The Usual Things

“Be careful what you get good at doin’ ’cause you'll be doin’ it for the rest of your life.” An all-too-common sentiment shared by maturing musicians trading their passions for what pays the bills. The Usual Things (Minneapolis, MN-based alternative rock) find the balance with their third record, Backup Plans. Bolstered by Andy Thompson’s (Taylor Swift, Dan Wilson, Jeremy Messersmith) skilled production, Backup Plans exhibits a maturing band exploring their craft in between the nine-to-fives. While still unmistakably The Usual Things, Backup Plans breaks new ground with lush keyboard backdrops, string arrangements, and horn sections—hell, there’s even French horn solo hiding in there somewhere.

The band’s influences range from the forward-leaning production of Beck, to the guitar-based melodies of early Radiohead, to the straight-forward rock fervor of the Foo Fighters. The Lemonheads’It’s a Shame About Ray rarely leaves their van’s CD player.

Finding the balance between their musical ambitions and the day-to-day means capturing inspirations where they appear. For singer / songwriter Aaron Shekey, this means embracing his backup plan—a startup building apps for musicians. “This entire record was written using Hum, an app I’ve created for collecting songwriting ideas. —Every iteration of every song. Cover-to-cover.” He continues, “Hum has changed the band’s songwriting process... allowing us to explore new ideas, both sonically and lyrically.”

Bringing fully-formed ideas to the studio allowed the five-piece to record live, warts and all, in a new process for the band. Drummer Layne Knutson explains, “We found an energy on these songs we weren’t always able to capture in our other records, the five us in the same room feeding off each other.” Guitarist Dan Braak adds, “We’ve finally matched our live show.” And it shows. Adding Andriana Lehr on keys and Sam Hall on bass, The Usual Things are poised to be the road-warriors they’d always planned to be as they graduate beyond the Minneapolis club scene.

Past Shows


Sep
8
th
2019
Fine Line
Sep
8
th
2019
Fine Line

Matthew Sweet

with The Usual Things
Oct
26
th
2017
7th St Entry
Oct
26
th
2017
7th St Entry

Boomtown Riot

with The Shackletons, The Usual Things and DAN TEDESCO
Aug
17
th
2017
7th St Entry
Aug
17
th
2017
7th St Entry

The Kickback

with The Usual Things and Candid Kid
Jun
29
th
2017
7th St Entry
Jun
29
th
2017
7th St Entry

The Usual Things

with The Modern Era and Candid Kid
Apr
21
st
2017
Turf Club
Apr
21
st
2017
Turf Club

The Nadas

with the Billy's and The Usual Things
Jun
19
th
2014
7th St Entry
Jun
19
th
2014
7th St Entry

American Scarecrows

with A.M. TAXI and The Usual Things
May
26
th
2014
7th St Entry
May
26
th
2014
7th St Entry

Sweet Ascent

with Ampherium, The Usual Things, The Modern Era and more!
Jul
10
th
2012
7th St Entry
Jul
10
th
2012
7th St Entry

Quietdrive

with The Usual Things
Jul
16
th
2011
7th St Entry
Jul
16
th
2011
7th St Entry

Unsound Logic

with Ohm of Omega, PROMISING MEN and The Usual Things
Jan
19
th
2011
7th St Entry
Jan
19
th
2011
7th St Entry

American Scarecrows

with Say You Swear and The Usual Things

More Shows

Jan
29
th
7th St Entry

Burning Blue Rain

with Saltydog and Lighter Co.
Jan
31
st
First Avenue

First Avenue's
Best New Bands of 2024

Apr
5
th
7th St Entry

Anxious

with Ultra Q and Stateside
Apr
26
th
Amsterdam Bar & Hall

An Evening with
Keller Williams