“Let’s Fucking Rock Out”: On the Road With the Boys of Laundry Day

You’ve probably seen New York’s own Laundry Day going viral on TikTok for their hilarious covers and skits. But when they joined us last month over Zoom, they were behind the wheel, cruising down a highway “somewhere between Chicago and Denver,” as they put it. The band–comprised of vocalist Jude Ciulla-Lipkin, vocalist and drummer Sawyer Nunes, guitarist Henry Weingartner, and bassist Henry Pearl–is currently touring their brand-new album, EARWORM, featuring a plethora of colorful, upbeat tracks intended to get their devoted audience on its feet. While recording the album last year, the boys had one governing principle. “Can you throw it on aux?,” says Pearl. “Would it be a vibe?” Based on the reception at their live shows, where there have been mosh pits and even one marriage proposal, the answer is a resounding yes. In this week’s installment of Tour Diary, the pop-rock quartet talked about their touring essentials, sleeping “butt to butt,” and how their deepening friendships allowed them to make their best and most idiosyncratic record yet. 

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LUCY CHANG: How are you guys?

HENRY PEARL: Hey, Lucy.

JUDE CIULLA-LIPKIN: How are you doing?

CHANG: I’m good. This is so funny. This is not what I was expecting at all.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: What were you expecting?

CHANG: I was expecting you guys, I don’t know, propped up at a desk? 

SAWYER NUNES: We’re a rolling operation.

HENRY WEINGARTNER: We are a spur of the moment group here.

CHANG: So tell me, where are you guys right now?

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Honestly, where are we? We’re somewhere between Chicago and Denver. Played in Chicago last night and it was incredible. 

PEARL: There was a proposal at our show.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Our fan DM’d us before the tour being like, “Hey, in Chicago, when you play your song ‘Bulldog,’ would you let me propose to my girlfriend?”

CHANG: How did it go?

WEINGARTNER: It was pretty electric.

CHANG: Unbelievable.

NUNES: It actually timed out perfectly, too. In the song they kissed when the beat dropped, which was perfect.

PEARL: And she said yes.

WEINGARTNER: Full-body chills.

PEARL: She was like, “How do you feel in this moment?” And she just grabs the mic like, teary-eyed, and was just like, “I love him so much.” It was so moving.

NUNES: Yeah, it was dope. We went to Raising Cane’s after and we saw them there, so we took a group photo.

 

CHANG: That’s amazing. I bet that’s a first, right?

NUNES: Definitely a first.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Well, we kind of hope it becomes our Sabrina moment.

PEARL: Or Apple girl.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Yeah, our Apple girl moment where every night a fan gets married.

CHANG: Do you guys have a favorite city or venue to play at?

CIULLA-LIPKIN: So far, we have played five shows so far. They’ve all had their quirks. The first show, when we got on stage, my mic wasn’t working, which was a great way to start the tour.

NUNES: Of course.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: It’s been an entertaining time. We played in Ann Arbor, Michigan and it was about as sweaty as it could get in there. Everyone was just jam-packed into this bar, sweating their asses off. I’ll remember that forever.

NUNES: We got to play at Madison Square Garden twice actually, which was crazy. Halftime for The Knicks. We’ve played Bower and Auburn a couple of times in New York and that’s been electric. We love that place and we’re about to play Webster Hall. We love Shubas, Subterranean in Chicago. It’s hard to pick just one.

CHANG: Do you guys have any pre-show rituals that you guys swear by?

NUNES: Yeah, everyone’s a little different.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: We always get a little dinner before and we’ve mastered the timing of that. You got to digest properly before the show. So we’ve been hitting the dinner–

WEINGARTNER: Seven o’clock.

NUNES: Jude and Henry do some vocal warmups, drink water.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: We watched One More, who’s opening for us. We love to see what they’re doing.

NUNES: Rest a little bit. We like to make sure everything’s working. I get really neurotic about that, so I go down next to the stage and listen in on all the mics.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Yeah, he’s literally on the phone with our tech team being like, “Is it working? Is it working? Is it working?”

NUNES: I’m really annoying like that. We run the show sometimes from an iPad, so I’m carrying it around like a little iPad baby. It’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s all worth it and it’s really good before the show, personally, to know that everything’s working and in proper shape. We always do a little huddle too. Have everybody throw our hands in and say a speech.

PEARL: Saying things just like, all these kids came here to see us, so let’s go fucking rock out.

NUNES: We have to just put all of our personal stuff aside and just give them the best show ever.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: For this tour, I’ve been ironing on different phrases on my shirts every night, which has been really fun. Just coming up with random shit to put on my shirt and so that’s been part of the routine.

WEINGARTNER: Last time it said, “Say Yes.” Did the married couple acknowledge the fact?

CIULLA-LIPKIN: No one really acknowledged it, but I had “Say yes” on my shirt to tease the proposal and then they said yes. 

CHANG: What’s your favorite song to perform?

CIULLA-LIPKIN: We put out an album 10 days before the tour started, so we were kind of nervous. Are people going to know it in time? Then literally night one, everyone knew every word. It was insane. Every song for the album has been our favorite. Honestly, one of the singles we put out, “Aperol Spritz,” it’s probably up there. And the other single we put out, “Supermodel.” Those two have felt so electric. We’re ending the set with the last song on the new album, “See You in Another Life.” We get everyone to jump at the last beat drop and it’s mind-blowing and fun. Last night in Chicago, when that was about to happen, I walked out into the crowd and we jumped to mosh with everyone in the crowd. It’s sick, it was so fun. It’s been crazy.

CHANG: Super special. Do you guys play any older music? I remember when Light Up Shoes came out and I was streaming “Lavender” with my friends like crazy. It’s really great to see you guys come so far and hear the development of your music.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: That was the big thing, planning out the set list. We wanted to play the whole new album and then we mixed in a bunch of stuff from our whole discography. We played “Lavender” last night for you.

CHANG: [Laughs] Thank you.

PEARL: When we arrive at the venue, there’re usually a couple kids lined up already, so we’ll ask them what they want to hear.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: It’s pretty surreal, the commitment, and we want to pay it forward for that, give them a special moment for their show.

PEARL: These kids got there yesterday at 10 AM and became friends with the security guard and the security guard was getting them coffee and came to us and was like, “They’ve been here so long.” Shout out Chicago. The community was real.

NUNES: A lot of times for these shows, kids will come up to us and say that they saw us for the first time on the Malcom Todd tour or they saw us with The 1975. Those opening slots make a lasting impression and it’s so cool to watch those kids who are just figuring out about us.

CHANG: I remember when you guys opened for Clairo’s Immunity Tour. I think that’s how I was introduced to you guys as well. 

CIULLA-LIPKIN: I just played a song on aux, one of her old songs that we used to sing every night on that tour. She would end the show with this huge mosh pit, which is funny because Clairo would probably never do that now. But some of the best memories from those tours, you show up to these shows and everyone’s coming from a different walk of life and for a different reason. They all come together on our stage and it’s special. It’s what it’s all about and we’ve been so lucky. Obviously we’ve done stuff online, but being able to build our fan base touring, that’s unique in this day and age, so we’re very grateful for that.

CHANG: What’s one thing that each of you guys need to have with you on tour?

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Well, this isn’t really the best answer, but I feel like we always all bring a book and don’t read it. You bring the performative book in your bag just on that off chance you’re going to bust it open, but more likely we have headphones on.

WEINGARTNER: A good attitude. Patience.

NUNES: One essential for me is a good moisturizer. Because a lot of times hotels will have shampoo and stuff or venues will have body wash, but a lot of times you don’t have a good moisturizer. So I always try to bring that with them.

 

CHANG: I know you guys are also from New York City, so I was wondering what you guys miss most about the city when you guys are on tour?

NUNES: Straight off the bat, it’s going to be the consistency of late-night food. New York really never sleeps. No knock against other cities, but other cities do sleep. [Laughs] Sometimes it can be hard to find food on the road, but when you’re in New York it’s like, “Oh, I’m just going to go to a deli.”

PEARL: We finished the shows and then usually we talk to people who came after. Last night we weren’t back at the hotel until like 2 AM and we’re hungry, so it sucks. I also miss my kitchen, cooking for myself, doing dishes and just the domestic-ness. It’s very—

CIULLA-LIPKIN: I don’t miss doing dishes at all.

WEINGARTNER: I miss my dog.

CHANG: I wanted to hear more about the inspiration behind the sound and what the process was like writing and recording it.

NUNES: I would say we were really inspired by just classic rock bands like Maroon Five.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: [Laughs] Classic rock bands like Maroon Five.

NUNES: When I meant classic, I meant more MKTO kind of classic. We were referencing a lot of Oasis and just a lot of traditional rock stuff. Then we mixed it in with a little bit of our dancey, hip-hop, R&B vibe and the music that we wanted to hear in the car or upbeat songs that everybody could be able to sing out loud. 

PEARL: The word “auxible” came up a lot while we were recording EARWORM. Like can you throw it on aux? Would it be a vibe? I feel like we were making songs that represented where we were at the time and then making our favorites and just throwing them on. But we had such a great time. We made a lot of it in L.A. and it was so beautiful out and sunny out and we feel like the album has that vibe to it.

NUNES: I think the sound of this album fit what we were trying to say, which is a lot about having different people in your life and success and stability. We were going back to basics a little bit.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: It’s been a long time coming. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make what we think is our best album. It took two years to get there and we credit the two executive producers of the album, Hazy Eyes and Alexander 23, for helping us figure that out. We demoed stuff out for over a year, had a few songs come about, but nothing crazy, crazy quick. Then we put some singles out before we really locked in on the album and everything clicked when they gave us the confidence we needed to really focus and hone in the songwriting. So a lot of the songs were made in a room very collaboratively with them, which we’ve never really done before. Alexander’s parents were there last night in Chicago, which was really cute. It’s like a whole family. We definitely made the album that we wanted to make, which is really coming to fruition right now at the shows.

PEARL: And I’ll add that I think over the past two years, as a band, we suffered some serious loss, and at the end of the day it really just reminded us how much we loved each other and how much we love doing this. I think that’s what comes through with the album.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: I feel like we wanted to make our best things, but we’re never chasing perfection. We’re not in the business of doing that. Everything feels messy, it feels loose and it feels raw. I don’t think we made the most polished album. It has its quirks just like we do, it has its distress.

CHANG: This all plays into my next question: how do you think your relationship with each other has developed over the years? How has that been channeled into the music?

CIULLA-LIPKIN: We’ve really grown up together. We were really just kids when we first met, and we still feel like that, but we’ve evolved so much. We’ve matured so much together and we’ve just gotten deeper and deeper together with the way we talk about life, the way we talk about the business, and the way we talk about our aspirations. When we were first starting out, we were all just kids in high school having fun, and that’s still the basis of what we do. Now we talk about our relationships, our family, financial shit, whatever it is, and it continues to blossom out in that way, but it’s all from that same core belief.

PEARL: I also feel like it’s worth mentioning that every night on tour, we stay in the same hotel room, just the four of us, which is a chance to be together and catch up. We share two beds between the four of us and we spin a wheel to decide who sleeps where. It’s always a really funny moment. Shout out wheelofnames.com.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Wheelofnames.com has held us down for years. Sawyer and I are back-to-back nights right now. We went two nights in a row butt to butt and it was beautiful. 

NUNES: What I’ll say, too, is to Jude’s point, we really have grown together. The music industry can be so daunting for anybody. Being in a group and having my band be my best friends relieves so much stress. You have so many people to bounce ideas off of and help you navigate different decisions. Things that may seem technical or complicated, like how to use computers on stage or how to make our show better and better with lights, more tech, or more set pieces—it becomes more of a fun activity to do with your friends. And I think between the four of us, there’s really nothing we can’t solve. So that makes you feel better and it also makes you sleep better at night. 

CIULLA-LIPKIN: It’s almost funny how much fun we’re having, to be honest. It’s too good to be true, but we love every side of it. We love the drive, we get to do it together, we get to blast our music. It’s the best.

NUNES: We’re so inspired by just the idea of being in a touring band. I think we aren’t shying away from any aspect of it and we love setting up and breaking down and loading out and loading in. They’re going to make fun of me because then they’ll give examples of when I don’t load it, when I’m in the green room like—

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Oh no, honey, I was.

NUNES: You got to love what you’re doing and you want to love every element of it. Being with your friends and getting to see their actions and getting to have little inside jokes on stage that we get to say into the microphones. That’s what you live for, so it gives you the fuel to go on.

PEARL: We’ve become really real with each other and I really love that about us.

 

CHANG: You guys briefly talked about some of the musical influences, but I was wondering if there were any non-musical influences for your music, such as films or books?

NUNES: That’s a really good question. I think we’re all influenced by fashion and style. A lot of times when you have a group of people, different people are better at certain things. I feel really comfortable musically, but fashion-wise, I don’t always feel like I have the best answer. So having friends to give us influences and different references to pull from is always really inspiring. I think also, with this album, we were really excited because we got to make vinyl for the first time in a long time. So we were researching a lot of different vinyl packaging and different concept art.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: I’m definitely scrolling on Pinterest while we were in the studio just looking at vinyl packaging, merch from other bands or just random photos. We had a lot of fun doing all the photo shoots for this album. We’ve gotten really into those kinds of things.

NUNES: To me, it feels very Warhol-y and Warhol factory, trying to bring this creative chaotic energy back to New York. I think we’ve always been very colorful in terms of our style and what we like to do on stage, but I think we’ve refined it and made it a little more tasteful this go-round. So I think that’s also reflected in the stage setup. There’s so much going on. We try to really pull from New York centric, bright, fun, pop art themes. Keith Haring, too, is also a visual inspiration.  

PEARL: I definitely want to just shout out Satchel, Sher, Katie Cistern and Camilla French for their help with the album art.

CHANG: This is Warhol’s magazine, so it’s super special to have you guys on.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: Thank you so much for having us. Glad we did it.

CHANG: I hope you guys have a great Halloween.

CIULLA-LIPKIN: We have an idea, but we might’ve dropped the ball on getting it in time. So we’re going to see what we can figure out when we get to Seattle.

PEARL: We’re just going to roll into a Spirit Halloween, probably.