Porch Light recently launched their debut album, Hush. Shortly after, they kicked off a full tour throughout the United States, each of which are nearly sold-out. And there’s good reason for this. The Minneapolis-based rock band first joined forces on the road months before making music of their own and becoming the band we know today. Was it purely just for the love of the music? Making sure the on-road chemistry matched the energy they wanted to catch in their recordings? Maybe a little combination of both, and more; I suspect.
When Porch Light began in 2024, recent Minneapolis transplant Jackie Uhas (vocals) had started frequenting the city’s house show scene, while Zac Fogarty (guitar), Kyle Siemon (guitar) and Tony O’Keefe (drums) were playing in various bands within it.
“We mostly wanted to fill the spot in the scene that was there for something a little more rock-based,” Fogarty says; when they saw Uhas singing karaoke at a local bar. Uhas, who had grown up on classic rock before falling in love with the likes of Paramore, Hole and The Story So Far, was a perfect fit, and she brought in her friend and roommate Hughes to complete the quintet.
The band began working on the album in a remote cabin in the dead of winter. With little to do but play music together, the music flowed from them improvisationally and straight from the heart. “I feel like this band is so special because each individual person is writing for themselves. It’s a full accumulation of five people’s streams of consciousness into one body of work,” Uhas says about the music.
We caught up with the band before their Sacramento performance (see our performance review here), and discussed more of this unique chemistry the band has, and how fans have understandably started catching on to what truly makes this band special and unique.
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