The four-piece band Laundry Day huddled in the green room of the Mercury Lounge, trying to find the band sticker it stuck to the ceiling years ago. Ahead of playing a show alongside indie rock band Momma and student opener dj iluvonionz — a free concert for NYU students organized by the NYU Program Board — the members reminisce on the first time they played the venue, back when they were all in high school.
Five albums deep into their career, the Laundry Day members have been a band since their days at Beacon High School in Manhattan. The band is best known now for its viral, funny a cappella clips online or its song “FRIENDS,” which also featured in an episode of the dramedy series “On My Block.” Jude Ciulla Lipkin, Sawyer Nunes, Henry Weingartner and Henry Pearl came together to form their band naturally. They bonded over similar interests and eventually started to make music more seriously that they would record during school hours. They’ve come a long way since their first show at the Mercury Lounge in their junior year of high school. WSN spoke to the band members about the growth that took them to opening for legends like Clairo, Ed Sheeran and The 1975.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: How has being from New York shaped your career as a band?
Weingartner: We wouldn’t have been able to do it if we hadn’t been from New York. We met in high school, in this very unconventional high school that would really only exist in New York City — it wasn’t an arts school, but it was incredibly progressive, and [it] allowed us to sort of do our thing. Then, when it came to playing live, we were so motivated, but because we were calling legendary places like Mercury Lounge and Rockwood Music Hall, they were meaningful shows right from the jump. It wasn’t like we were in Ohio and it was just our local pub playing for our classmates — it was legendary places. Legendary people have played here.
WSN: Who are some of your influences, and how do you differ from them?
Henry Pearl: I think the theme is that we all grew up on rock, and then in high school found hip-hop. In 2016, it was freshman year, and [Chance the Rapper’s] “Coloring Book” came out and Brockhampton was coming out. We just love that stuff. Like the energy of it, the performance of it was so good. And then the music just made you want to dance and jump …We’re not a carbon copy of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We try our best to be them, but at the end of the day, the best thing you can be is yourself, and that’s what we are always going to do.
WSN: When you make music, are you guys more goal-oriented or process-based?
Sawyer Nunes: I would say we’re very goal-oriented, and that allows for the process to change and morph a lot. The process is always changing, but the thing that helps us get to a finish line is having that North Star goal, like if we want to make a rock album or we want to make a more hip-hop leaning album or more experimental thing — or even just song by song. We will write out on a big Post-it, ‘This is what we’re trying to do today.’
WSN: Where do you get stuck in the creative process?
Weingartner: Almost every step of the way. We don’t get writer’s block. The downside of that is we just make so much stuff. When you make so many songs, it’s hard to know which ones are worth putting the real effort into. I think we can get stuck in just having an abundance of material.
WSN: Many people discover Laundry Day off of your social media. What are you guys trying to do with your social media presence?
Ciulla Lipkin: I think social media is something that a lot of artists struggle with the most. We tried to do all the did-we-just-make-the-song-of-the-summer kind of things to promote our music, but it just feels like you’re watching an ad. Any time we were posting it was just to say, “Our song’s out now.” Instead, we [now]just tried to show where we were at and have fun, and realized that was promoting our music. Once we just kind of let go, we realized, ‘You know what? Let’s just post like we were just friends posting on it, like a group finsta or something.’”
WSN: Laundry Day has opened for renowned artists. Do you have a funny story or memorable moment you want to share?
Pearl: After we opened for Ed Sheeran at Barclays Center, we sort of got his take on the Kendrick [Lamar] and Drake beef. We won’t say what he said, but we got his take and it was pretty sick. We were all drinking Stellas and he was like, “Stella’s my favorite beer.”
WSN: Were you excited to perform with Momma and to continue meeting other bands?
Nunes: Yes! We did a tour in 2022 where every show we picked a different local opener to open for us, and we got to meet so many different bands. They were all different, just as if you were going to school: Every kid has their own personality and style. I’m excited to play, also excited to meet everybody in Momma and watch them. There are so many cool rock bands.
WSN: Why are you guys called Laundry Day?
Weingartner: We were in high school. We had a friend named Nico. This is when we were starting to form the band and Nico got into a really bad bike accident, but he was okay, and he was on crutches for a while. His dad owned a laundromat and when we were putting out our first song, we dedicated the song to him because we felt bad that he had got in a bike accident. And it just stuck.
Contact Caia Cupolo at [email protected].