The city that never sleeps was habitually snoozing on the emerging talents of New Jersey-born songsmith, Wesley Schultz. Having formed a duo with fellow New Jersey native Jeremiah Fraites in 2005, the budding indie/folk pairing had been hammering the NY bar circuit, interspersing a majority covers-based set with a handful of sparkling originals.
Frustratingly the regular small venue patrons had little interest in anything they didn’t recognise.
“We used to play bars all the time and [play] mostly cover songs,” Schultz told Bedroom Disco. “Our [first] band name was Free Beer. We’d pepper in some of our own music.”
Though Schultz was conscious that his songwriting was certainly improving, the beer-fuelled audiences to which the pair played were stubborn in their disinterest.
“Whenever we’d do a Bob Dylan or Coldplay song, all ears were on us,” recalled the percussion and piano-helming Fraites in the same interview. “But when Wes would say, ‘Here’s an original,’ everyone would flee for a cigarette break or to play billiards.”
“Bars would let you play because they wanted your friends to buy drinks,” Wesley elaborated in a Guardian interview, “But, then they’d kick everybody out to get the next group in.”
It wasn’t just the lack of recognition that was gnawing at Wesley and Jeremiah.
Despite working two or often three jobs (including a stint where Schultz worked as a barista) the inordinately high cost of living in New York was rendering their hopes to lead a bohemian, creatively-oriented lifestyle untenable.
Every day came another bill. And, by night, another indifferent crowd.
After years of hitting the same brick wall, there was a growing feeling that success was well and truly out of their reach.
