It's been about three years since a college diploma and engineering job sent Nick Arnal to Colorado, but he and Team Callahan co-founder Kathleen Arnal have already been thinking about coming home to St. Petersburg, where the band was born.
"Getting away from our hometown helped us realize what we like about it and has given us a better perspective. We have been able to zoom out and understand what we really value and [also] figure out how to design our lives around those things," Nick, 26, told CL in an email. The band has close family relationships here, and the Arnals (they are married) loved being connected to the music scene and feeling like they were part of a community. Nick and Kathleen even have a new son — Eliot, born in 2016 — to bring back home.
"Living in Florida around family would allow us to do that a lot easier. I think we are ready to put roots down and St. Pete is a great place for us to do that."
The Arnals tried to move back last summer, but job opportunities fell through last minute, so they're pumping the brakes and planning to try a move back in another year.
NO-TRADE CLAUSE
Listen to sunny new music from Tampa Bay ex-pats Team Callahan
"Kathleen had already started packing," Nick said. "Upon reflection [the plan to move] felt a little premature so we decided to focus on making the album and appreciating the life we have out here. We have really been enjoying the amazing landscapes Colorado has to offer and have made some good friends out here."
Some of those friends did end up providing back-up vocals on the album Nick is talking about. Dog Days is the follow-up to 2015's Afterglow and was mixed and recorded by the Arnals. The nine-track effort sees release on July 13, and Team Callahan has already shared two singles ("Sunny Days," "Backwards Hat") in the run-up to the compact, straightforward rock album's release.
Kathleen, 25, said that the album's prominent theme is home, but it does touch on her own personal feelings of isolation, anxiety and displacement, too.
"What is [home] — is it a concept, a place, a feeling, an attitude? This theme developed from moving across the country in 2015 and having to re-find home and community, feeling like it can’t be found fully because of the limbo of not being in a permanent state," she said. "It makes it really hard to integrate… when I wrote these songs. I had no job, car, or friends so I spent three months mostly alone processing all those feelings and turning them into these songs."
There was definitely some of that anxiety on Afterglow, but it it was more hopeful or youthful than what Team Callahan is releasing on Friday. "With Dog Days, I’m just struggling to be a functional and decent human hour-by-hour," she said.
"Unseen Things" — a new Dog Days track premiering on CL — is about being in one of those negative mental states and features sarcastic, self-loathing lyrics that find Kathleen trying not follow the script of being a neurotic, anxiety-riddled creative.
"I became really disillusioned with art after moving to Denver and feeling like I couldn’t break into the established local scene. That led me to to see life through a cynical lens and ultimately got in the way of my happiness," Kathleen explained. She didn’t want to be what she'd become. It felt more like a bad version of herself.
"The pinnacle of the track is essentially me pleading with myself to choose positivity over negativity. It’s a call to action to keep growing and believing, even though the change isn't immediately apparent. And with enough perseverance I can be a kinder, gentler person over time."
Listen to the track — and read our full Q&A — below. Follow Team Callahan on Facebook and Instagram.
You mentioned wanting to get back to FL. How has your time in Colorado been? What’d you learn about yourselves, your art there, and why do you want to come home?
Nick: Our time in Colorado has been challenging at times but overall a positive experience. We moved out here for an engineering job I got after graduating college. So, in a way, Denver has been sort of arbitrary. We didn’t really know anyone or too much about the area. That said, we have really been enjoying the amazing landscapes Colorado has to offer, and we have made some good friends out here. Shortly after moving here we were actually in the process of forming a live band to play Afterglow. We had a few practices and what not, but a little ways in we were pleasantly surprised with our son Eliot. He was born in October 2016 and we are having a blast being parents. However, both of us being in the band and not having much support complicates the playing out piece, so we decided to prioritize writing and recording music and stopped pursuing playing out.
Getting away from our hometown of St. Pete has helped us realize what we like about it and has given us a better perspective. We have been able to zoom out and understand what we really value. It's helped us figure out how to design our lives around those things. For example, we have a lot of close relationships and family there. We also loved being connected to the music scene, playing out, and feeling like we were a part of a community. Living in Florida around family would allow us to do that. I think we are ready to put roots down, and St. Pete is a great place for us to do that.
Is there a timeline on the return?
Nick: We tried very seriously to move back last summer but the particular job opportunities fell through at the last minute (Kathleen had already started packing). Upon reflection it felt a little premature, so we decided to put the brakes on that plan, focus on the making the album and appreciating the life we have out here. We’re planning on pursuing it again in the next year or two.
You released the Lifesize Lottery Ticket single in 2017 to hold folks over, but this is the first Team Callahan album released since 2015. Could you tell us about the Dog Days release? What do you think the themes are on the album, and how is it different from Afterglow?
Nick: Dog Days is a pretty straightforward and compact rock album. It's kind of our attempt at being concise. It's nine tracks and 30 minutes long. We tried to pare down the production and number of instruments in order to create more space and dynamic range. At this point, we are mostly self-contained between the two of us from writing to recording and mixing. However, we did get some help from friends and family for some back-up vocals.
Kathleen: The most prominent theme is home and what is it — is it a concept, a place, a feeling, an attitude? This theme developed from moving across the country in 2015 and having to re-find home and community, feeling like it can’t be fully found because of the limbo of not being in a permanent state — it makes it really hard to integrate. It also deals with my personal feelings of isolation, anxiety, and displacement. That’s the mental state I was in when I wrote these songs. I had no job, car, or friends so I spent three months mostly alone processing all those feelings and turning them into these songs. Afterglow deals with some of the same feelings of anxiety and judgement, but ultimately its in more of a hopeful or youthful way. There was more lightness on that record. With Dog Days, I’m just struggling to be a functional and decent human hour-by-hour.
Could you talk specifically about “Unseen Things”? There’s some want of wanting to be a better person in the song.
Kathleen: "Unseen Things" is about being in a negative mental state and telling myself I don’t have to follow the script of being a neurotic, anxiety-riddled creative even though that’s my natural bend. The verses are sprinkled with sarcastic self-loathing. I became really disillusioned with art after moving to Denver and feeling like I couldn’t break into the established local scene. That led me to to see life through a cynical lens and ultimately got in the way of my happiness. I didn’t want to be who I’d become and I didn’t think it was really me, but just a bad version of myself. The pinnacle of the track is essentially me pleading with myself to choose positivity over negativity. It’s a call to action to keep growing and believing, even though the change isn't immediately apparent. And with enough perseverance I can be a kinder, gentler person over time.
This article appears in Jul 5-12, 2018.