Since moving from North Carolina, indie/emo pop band Downhaul has been carving out a name for themselves in the local music scene this last year. But vocalist/guitarist Gordon Phillips and bassist Patrick Davis played together and collaborated on songs for years before forming an official band.

“We grew up in Virginia together, and in the summer of 2016 he {Phillips} was writing songs and sending them to me and I’d give my feedback on them,” said Davis. “It was interesting though because they were all acoustic demos.”

Once Davis returned to the United States, the duo decided to move to North Carolina where they began playing regular gigs, and soon after, Downhaul slowly started to take shape.

“We played in our first show January of 2017, and we honestly got really lucky. We hit this guy up on Bandcamp who had North Carolina tags, and he ended up hooking us up with this cool house venue,” Davis said. “ It ended up being a cool show and from that, we met other bands who we were able to make great connections with.”

Rounding out their lineup is guitarist Robbie Ludvigsen, and drummer Joshua Duncan, whom they picked up after moving back in Richmond. And even though the local group just started last year, Downhaul hit the ground running to get the word out about their music.

“Last year was extremely busy for us, we ended up playing at almost 60 shows last year,” Phillips said. “Even this year we’re already about to push double digits with shows already. We even have some shows planned all the way ahead to August as well.”

And just last month, Downhaul released a new EP, Where We Started. The four-track record was produced by Kris Hilbert in Greensboro, North Carolina and is a follow-up to the band’s EP About Leaving, which dropped last year in April. Prior to that, the band released their debut EP, Little Whim, in August 2016. 

For Phillips, the new album was all about nostalgia, reminiscing on their time spent in North Carolina, and finally making their way back to their old stomping grounds.  “These four songs are about moving back home to Virginia and our time in North Carolina. It’s about how it was living there briefly, the job I had in NC was only for a year, so it was kind of weird because we knew we were only going to be there for a year,” said Phillips. “It reminded me of college, knowing you’re going to be leaving anyway, so we compiled all the feelings we had while living there and what it felt like coming home all into one EP.”

Relatable and catchy, this album, much like their previous release, has something for everyone with its upbeat jangly indie guitar sounds, albeit brief. But the angsty emo vibe hasn’t died with this band and you can still feel it on this album, which makes it that much more appealing.

Since releasing their EP Feb. 27 at Strange Matter, the boys have not made any plans for hitting the road, but have scheduled a few local shows for you to check out including one on Barton Avenue on March 24 with Richmond pop-punk band House&Home, fellow pop-punk Hungover out of Orlando, Nashville indie group Father Mountain, and local emo band, two cars. You can also catch Downhaul April 11 at The Canal Club with Carousel Kings and Cold Front.

Photo By: Chad Glenn

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond