6 Questions With indie rockers Set It Off

I connected with Set It Off frontman/vocalist Cody Carson for this edition of the Hypebot, Bandsintown, and CelebrityAccess series 6 Questions With just as the band teased its January 21 album release with a new single “Skeleton” and began rehearsal for an extensive global tour that will start at The Belasco Theater in LA on January 13th.

Q: The pandemic forced a lot of musicians to explore live streaming, but YouTube, Twitch, and social media have always been key to how you connect with your audience.  Did that serve you well during the pandemic when you couldn’t perform live?

Absolutely it did! 

Live streaming on twitch allowed me to connect with our fans in an even more personal way than I’ve had the ability to in the past. Sure, I can speak to fans post-show for a limited amount of time, but through this platform, we’re able to hang out for an extended amount of time. To the point where we have so many inside jokes, realized even more commonalities, and had really great personal discussions about things going on in our lives. It has made our bond with them even stronger. 

Q: You also took a several-month hiatus from social media. Can you explain why?

That’s actually Maxx that took the hiatus from Twitter.  Zach almost took an entire break from social media. I’ve still personally been on all platforms but I completely understand why. A lot of social media tends to be toxic, especially Twitter, unfortunately. It’s incredibly divisive.  People like to go on there and cause arguments, people you’ve never met in your life. They will insult you as hurtful as they possibly can. Not only that, but everyone is so busy showing you how great their life is that you can get caught in a web of comparison and lose focus on just improving and enjoying your own life in the moment. It has its ups, but its downs can weigh even heavier sometimes.

I know you have a bunch of shows canceled because of the pandemic. Tell us about your first “post-pandemic” live show. What did it feel like to be back on stage?

We, unfortunately, haven’t had a post-pandemic live show yet. We did do a digital concert, but nothing will compare to performing in front of a live audience. Our first live show in front of an audience again will be on January 13th in Los Angeles California and we CAN NOT wait! 

You start a major US and overseas tour in January playing some pretty cool venues.  Are there any in particular that you’re looking forward to?

Absolutely! This is our first time headlining multiple House of Blues venues. I’ve seen so many bands I’ve looked up to headline these venues that we are now playing. That’s exciting, to say the least, it also feels incredible to know that we’ve grown to that level. Being from Florida, I know that it’ll feel incredible to see our families watching us headline the Orlando House of Blues.  

When you’re on the road do you have any routines, habits, or “must-have” items in the dressing room?

My only must-have item on tour is my laptop for work and my PS5 so I can decompress from all of that sensory overload and just play video games. 

I also need to bring my personal pillow from home so I can sleep a little better. Not very exciting haha but it makes being away from home feel more like home. 

Tell us something about yourselves that fans would be surprised to know.

We first started touring in a van that I purchased with my college money. We would email every venue ourselves, book every show and make basically make nothing every night. We just had to pray we sold merch, any merch. There’s a very vivid memory of us all splitting a five-dollar hot and ready pizza from Little Caesars on the curb of a parking lot just so we could eat at night. To look back at that and know that we can now afford to pay rent with this band is phenomenal to us, paying your dues is necessary. We’ve learned a lot along the way. 

See the full Set It Off tour schedule and links to buy tickets on Bandsintown.

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.