Why we almost quit (then became famous) with In the Valley Below

I’m not sure how manytimes I’ve given up or almost given up but it’s got to be way more then the times I’ve gone for it. Especially, when life has thrown me a curve ball or fifty. I went to grad school to be a poet and gave up to make money. I wanted to work creating animation features but it was easier to sell out and get an office job. Then there are the people who stick with it, the people who have even more grit and likely a bigger chip on their shoulder—but the sad news is that road is littered with them, too. Folks who sacrifice everything and still don’t make it. Then there’s those who do. Who, against all odds, somehow catch a break and find an irregular path to success. I have a wildly candid conversation about that with this week’s guest, In the Valley Below. Jeff and Angela share deeply personal stories they’ve never shared in any interview before for fear their big label or even fans wouldn’t understand. After a trip to SXSW in Austin, Texas, they fell in love, Angela left her girlfriend and they decided they needed to write music together. The band started as a studio project, and as you’ll hear, nearly walked away from music. Then, after a crazy turn of events, they made their television debut on The Late Show With David Letterman and have since appeared on Conan and tons of music festivals. LA Weekly listed their debut album among the 10 Best Albums of 2014 and The Huffington Post named “Peaches,” the song you just heard, the #5 song of that same year. Sometimes listening to other people’s rollercoaster can inspire us just how important it is to hold on. Even when the world tells you to let go.

I’m not sure how manytimes I’ve given up or almost given up but it’s got to be way more then the times I’ve gone for it. Especially, when life has thrown me a curve ball or fifty. I went to grad school to be a poet and gave up to make money. I wanted to work creating animation features but it was easier to sell out and get an office job.  Then there are the people who stick with it, the people who have even more grit and likely a bigger chip on their shoulder—but the sad news is that road is littered with them, too. Folks who sacrifice everything and still don’t make it.

Then there’s those who do. Who, against all odds, somehow catch a break and find an irregular path to success. I have a wildly candid conversation about that with this week’s guest, In the Valley Below. Jeff and Angela share deeply personal stories they’ve never shared in any interview before for fear their big label or even fans wouldn’t understand. After a trip to SXSW in Austin, Texas, they fell in love, Angela left her girlfriend and they decided they needed to write music together. The band started as a studio project, and as you’ll hear, nearly walked away from music. Then, after a crazy turn of events, they made their television debut on The Late Show With David Letterman and have since appeared on Conan and tons of music festivals. LA Weekly listed their debut album among the 10 Best Albums of 2014 and The Huffington Post named “Peaches,” the song you just  heard, the #5 song of that same year.

Sometimes listening to other people’s rollercoaster can inspire us just how important it is to hold on. Even when the world tells you to let go.

Music credit: Peaches, In the Valley Below

Photo credit: Todd Zimmer, Ryan Vestil