smalltalk @ The New Colossus Festival 2025
Savannah-based band smalltalk was one of 200 bands performing at this year’s New Colossus Festival. The four members, Shelby Bock (vocals), Andy Keith (guitar), Bryce Edwards (bass) and Cameron Driver (drums) make dreamy, guitar-washed music. Their latest EP as if was co-released by influential indie labels Candlepin Records and Pleasure Tapes.
Midway through their winter 2025 tour, made the stop in New York City. We spoke with Andy Keith, guitar player and founder of smalltalk, about the personal aspects of touring, “griddy gaze,” overcoming stage fright, and their intention to create an “exciting pop experience” with their music.
smalltalk (@smalltalkmakesmusic)
Homebase: Savannah, GA - typically a transplant city due to its nationally known art school. Myself (Andy, guitar) and Bryce (bass) are actually from the Midwest (Milwaukee) and Cincinnati respectively. I came for the art school, but Bryce came for work. Shelby (singer) and Cameron (drummer) are both Georgia natives.
Tell us about a highlight of The New Colossus Festival… Highlight was definitely seeing and hanging out with our friends new and old. The entire experience of the festival being held in a city like Manhattan necessitates a sort of constant flow-energy that moves from person to person and on anyone visiting from another city. And the rush of strangers and music-enjoyers alike was like being granted a new body for a few days, breathing in the fumes of the busy city for a weekend. Crashing at our friends house in Chinatown, staying up late to barhop with other bands and then talking outsider music with the bartender until 4 AM. The memories we made are always important on stage, but I've always felt my soul gravitate a bit more toward the personal aspect, friends and situations of what traveling and touring brings.
How would you describe your sound? smalltalk has been described by many, but we— whether as a joke or somewhat seriously—will always describe our music as "griddy gaze." Not necessarily laid back enough to vibe to, but anchored down in British 80's rock that I think had so much energy behind it. From The Smiths, to My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Echo and the Bunny Men, Wire, Felt.... The majority of the contemporary indie scene is dominated by dissonance and disparity, and when smalltalk first formed in 2022 it was with the express creative purpose to not be a vibe but an exciting pop experience where you could chill out or dance to.
How do you feel when you’re onstage? Honestly i have fucking terrible stage fright. I still get nervous sometimes, so theres a pre-show ritual of a beer and shot. Sometimes I’ll wash my hands and meditate for a second in the bathroom. My mom gave me really good advice once which is to really believe this is your moment when you’re on stage and no one can take it away. Don't think about anything else, or this or that. It's your moment and you’re there to have fun. After she told me that, I've done a really good job at just focusing on the moment and remembering to enjoy it while it's there.
Who’s your dream collaboration? As stated earlier i was never into the slow indie scene which i always felt didn’t have a lot of tact or exploitation of structure and didn't necessitate enjoyment, instead sort of felt labored in its own dysfunctional sadness. I had a closeted adolescence growing up in a Milwaukee suburb, which I reacted in a way of egging and stealing shit off peoples lawns. I've always really had a more "imma attack the sadness of life head on with fun and destruction" than the "wallow in my sadness" approach to life, so I think that's the same for music. However, over the last year and a half I've been absolutely blown away by a lot of the underground "shoegaze" scene - They Are Gutting A Body Of Water, Full Body 2, Feeble Little Horse, Julie, Alvvays. At this time, i would say a dream collaboration would be TAGABOW just given how influential some of their riffs and chord dynamics have been for me. The hooks represent a really amazing songwriter behind the songs and don't feel like its just floating into the nether—a conscious effort to expand through sonic textures and vocal harmonies I would be honored to try to share a 8 track with. I drove from Orlando to see them in Athens once. It was the only show I ever left angry cause in my head the show was only 15 minutes so i was like wtf but all my friends were like fuck no that was 45 minutes. i literally was just totally encapsulated like never before.
What’s one thing you won’t leave at home when you head out on tour? OH GOD - Well, i'll tell you what I have forgotten, which are my Audiologist fitted earplugs and once drove back in the middle of tour, last January from Chattanooga back to Savannah to grab them and get them for a show that night—I think about a 8 hour drive from Atlanta—where i left the band. Driving in between traffic and pulling up and every hidden cop under overpasses and surviving off of shit gas station coffee to make it home and back for the show. Unfortunately, I have a permanent nerve disorder i contracted when i was 24 called hyperacusis - a very painful stimulation from sound that can last hours to weeks to months of constant pain at a time —so these are actually the most important thing i have on me besides maybe the nerve medication i have to take with it. Always wear your earplugs at shows!
smalltalk’s as if is out now via Candlepin Records and Pleasure Tapes. You can also listen wherever you stream music. Follow smalltalk on Instagram. No tour dates announced as of now, but according to the band, “anyone in Raleigh might be interested to keep their schedules open in september :)”.