Today we’d like to introduce you to Nevin Fink.
Hi Nevin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
“Old dogs (be safe)” consists of guitarist Kevin McDaniel and drummer/vocalist, Nevin Fink. We didn’t “officially” become a band until early 2020 when we released our first EP on Soundcloud and Bandcamp titled “be safe”, which we recorded and produced ourselves. Before that, we went under the name “Sweet June” which we quickly dropped after we released some live demos on Soundcloud. I met Kevin in chemistry class our sophomore year of high school (which is ironic because we actually did have very good chemistry) and soon became really good friends. I have always been in the music realm starting with piano lessons in elementary school (continuing here and there up to college) and soon after learning the drums and eventually guitar/bass. My entire life I pictured myself being in a band but even though I had the musical ability I felt like I was lacking something. Kevin has always had a very unique personality, at least I’ve never met anyone like him, and was always interested in music. Not only that but he’s had a knack for fashion and image as well.
In our early years of friendship, he would introduce me to new music that would go onto change the trajectory of my music taste. The one downside was that he couldn’t play an instrument, until one day between sophomore and junior year he decided to learn guitar through YouTube videos online. He progressed in his ability pretty quickly and as he got better and better we started goofing off with me on the drums and him on guitar which is when we really found ourselves musically. We decided (after some failed attempts with other people) that we should start a band with just us two. After writing a handful of songs we went right into recording our EP from late 2018-2019 which took a lot of YouTube and messing around on the DAW. Flash forward to 2021-2022 and we now play live shows around San Antonio and Austin, TX, where we put not only our musical ability but our entire bodies into our music with Kevin moving around the stage chaotically and me singing and playing drums. Stage presence was a huge deal for us and we believe we have excelled in that amongst our peers.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
While we did have some advantages off the bat that most people starting off do not, we struggled a lot with time management. Being in school and dealing with our own personal lives made meeting up to record and practice very difficult, which sometimes still continues today. We also faced a struggle that most musicians deal with which is the process of playing a show. Transporting equipment, dealing with dull venues and hosts, and equipment malfunctions have plagued us in the past. We learn with each performance and even when a show isn’t the best we take it as a learning opportunity.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We want the readers to know that we’re super dedicated to the music we’re making. We really can’t picture ourselves doing anything else so we’re enjoying every second and we hope that shows in our music. We currently have an EP out on Soundcloud and Bandcamp that deals with our time in high school and the thoughts/experiences we had but right now we’re working on an album that will hopefully be done and released in 2022, so stay tuned for that.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I believe our chemistry and our drive is what brought us to where we are today. It’s very common for friends to start a band but to be on the same page for mostly everything is sometimes hard to find in a bandmate. We really try to push ourselves and put 110% into the work we do and I believe that’s why we are where we are today.
Contact Info:
- Email: finknevin@gmail.com
- Website: https://linktr.ee/olddogband
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olddogsbesafe/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinandnevin?s=21
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/CQMgZ6GcmWyc8PH67
Image Credits
Christopher Maroney (@christopher.maroney)
