PHOTO COURTESY OF TGL
With intricately layered guitar parts, break-neck-speed drum fills and lyrics to tug at the heartstrings, TGL (which stands for The Good Life, named after a Weezer song) is a local band that isn’t afraid to show us what it’s really about. The band has consistently refused to label themselves in to one singular genre, “Because there are 500 different 'genres' nowadays, and I truthfully don't know what any of them mean,” said Zach Stewart, a bass guitarist and a founding member of the band.
“We were usually labeled in the 'pop-punk' or 'emo' genre, but I'd like to think that the music is a blend of a lot of stuff different sounds, stemming from what we were influenced by, or listening to at the time," Stewart said. "I was never fond of the 'emo' tag because I think it's a bit of a oxymoron when put into the context of music. If you think about it, who writes music without investing emotion into it?"
TGL comes from small beginnings at Greencastle High School when drummer Will Cath (DePauw Alumn as of 2010) and Zach Stewart started playing music together as freshmen at Greencastle High School.
”We started playing music in my basement and were terrible for a long time, but it was fun, harmless, and a great way to learn on our own and not depend on anyone else," said Cath. "[The band saw] a revolving door of musicians from Greencastle, Jake Berry, Trevor Fallis, Quinn Fenlon, Zach Stewart, John Sibbitt (fellow DPU grad) and myself. The start of the band was facilitated by so much support from our friends and families."
TGL started off playing shows on DePauw’s campus, where both Cath, and Guitarist/Vocalist, Sibbitt attended. Initially the band was the only young group on the scene in Putnam County, so naturally they were the band that was picked to play at all sorts of fraternities parties and other DePauw events.
“We were pretty strategic in how we made money, we played pretty much every frat house and special event at DePauw and that really helped fund our ability to play everywhere else,” said Stewart.
As the band honed their performance chops on campus, from 2005 to 2007 they recorded two self-released EP's, both of which boasted widespread radio play on WGRE. Soon after, TGL geared up for the opportunity of a lifetime.
Stewart said, “WGRE was really supportive of TGL when we entered MTVu's 'Best Music On Campus Competition.' They had been playing our stuff even before John and Will were students at DePauw, and well before the MTVu contest. I think that kind of support for local musicians really helped push us to the finals of the MTVu competition."
PHOTO COURTESY OF TGL
Best Music On Campus is a annual online battle of the bands for college musicians, hosted by MTVu. Every musician who enters the annual online battle of the bands must be in college, and must represent their respective campus. In 2007, when TGL represented DePauw, the top prize finisher received a $1.5 million recording contract with Epic Records and a gig on the Conan O’ Brien’s show. After the nearly six-month competition ended, TGL walked away as a runner up, and were dubbed one of the top five college bands in the country.
Online fan votes mainly decided the winner of Best Music on Campus, but a panel of judges decided which finalist own the record deal.
"Sadly it wasn't us, but we weren’t in any sort of position to record a huge record like that anyway," said Stewart. "We were still pretty young, and we were still far from having a polished sound. That exposure really helped us transition into taking the music more seriously, and it got the attention of the label that we would eventually sign to.”
The band would eventually sign a deal with Lobster/Oort Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music group, just one year after the MTVu competition.
“We began our music career in an age when signing a contract with a well known record label was deeply beneficial to being successful, if not essential,” said Cath. “We thought we were doing the right thing in signing with Lobster/Oort, but like most records deals, it turned out to be no more than a good learning experience in proper business and entrepreneurship.”
When the band signed, they were immediately sent on tour all across the country in hopes of developing a wider fan base.
“I took a full year off of school during my Junior year at DePauw to tour and pursue our music," said Cath. "I don't think I can explain how fun and beneficial touring is. It’s similar to a long, thought-out backpacking trip across Eastern Europe, Asia, and the U.S.. You learn so much about yourself and how the world works.”
Although the band mates enjoyed their time touring, they were not living stereotypica rockstar life.
"There was nothing glamorous about it," Cath said. "We didn't attract mass amounts of girls because of it, we weren't swimming in popularity, we were 5-7 guys on the road, roughing it and loving every second if it because we were together, doing what we knew best - playing music to whomever would listen and enjoying life as we took it on head first.”
Instead of a tour bus, the band traveled the U.S. in a van.
"I loved our touring machine, Betsy, more than anything I've owned," Cath said. "She was a 12 passenger can with bunk beds, a tv equipped with all-you-can-play Donkey Kong, and we took it all over the country."
After a pretty extensive run of shows across the U.S. and Canada, TGL was ready to record their debut album on Lobster Records, but not without the hardships that come with being under contract.
“Our first album, 'Sweeter As Ficiton' came out during the height of illegal downloading in 2008, and that album was on torrent sites everywhere weeks before it was released in stores so I wouldn't be surprised if CD sales were effected," said Stewart. "The deal with Lobster really helped us get our music in front of a much larger, worldly audience. We were aware of the risk involved with signing a contract, and we were willing to take it in order to progress as a band and as a business.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF TGL
TGL was toruing to promote "Sweeter as Fiction" when thier streak as rockstarts came to an abrupt end.
"That’s when the label stopped answering our phone calls, literally,” said Stewart. “[During] one of the last conversations we ever had with label in October of 2008, they told us that our album was a flop and wasn't going to sell. From that moment on—we never heard from the label again."
The band went back to a DIY attitude, trying to balance college and music in 2009 before officially announcing that they were disbanding. After trying their best to promote a leaked album, to tour and to manage class schedules, the band agreed to part ways and end their career while they were ahead. “It was time to call it a day.” Stewart said.
Although the band hasn't performed a gig since 2012, and has no plans to perform again, the hometown heroes of Greencastle have released their newest CD “This is the End.” on several digital retailers. "This is the End." is a collection of songs recorded over the span of the band's existence, as well as some new material, constitute the album.
“I think it'd be nice to get this new album pressed on vinyl, but other than that..." Stewart said. "We all live in different parts of the country now and we don't have any intentions of ever playing a show again. Sure there are probably things that are far more likely to never happen again, but the release of this album is really kind of the 'final chapter' and our way of saying 'this is the end,' if you will."
Although TGL never hit it big, Stewart does not think the band was a waste.
"I'd like to think that if someone somewhere is listening to our music right now and relating to it in their own way, then we accomplished more in our career than most do," Stewart said.
Album cover of TGL.
COURTESY OF TGL
Some of both Stewart's and Cath's favorite TGL memories are from paying in Greencastle and Putnam County.
“Playing music in Greencastle was always a trip for me," Cath said. "It was rarely a chill experience. We had a local fan base that would carry us through some of the bigger local shows. Some of the wildest parties happened at DePauw, and the best shows ever were in frat houses. The crowd was nuts, but in the best waypossible."
Stewart agreed.
“Some of my fondest memories were of shows that we played at DePauw and if we were still performing today, I'm sure we'd have a gig booked somewhere on campus next weekend.”
TGL’s New album “This is the End.” can be found on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and several other digital music retailers. Their website is www.tglmusic.com.