The Denver group does make indie-emo, but the quartet of thirty-somethings isn’t content with simply putting a bird on it and being part-time weekend warriors anymore (that's a twofer reference for all you Millennials).
“We just started jamming and we expected to record music that our wives would be into and play Larimer Lounge,” says vocalist and guitarist Ben Sooy.
Since 2020, A Place For Owls has spread its wings, now focused on making a bigger impact through its music, particularly through its 2022 self-titled debut album and sophomore follow-up, how we dig in the earth (2024). This month included the release of a split EP, My Friends Were Here, which includes California’s Birthday Dad, singer-songwriter Alex Periera's solo project.
“We just felt an immediate kinship. It was just exactly my type of emo-pop stuff that I’m really into,” Sooy says, adding that A Place For Owls previously teamed up with Birthday Dad for a West Coast run in 2023 and wanted to collab further. “It’s been an idea that’s been in the works for two years.”
The four-song EP, which includes an original and cover of one another, is also an homage to Bad Books — the indie side project of Brand New touring guitarist Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull. “If you’re familiar with the genre, you’ll get it,” says guitarist and vocalist Daniel Perez.
For Sooy, Perez, Nick Webber (guitar, keys and vocals), Jesse Cowan (drummer) and Ryan Day (bass) it’s about showing people it’s okay, and a surprisingly fun outlet, to be pick up an instrument and start a band, no matter your age or experience.
“We felt like when we got started, we were just normal schmoes making music, and I think as a culture we outsourced music and art and creativity to a special anointed class of people that is better than regular people,” Sooy shares.
“There’s also an emphasis that you go to make it in music when you’re in your teens or twenties. That’s the story that we celebrate,” he continues. “I think our vision has become a little bit like we need to get more guys and gals in their thirties and forties and beyond who are writing songs and recording music for the first time.”
Consider that a creative call to arms, elder emos. Plus, with age comes wisdom, as Sooy sees it.
“There’s beauty in all stages of life, but honestly, I personally feel like I’m writing better songs than I’ve ever written in my life. Certainly, from the songs I was writing at like sixteen or seventeen years old. I didn’t know shit about shit,” he adds. “I think our hope is that we can maybe be a part of a community of normalizing art being made by normal people because we’re just made to be creative, and it’s something that we all have to participate in.”
The group has a big 2025 lined up, too, including landing a local opening spot for the Used.
Courtesy A Place For Owls
And A Place For Owls (the name was inspired by photos of abandoned amusement parks, for the record) is happy to do its part. The band is opening for Indiana emo quartet Leisure Hour on Tuesday, April 1, at Seventh Circle Music Collective. Denver pop-punkers Postcards and emo-lovers Flower Head are also on the bill.
Looking ahead, A Place For Owls will be an opener for the third and final night of the Used’s 25th anniversary run at the Ogden Theatre on Friday, May 2. There’s also a July mini-tour with Tulsa post-rockers Unwed Sailor on the 2025 slate.
“To play with some of our literal childhood heroes is kind of ridiculous. We’re still losing our shit about it,” Sooy says.
Sooy and Perez initially met while attending Virginia’s Liberty University. The two bonded over music, particularly early 2000s emo bands such as American Football, the Anniversary, Jimmy Eat World and the Get Up Kids. But it took some time before A Place For Owls came together, which ultimately scratched a “collective itch,” according to Perez.
“As we were starting the band, we must have all had this collective itch to write music and play music, and like Ben said, there was no expectation to do anything with it other than just hang out with your friends, make music, make some noise, see what happens,” he explains.
Turns out a lot of people, particularly those who recognized the Twin Peaks and Portlandia nods earlier, can relate to that, especially as they experience friendships fading over the years.
“I think there’s something about that phase of life where a lot of people begin to lose friends. They lose connection. They lose community,” he continues.
“It’s a hard time to really maintain close friends and you’re longing for something that you had maybe as an early twenty-something that you know is gone,” Perez concludes. “For a bunch of dudes in their thirties to play rock music, we all love it, we look forward to it. We cherish it.”
A Place For Owls, with Leisure Hour, Postcards and Flower Head, 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, Seventh Circle Music Collective, 2935 West 7th Ave. Tickets are $15 suggested donation at the door.
