5 Questions With: The Sinner and the Saint

Nik & Brandt from the Green Bay emo band stop by to chat.

Dec 08, 2022

The band after their recent show in Madison. Photo: The Sinner and the Saint

Note: There’s still time to get the perfect gift for that special someone in your life!

The world’s back open, and shows are again happening. And I have an almost perfect record of missing them. From my son having a high school playoff game to getting ready to head out only to realize the show was the day before, the reasons are many.

You name it; I’ve managed to do it.

This brings us to Homiefest. Last month's mini “festival” here in Madison featured emo/punk bands from around the region.

Close to my house? Check
On my day off? Check
Matinee? Check and check
Music I like? Check

So I got ready to head downtown later in the day to check out some new bands. Maybe I’d even stop at one of my fave restaurants on the way home. I even tossed around the idea of squeezing in one more ride and biking down to the show.

All good things….until I realized that the show had been the day before.

(sigh) The streak continues

But I did find some great new bands, including Green Bay’s The Sinner and the Saint.

Yes, that Green Bay. Land of the Frozen Tundra. Where everything looks like it was filmed in Super 8, and you cannot help but hear John Facenda’s voice1.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to chat with Nik and Brandt from the band ahead of the release of Sad-ish, their latest EP.

The band got its start in 2015. Originally it was just Brandt singing and playing acoustic guitar. Before coming together here, Nik and Brandt played together in Four 5 Drive. Tom (drums) splits his time with another pop punk band, and Slayder (guitar) performs solo and in a metal band. Keyboardist Natalie rounds out the lineup.

All 5 bring their own ideas to the table and go out of their way to keep recording sessions collaborative.

Green Bay might seem like it’s the stadium and nothing more, but the area—including nearby Oshkosh and Neenah—is home to a small but vibrant scene, with several venues in Green Bay alone. The bands all work to support each other, and now that the world is open again, local fans come out in droves.

The band was preparing to take their show on the road when COVID came and upended everything. With their van parked, they redirected their energy to recording a few covers in the same “together alone” way so many others did. Eventually, they were able to practice in person again, and operating on the assumption that touring was indefinitely off the table for a while began to build what would eventually grow into Sad-Ish.

The band ultimately wound up with more material than they could fit on the record and hope to release the rest of it soon. They are also planning to get back out on the road.

So come visit Green Bay & the Fox Valley! And if you see the band is coming to your town, plan to catch the show… Just make sure you have the correct date.

5 Questions:

1. Describe your style in one sentence

A bit of pop, a bit of emo, and a lot of genre blending.

2. What music played in your house(s) growing up?

Brandt: My parents were big fans of The Beatles when I was growing up. I heard a lot of Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road. My dad would listen to the oldies stations, and I would hear bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival, and sometimes on the rock stations, I would listen to bands like Rush or Led Zeppelin.

I listened to a lot of Nirvana and Blink-182 as I was growing up. I was a big fan of a lot of the music on 101 WIXX when they used to play more pop-punk songs on the radio. I also had a really weird Slayer and Metallica phase that I have no idea where that came from. Just a lot of metal out of nowhere. I think I was just being kind of angsty.

Nik: My dad was a big fan of Michael Jackson, Hall and Oates, and The Carpenters, among other bands. A lot of classic rock and pop music, but with some very talented musicians and singers. My dad wasn’t very musical but is super interested in the skill involved.

My mom didn’t really listen to music in the house outside of Christmas. But they were both pretty cool with me exploring a lot of different genres once I learned how to peruse the internet. I went through a lot of phases with Savage Garden, Linkin Park, Eminem, and pretty much everything in between. I landed on the emo and pop-punk subgenres in middle school and never really got out of them.

3. What are you listening to these days?

Brandt: The Front Bottoms, Modern Baseball, and Mom Jeans are mostly what I’ve been listening to. I jump around a lot in terms of genres. One minute I’m listening to CAKE, and the next minute I’m listening to Run the Jewels.

Nik: The Wonder Years and Four Year Strong are my two favorite bands. However, A Day to Remember and Pierce the Veil have both released some banger singles lately, and I’m excited to hear more from them.

4. What are your 5 Desert Island Discs?

Brandt:

In Sickness and In Flames - The Front Bottoms
IGOR - Tyler the Creator
Morbid Stuff - PUP
You’re Gonna Miss It All - Modern Baseball
Weezer (The Blue Album) - Weezer

Nik:

No Closer to Heaven - The Wonder Years
Brain Pain - Four Year Strong
Discovering the Waterfront - Silverstein
Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park
Common Courtesy - A Day to Remember

5. If you could collaborate with any artist/band, who would it be?

Brandt: Lil Nas X. Doing a sad pop-rock song about a relationship or life with him would be the coolest thing ever. Lil Nas X, if you ever see this, DM us on Twitter we would love to work with you!

Nik: Dan Campbell from The Wonder Years. He has such a way of creating a vivid image through words; it would just be awesome to see that process and be part of it. Also, Chaser is heavily inspired by The Wonder Years, but our song holds a much different meaning than their song, “Chaser.”

You can hear more of/purchase the band’s music on Bandcamp.

They can also be found on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

Other Reviews:

No reviews this week as I’m preparing my year-end best-of lists.

What I heard:

For newer readers: Below is the list of records I was able to listen to this week. Doesn’t count reviews, playlists, stuff in the car, etc. There’s usually a repeat or two. There’s almost never any kind of rhyme or reason.

The Police- Ghost in the Machine
Expert Timing- Stargazing
The Pretenders-S/T
American Music Club- San Francisco
Teenage Fanclub- Grand Prix
Rickie Lee Jones- Pirates
Wussy-Funeral Dress
Chronophage-S/T
Martha- Please Don’t Take Me Back
Utopia-Oops! Wrong Planet
Yo La Tengo- Painful
The English Beat-Special Beat Service
Dry Cleaning-Stumpwork
Non Plus Temps-Continuous Hinge
Patrick Cowley-Malebox
Faience Knife-Fayansoviy Nozh
Nuclear Daisies-S/T
Office Culture-Big Time Things
Outtacontroller-Come Alive
Alvvays-Blue Rev
Dear Boy-Forever Sometimes
The Well Wishers- Blue Sky Sun
Jawbreaker-Bivouac
The Mall-Time Vehicle Earth
New Order-Movement
Drop Nineteens-Delaware
Workingmen’s Club-S/T
Workingmen’s Club- Fear Fear
Terrapines-Downbeats
Wire-It’s Beginning To And Back Again
Japandroids-Post-Nothing
Hazel English-Summer Nights
Elder-Innate Passage
Daniel Bachman-Almanac Behind

What were you listening to this week?

B-Sides

There’s a new book out chronicling the birth/rise of Record Store Day.

Record Store Day is sure to appeal to record collectors who line up the night before in a quest to snare limited-edition collectibles on vinyl, while capturing the important role that independent record stores play in their communities.

It’s us. We’re those people.

Speaking of books…

The best music books, whether they are history, cultural criticism, memoir, or some hybrid of all three, give you new ears with which to listen. What follows is a list of favorites from 2022, picked by Pitchfork staffers and contributors.

Get your copy of “The American Crisis Playlist: 2020-2021” here!

David Byrne released a holiday song, with proceeds going to charity.

It’s called "The Fat Man's Comin'" because…David Byrne.

"I believe the foundation of this music might have been written at the same time as the collaboration I did with St. Vincent a few years ago, but somehow a literal view of the Santa phenomena was what came out," he explained. "It wasn’t right for Annie and me – the story of a fat man in rather odd attire who breaks into people’s homes and leaves mysterious packages."