Most college bands flame out in a couple of years. With five years and three full-length albums under their belt, Timeflies is still going strong.
The duo, producer Rob Resnick and vocalist Cal Shapiro, met at a party in 2007 while attending Tufts University. They said that Shapiro performed some “drunken freestyling” while Resnick beatboxed. They have performed together ever since.
“While majoring in music in college, we found our styles and differing influences complemented each other well,” Timeflies said in an email interview with Marquette Radio. “We have really diverse taste in music. We agree on Bob Dylan, but then it spans from Avenge Sevenfold, to Muddy Waters, to Seven Lions, to Kanye West. Nothing’s off limits.”
Resnick invited Shapiro to join his funk band, The Ride, which lasted until they formed Timeflies in the spring semester of their senior year. With former housemate Jared Glick attached as a manager, their debut album, “The Scotch Tape” found commercial success online, breaking the top iTunes Pop Charts top 100 within 24 hours.
Timeflies’ initial digital presence was critical to their development. They received praise for their early adoption of technology and social media, releasing new content almost every Tuesday as part of their Timeflies Tuesdays series.
“A lot of who we are/our identity as a band, is our connection with our fans,” they said. “Youtube was our initial platform. While we were working on original content we would mess around with freestyles and varying interpolations of songs we were listening to. These videos made it bigger than the music. There was personality behind everything we did.”
This year saw the release of the band’s third full-length LP, “Just For Fun,” which peaked at 61 on the U.S. Billboard 200. “Just For Fun” is a bit of a return to the duo’s days as The Ride at Tufts.
“We ventured back towards our funk roots,” they said. “This album has a certain vibe and energy that’s creates a really fun listening experience. All about that head nod.”
They expressed their admiration for Milwaukee, and particularly Summerfest, where they have performed twice. They also said they enjoy New Glarus Spotted Cow beer and the Cedar Valley Cheese Factory.
“We always say Milwaukee is our favorite place to play,” Timeflies said. “If you’ve ever seen us at Summerfest you know why … it’s good people, good food and damn good beer.”
Timeflies makes their return to Milwaukee Saturday, Oct. 24, at The Rave/Eagles Club with California hip-hop duo Kalin and Myles supporting them.
“We love making music, and we don’t want to ever stop,” the duo said.