How many times have you listened to a new artist and instantly compared it to something you’ve already heard?
Or how about listening to an album all the way through before realizing every song sounded the same?
Sometimes, experiments run flat and even the most unique sound can turn tired without change. To keep things fresh, The Old Adage never stop at “new.” Originally from Toledo, the Detroit-based brother/sister duo are high-energy and restless. Mimi and Nino Chavez are always improvising and rolling with the results.
Mindfully mindless
What’s the musical philosophy for a band constantly seeking change?
“Let’s just play with it and see what we like,” said guitarist, Nino Chavez.
With this mentality, the pair has created two diverse albums and continue to mix it up with every release— even without having a third member, which they spent a few years unsuccessfully searching for.
At the end of the day, the siblings are happy as a duo and say the band is producing the sound they want. Considering their interest in change, navigating the challenge of only having two members might have been exactly what their sound needed.
The duo’s enthusiasm for innovation isn’t limited to sonic experiments, but through the visual form as well. Their song “Get Loose” debuted a fun, upbeat music video late November, mixing club sounds with house party ambience.
As a way to get the fans involved, they were invited to join the band in the filming of the video.
“It was fun to have people be a part of it. It was cool to share our music with them in another experience,” said vocalist Mimi Chavez.
Always moving forward
Despite their focus on new, The Old Adage looks to the past and present for inspiration.
The two take on production styles from whatever they are listening to in that moment, so their influences include a wide variety of genres, ranging from heavy metal to pop and electronic
“I’ve been listening to a lot of rap lately, so we’ll see what happens,” Mimi laughed. The new material, Nino said, will be more than likely leaning towards contemporary electronic and simple pop songs.
With two albums and successful music videos under their belt, The Old Adage look back at Toledo fondly.
“Although we are a Detroit-based group, our first couple years of gigging were based out of Toledo,” says Mimi. “We consider the city to be quite the milestone in our success as musicians thus far.”
They hope new music will be released by the end of summer and a tour will be on the way. Until then, you can catch them at their upcoming shows this month.
Friday, March 4: Hamtramck Music Festival.
Saturday, March 25: Covenant Baptist Church
www.theoldadagemusic.com
