Reflecting on chess, Chicago, new music, and the art of performing with Lowertown.
The Atlanta-born duo dives into their creative rituals, solo projects, love for Chicago, and how chess, country music, and community shape their evolving sound and performances.
photo by Taylor Pate.
Lowertown is a band consisting of Olivia (Olive) Osby (pictured right) and Avsha Weinberg (pictured left), forming in high school in Atlanta, Georgia back in 2018. Fast forward to 2025, and their catalog boasts three albums and two EPs, almost 150k monthly listeners on Spotify, and tours across the US and Europe multiple times.
Back in January 2024, I saw Lowertown for the first time at Schubas Tavern. And that night completely changed my life. Not only did I fall in love with Lowertown, but it was here where I also developed a passion for photography. So it was a full circle moment when I got a chance to interview this amazing band after another show at Schubas Tavern on April 15th for their Spring 2025 tour.
Taylor: So, just a general check-in. How are you all feeling post-show and how have you been faring on tour?
Olive: Feeling really good. This show was awesome. I was a little bit nervous beforehand because we've been, I don't know, we're pretty deep into tour. And my voice, like, I scream a lot every show. So, my voice slowly degrades over the tour. Also, it’s pollen season now. So, I've been sort of very–
Avsha: It's the iron stain. It is his pants. Sorry, this is a good story. Last time we were in Chicago was the East Coast tour in January of 2023. Or 2024. I forgot all my clothes at home. And I put on my story, “if anybody has clothes, please bring it to me to the shows because I have nothing.” And then this guy brought me pants and a whole outfit. And then I forgot that he brought it to me. And I'm wearing those pants right now.
O: And we saw him today. I recognized him! And I was like, “nice to see you again.”
A: Yeah. He literally saved me. Luckily, I had, I brought underwear so, I didn't borrow that, but pants and a button-up and stuff.
O: Yeah, you just happened to wear those pants that he gave you.
A: And he asked, is the iron stain [still] on it? And I was like, I have no idea. Now I see the iron stain. Okay. Anyway, yeah. Sorry. I'm feeling great after this show.
O: Yeah, I'm feeling great. I mean, it was a crazy show. I never know what it'll be like and what the crowd will be like until we're up there. And everyone went crazy tonight. It was even more fun than the last time we played, which was really sick. So, I'm glad we could top it. And I feel like next time we come, it'll even be crazier. And maybe we can play a bigger room, too, which will be fun.
A: Yeah, I felt great about this show. I love Chicago so much. I love being here. And it was awesome that it wasn't freezing cold either. I always love playing here. And people care a lot about music here. So, it's cool to be a part of it.
O: Yeah, there's a lot of young people. It’s an awesome place to play. I love playing places with a lot of universities. Because there's just a lot of young people that come out and go crazy. And it's cool. I like cities like that.
T: I have to agree. This show was definitely crazier, because I was here last time you guys were here. I'm shocked that you guys played here again. I definitely feel like you guys could play a bigger venue.
O: I mean, next time, we gotta.
A: I think we sold out that one, also. The Tomorrow Never Knows one, too.
O: I just really like [Schubas Tavern] a lot. This venue rocks. It’s a great spot.
photo by Taylor Pate.
T: It fits you guys.
A: Yeah, we were thinking about Lincoln Hall.
O: Next time, we probably will play a bigger spot.
T: A silly question, but do you guys have any songs or rituals you’ve been listening to or doing to keep you going during the tour?
A: I think the most repeated thing in the car has been the new Pandy Bear album. That album rocks. He knows what he’s doing.
O: We’ve also been listening to a lot of old country music, too. A lot of old country guitar stuff. A lot of John Prine and Johnny Cash.
A: I have a playlist that I made, actually, for the last tour. It’s all of my favorite really simple, easy listening stuff. Think about the sound of a van when you're on tour. You can't hear anything. It's so loud. Especially when you're driving. But I know the songs that I will be able to hear. “Hello In There” [by] John Prine. There's John Fahey guitar pieces. There's a lot of Johnny Paycheck in there. Johnny Paycheck is awesome. He's been keeping me going.
O: A ritual that I've been doing...I always get dressed up. Everyone in the band always coordinates outfits as much as humanly possible. But I always get our bassist Eva to really show me the way. She always keeps me on the right track. Because sometimes I won't go very hard with my fit when I think I'm going hard. And then she goes, “I know you can do something better.” And then I always do something better after she guides me.
Eva, the bassist; photo by Taylor Pate.
O: I also have been playing so much chess on my phone. Because I hate being on Instagram and [other] social media. But, when you're in the car so much, you just want to do something with your brain. So I've just been playing so much chess on Chess.com. Which has been honestly awesome and I've been getting way better at chess recently.
A: Nerd.
O: Nerd!
T: I play Sudoku a lot.
O: Oh my god yes, I love Sudoku.
T: I’ve gotten to the point where I’m expert level.
A: Damn!
O: That’s impressive! That’s hard as fuck!
T: It takes me, maybe, like an hour but, yeah– [collective laughter].
O: No, it takes a while once it gets harder.
photo by Taylor Pate.
T: Enough about me! Back to Chicago. How much do you feel like things have changed since you’ve been here last?
O: I feel like the energy just has grown since the last time we were here. I mean, it's interesting going on tour off an album cycle. Because we haven't dropped an album in three years. So you never sort of know who cares. But this tour has honestly really made me feel awesome. Because, yeah, we haven't put any music out since 2022.
A: Well, we put out an EP.
O: But we haven't put out a full album, you know? You just don't have a real conception of who really cares. Streaming numbers don't mean anything. You could have millions of listeners, but they could all just be passive listeners who don't even know who you are. So it's been really sick to play this tour and to play Chicago again in the same venue. And to see the energy grow, even. And people are just really going hard. It makes me feel really good about all the work we've put in. And the time we've spent touring. Because it feels like it's actually paid off. And I feel like a better performer than the last time I came here. And a lot more confident. Had a lot more fun this time. The last time I played here I was extremely anxious the entire show. And no one knew because I'm not going to show that. But I was genuinely freaking out inside, incredibly dissociated. And this time I was so present. And so calm. But excited. And I enjoyed the show a lot more. Because I'm just in a better place with myself now. It just felt good. It felt like a big upgrade since the last time.
A: Yeah, that’s well said.
photo by Taylor Pate.
T: Speaking of releases, you guys have the remix of “Bline” with They Are Gutting a Body of Water (TAGABOW). Is there anything especially unique about the remixing process that you can share?
O: TAGABOW is one of my favorite bands today. We're very, very specific about who we work with. They’re the only band we’ve ever done a collab with. So far. Yeah, I feel like we only want to work with homies, and people we know very well. And can vouch for to the grave.
A: We respect his process so much. He’s really a–
O: He’s a genius!
A: He’s very creative and has fostered a movement.
O: And such a community. I have a lot of respect for Doug. And will ride for him forever. We didn’t do a ton. We sort of just gave him all the stems and sent files back and forth. One time he FaceTimed me when I was in LA. He just played something through the phone and asked, “how's this sound?” and I was like, “sounds good.” That was the sign off. It was sort of a good vet, ‘cause if it can sound good through FaceTime, you know it’s probably gonna hit when you have it full quality.
T: I mean yeah, I was just listening to it earlier.
O: Aww!
T: I can tell that you guys put a lot of thought into this.
A: I had a couple of notes, but he anticipated everything we might have thought. The only notes were things like “voice up a little bit.”
O: Well, then, it was sort of different. Then we sat on it for a few months. They went on tour. We just sort of let it lie for a bit. Then he got back and was like “I’m glad we took a while. I came back and I could make this go so much harder.” And he remixed it even more, and it sounded a lot better.
A: We played a snippet of it before we played “Blind.” It was like a tease.
photo by Taylor Pate.
T: Another note. I know you guys do a lot of solo stuff. Olive, you have an EP 9 with childstar. And Avsha, you did the soundtrack for the movie October Crow. Think about all your solo stuff. How do you feel like doing solo stuff kind of brings a different perspective when doing stuff for Lowertown?
A: Yeah, I think the solo stuff came naturally to us. We've been focusing only on Lowertown for such a long time. There was a lot of music piling up that was kind of our expression, us learning how to use different tools and writing in new ways. That was a sign to say ok, we’re figuring this out. This is very personal to us. We would still end up sending it to each other. We send almost all the music to each other. We would say, “this is amazing music, but I don't think I should contribute anything to it. I think this is an [Olive] song.” It sort of started as a way for us to continue making music. It was so natural to us, we always are making music. Just an outlet to explore different elements of ourselves so that we can build up new things to bring back to Lowertown. Not that everything is leading to Lowertown, but a lot of it is we’re expressing ourselves in different ways so that when we come back to Lowertown, we have something really strong and something important to say.
O: Yeah, something new.
photo by Taylor Pate.
T: After the tour’s over, what’s the most exciting thing you’re looking forward to?
O: Dropping the freaking album!
A: Yeah!
O: I’m so excited.
A: Ugly Duckling Union, we have it slated now for the fall. We shot new music videos for it. One that was directed by Jack Haven, who directed October Crow, and then another that I directed. I’m really, really excited for them to come out.
O: Yeah, it’s just, an album roll out is awesome. It’s so fun. I get really excited, but also nervous, ‘cause it’s a whole world you’re trying to build. We’ve been working on this album for three years so it’s good to actually release the music and have people be able to listen to the songs we’ve been playing in concert.
A: Ugly Duckling Union! In the fall. Singles coming out. Music videos coming out. Bangin’!
T: So excited. I was definitely missing new music from you guys. When I saw you were coming back, I was so excited because I remember the energy. The space definitely does contribute to it. I remember before the show, I would casually listen to you guys, but seeing you guys live definitely made me fall in love. I feel like a lot of artists I see live don’t commit enough to it. You guys are great performers.
O: We give it everything.
A: We’ve had that experience so many times with other artists.
O: Yeah, for real. It’s disappointing. It's a letdown when you feel like someone's clocking it in. Because you can do so much with live music. It's a whole other art. I'll see people and I'm only okay on their music, but then I'm sold completely when it’s live. And every time I listen to the song, I think completely differently about it. I don't know, I have different associations. But there's some people where I'm a big fan, and I'll see them live, and I say to myself, you're literally clocking it in. You don't even care. You can do so much. Especially when you have all these people there to see you, and they actually give a fuck. You should give a fuck.
A: It’s hard, touring is hard!
T: Well, thank you guys for sitting with me post-show!
A: No, it was great! Sweet, thanks for having us!
O: Thank you!
photo by Taylor Pate.
edited by Kristen Wallace.
photos by Taylor Pate.
