in an intimate environment that allows for experimentation, and those happy accidents.
The band self-produced Sle(ep) thanks to Paulson’s exposure to music engineering. He studied music business at McNally Smith College of Music, where his brother Erik studied production. While Erik has been responsible for much of the Remo Drive’s recordings, Stephen acquired more equipment during quarantine and jumped into that side of music development for Tacklebox. It has been a learning curve: After being dissatisfied with the initial results, the band scrapped their initial recordings for Sle(ep) and re-recorded it.
Although some have referred to songs on Tacklebox’s first EP as “alt-country” — a description that surprised the band — their upcoming EP will likely be described differently. Both EPs were created during the same sessions, but they have recognizable contrasts: “[The second EP is] a little bit more angry; it's a little bit more driven; it has a bite to it,” says Graves. According to Folie, the next EP amplifies the band’s energy by building louder, bigger choruses.
With “Satellite Farmer” being a spacey folk jam and “Back Off” coming off more aggressive and in-your-face, the unifying sound of Tacklebox is still being defined. But the band appreciates the precedent the first EP sets. A variety of styles keep listeners guessing about what the band will do next.
Graves says: “It’s all about being open to those accidents happening.”
Tacklebox play at Mortimer’s in Minneapolis on Saturday, April 1. Their performance at Icehouse in Minneapolis on Thursday, May 4, is their sophomore EP release show.
