by Meaghan Paulosky
Exploring new music is no small undertaking. Whether jumping from indie to death metal or trying a musician’s latest release, you need an open mind and a little courage to fuel your curiosity. Though not guaranteed, this curiosity can lead to new favorite bands, new friends, and even a new way of life – or at least that’s what happened for Tim Cohen.
Cohen is an East Coast native who grew up creating and listening to only hip hop. It wasn’t until he moved to San Francisco and met fellow musician Shayde Sartin that he started listening outside of his comfort zone. The two met at a local record store and began exchanging music. Eventually Sartin shared The 13th Floor Elevators and Cohen “couldn’t stop listening.” Says Cohen, the veritable psychedelic rock founders “brought on a new wave of music and it went from there. Magic, druginess, they’re a major impetus of the Fresh & Onlys.”
In 2008, Cohen and Sartin formally became kindred musical spirits and formed The Fresh & Onlys as lead singer and bassist, respectively. They additionally welcomed Wymond Miles on guitar and Kyle Gibson on drums to make up a highly diverse group of four. Like Cohen, each had his own musical background and a curiosity for learning others. For example, Sartin brought punk rock, Brit pop and Goth came from Miles, and stoner metal from Gibson.
Rooted in Cohen’s/Sartin’s defining musical moment, The Fresh & Onlys got their start with punk rock, making it Cohen’s first time in a rock band. He explains, they were “in the same territory as [the 13thFloor Elevators], but in a different way. The guitar was broken up and unpredictable to give it a spooky, tripped out feel. [These] were all new sounds to me.”
It didn’t take long, though, before they got curious and started exploring other styles, blurring the lines between indie and psychedelic, rock and hip hop, and countless others. “We play with no rules because there are no rules,” Cohen shares. In truth, listening to just any one of their many releases and albums fails to aptly define The Fresh and Onlys.
And true to form, even writing one of their many releases and four albums is done with as little constraint as possible. Being one of the primary writers and a visual artist-musician hybrid, Cohen claims that songwriting for the band is never forced. “[Creative] processes inside of me are in opposition. The art side shuts off while the music is on and vice verse until the other part bubbles to the surface.”
While this makes describing them a bit of a challenge, this rule-free, genre-less attitude is what has allowed The Fresh & Onlys to become so dynamically prolific. Since 2008, Cohen proudly reports that they’ve been able to mature into a band that works well together, “sacrificing naiveté for experience,” but of course always remaining curious.
So if you’re feeling curious too, see them at Boot & Saddle on July 22nd as a part of their North American tour. This will be their first time back in Philly since playing at Johnny Brenda’s with Quilt in 2012.
Until then check out their newest LP House of Spirits, due out June 10th. As one would expect, the entire album serves as the next installment of The Fresh & Onlys apparent plan to lay waste to standard musical genres. Take, for example, the melodic vocal overlay of “Bells of Paonia” battling a steadily thrashing guitar. Then switch the near-Southern folk “Ballerina.” Is this the same band? In essence, no matter what your preferred musical taste, there’s a pretty good chance The Fresh & Onlys have done it.
