Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with Boston’s Trophy Husband. Together we discussed meeting at Berklee, their name, what would be in their super salad, and so much more!
1. Mustard is thankful to have Trophy Husband join them at Music Shelf. How is everyone?
We’re grrrrreat!
2. Trophy Husband began in the fall of 2021 at Berklee. Was everyone in the same class together? How did Trophy Husband meet?
Our drummist Ben and guitarist Donny met in a jam session! Donny asked Max (our bassist) to join the project as Donny was a fan of Max’s Instagram content and was shamelessly trying to network and advance his own brand. Chef materialized from the mist holding a Chapman stick one day, played all our songs backwards, and hypnotized us into adding him to the band.
3. Trophy Husband has covered music such as The Woven Web by Animals and Smoke on the water by Deep Purple. Were these jam-sessions more going with the flow or did everyone know ahead of time what they wanted to play?
It was kinda 50/50! Our first time playing woven web, Donny had a note for note arrangement of his part done but Ben was figuring it out on the fly. For smoke on the water, we all knew the main riff, and we jammed on it until an arrangement we were happy with came out of it. All of our writing is kinda done in a similar way.
4. Musard has had the pleasure of interviewing fellow Berklee students. How has everyone’s experience been at Berklee so far?
We are all very tired but we sure know what music is.
5. Mustard has heard of a trophy wife. But not a trophy husband. Do the same things apply to a trophy husband? How did you come up with your band name?
A trophy husband is a trophy wife if the wife was a husband and also still a trophy. We came up with the band name because Ben has a hat that says trophy dad and we thought it was funny.
6. What is Trophy Husband’s songwriting process?
Throw shit at the wall until something sticks and then jam over it for an inordinate amount of time until it turns into a song
7. Trophy Husband creates Progressive Funk. Could you elaborate more on that?
Our music comes from an equal parts funk and progressive metal background. However, the aspects of prog metal that we kept aren’t really the metal or heavy parts but the “progressive” parts. Basically, we are doing what prog rock did to rock and what prog metal did to metal with funk by starting at funk and adding as many other genre influences as we can and by trying to utilize our instruments in unique ways.
8. As a condiment Mustard appreciates your EP “What Would You Like for Dinner?” What is everyone’s favorite food? Could you share what it was like putting this EP together?
Max: Mac n Cheese
Donny: Lettuce
Chef: Hot Sauce Sandwich
Ben: The Grind
We wrote the EP during first semester in rehearsals and then recorded and mixed the entire thing in two weeks. The writing process was easy and relaxed, the recording process was insane and we were very tired.
9. To make a Super Salad you need to include…?
Obviously some salad, a few super foods, 14 whole eggs, and a drum stick
10. If you could perform a show anywhere on a banana split where would it be and why?
Obviously the cherry. The color of the stage would make chef’s hair look phenomenal and max has a bit of a sweet tooth. Couldn’t be on the ice cream cause we get hot while we’re playing and it would melt. Couldn’t be the banana cause Ben doesn’t like bananas.
11. What is next for Trophy Husband?
Hopefully a show sometime or maybe a release (new music coming soon)
12. A human gets invited to see Trophy Husband perform live. What kind of show will they see?
All kinds at once and sometimes not really a show at all and more of a performance art piece
13. Where can readers listen to your music?
Spotify, apple music, amazon, youtube, deezer, napster, anywhere you pirate music, or live when we play. Readers can also pre order our music tracked live directly to vinyl if they so choose at this link: https://leestavall.com/products/trophyhusband
Music Shelf With Mustard 