Tim Fennelly (Urethane)
SPB: The band was formed during the pandemic but you now have a few live dates scheduled as things open back up. Was Urethane formed as a “bedroom project” or was live performance something you always had in mind?
Fennelly: During the beginning of the pandemic, when I realized that shows, and pretty much life in general was going to come to a standstill, I decided to use the time to record a few songs I’d written that didn’t quite fit the style of my band at the time. They were also very personal songs that I had a specific vision for so I asked my friend Jeff Forrest (DoubleTime Studios) to help me with production. After a few months, we had 5 songs that I was happy with and with no real plan for this project, I decided to just put it out under a pseudonym and move on. About 2 weeks before these songs were scheduled to be released on all digital platforms, I saw an IG post from Steve Caballero. He was in a band that had an LPs worth of material and they were looking for a singer. Cab has always been a hero of mine and I knew that he was an all around great person so I decided on a whim to throw my hat in the ring, thinking that I’d never hear back and that would be ok. Sure enough, the next day he responds and to my surprise, likes the music I sent him. We met up to discuss his project and mine and my possible involvement in his band.
After sharing my music with his band, and they deciding it wouldn’t be a good match, Cab realized that he and his current band were not on the same page, musically speaking, and asked me if I’d like to start a new band. Of course, my answer was yes. I quickly set out looking for a drummer and with good luck, timing and social media, found Dylan Wade. Dylan was a founding member of the Bombpops and has played in a number of other great bands since. I felt fortunate that he was interested when he responded to me, a stranger, claiming to be starting a band with a legend of skateboarding. We all met up at a local hourly rehearsal studio to jam for the first time and after a few run-throughs I knew something special was being created. We kept at it as a 3-piece for a few months while trying to navigate this new Covid-19 virus that was completely upending the world. We decided on calling the band Urethane which was a name that Steve has kept in his back pocket for a long time. Chad Ruiz, a good friend of mine and longtime member of Skipjack, had gotten wind of what we were doing and was extremely motivated to be a part of this project (I think he asked me a few thousand times a day). Chad had also helped me demo new material so he knew it was musically something he was into. We both knew that this band needed 2 guitars and it was only a matter of time before it had to be addressed. Cab at this time was playing bass and one day, ironically, called me saying that he has a lot of melody ideas and he’d like to play guitar. I thought it was a great idea and told him I already had someone very interested in playing bass. Soon after, the four of us met for a rehearsal and everything fit right into place.
As a long-winded answer to the question, yes the music was initially created as a “bedroom project” or as I like to call it a “quarantine project” but luckily it has evolved into something I could’ve only dreamt about only a year ago. We have numerous upcoming show/festival dates, 3 singles with videos slated and a full-length release on Cyber Tracks coming September 24. This band has come together and done such amazing things in such a short period of time that it seems like one of those ethereal “meant to be” situations but, in reality, we’re all seasoned and experienced musicians who know what we want and where we want to go and have all brought our best game to the table to make this band the best thing we’ve collectively ever done.
