Times New Roman, the noise-pop trio from the Interlochen area, admit to being "huge fans" of Fergie’s highly memorable 2020 performance of the National Anthem at the NBA All-Star Game which they attended. "You should definitely check it out," they tell me. I’m smirking from underneath the rock the youngsters might think I live under and I like this band’s style already, especially after hearing snippets of their live performances on Instagram. They have a palpable sense of humor and style as well which is displayed in this Intyview video I highly recommend watching.
Times New Roman are Mason DeFoe (17) and Jason Fritz (19) on vocals, guitar, and bass, and Reese Poole (17) on drums who also plays guitar and bass. The band switches off between instruments and vocals depending on the song and that level of multi-talent among ones so young is phenomenal. They’ve been playing together for roughly 3 years.
Mason: "My mom got me a guitar from Amazon for my 9th birthday and I decided to play and sing a cover of 'Blitzkrieg Bop' by The Ramones at my 5th-grade talent show. From then on I knew music was the only future for me. I can also do a mean Björk impression."
Reese: "My parents got me a guitar for Christmas when I was 8 because I would play air guitar in my room. A couple years later I was messing around with a drum set at Guitar Center and asked my mom and dad if I could take lessons. I picked up bass shortly after."
James: "I started playing guitar when I was 7. I started playing drums when my grandparents gave me a drum set their neighbors were throwing out. Bass is something I learned because of the guitar."
Not only is their "Punk Rock Basement DIY" vibe appealing to me, it’s cool to hear something different from the Northern Michigan scene. The fellas know how to rock their instruments and their musical tastes and influences are very impressive to me. "Some of our favorite bands like Brainiac, Sonic Youth, and The Jesus Lizard are considered 'noise-rock', and we do take much inspiration from them, but our music is more melodic and vocals-forward than theirs. We’re also big fans of The Breeders, Devo, Misfits, and The Soggy Bottom Boys." (Splendid film taste as well!) I spoke with Mason a little on whether or not his parents had an influence on these musical preferences (because I just had to ask) and he said "My parents got me into a lot of surface-level 90s alternative and everything beyond that has been my own findings." He also mentioned being exposed to old school hip-hop and Tori Amos.
"We were knees-deep in the one-size-fits-all nature of our school’s music program and instead of embracing complacency, we formed the band as an outlet for our anger," the band says. "And we’d say that's a better response than smoking weed or something else unproductive. As for the band name, a member and his ex were going through font names and we settled on that one. Some of the runner-ups were: Max Headroom's Intrusion Broadcast, Clintons, I-95, and Whistleblower."
Times New Roman played a Halloween show last year and "aside from the face paint stains that lasted a week" it went "really well." They are set to perform at Eugene’s Record Co-Op in Downtown Traverse City with The New Burn tomorrow, April 5th, with doors opening at 7PM, so be sure and head on over and check them out! Mason DeFoe will be releasing a solo song on all streaming platforms called "Pointing Fingers" that day as well, so expect to hear that along with an array of the band’s original songs with some covers sprinkled in throughout the set.
As for the future of Times New Roman, the band hopes to become "spineless, sell-out, posers!" The Jam Files are big fans and we certainly wish them the best of luck.
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Jennifer Patino lives in Traverse City and loves music. Check out her blog at thistlethoughts.com