Q+A with Mitch Delong of Gaadge on touring in California, opening for Momma, taco food trucks, and why Pittsburgh is always a special place to play
There’s been so much excitement lately with local rock band Gaadge. The prolific band recently released “Tour Tape,” an awesome collection of never before released songs, opened for Momma at Mr. Smalls, toured in California, and have a new album in the works.
It all started in 2014 when singer/songwriter Mitch Delong released a track under the name Gaadge on Bandcamp. The four piece has been around ever since, showcasing their powerful display of indie alt rock all over the Pittsburgh music scene, from Club Cafe to epic basement shows.
Over a phone interview, I talked with Mitch about touring in California, opening for Momma, taco food trucks, and why Pittsburgh will always be a special place to play.
Band members: Mitch Delong (Guitar, Bass, Vocals), Nick Boston (Bass Guitar, Vocals), Andy Yadeski (Guitar), and Ethan Olivia (Drums).
Opening for Momma at Mr. Smalls
Josh: I was in the crowd when you opened for Momma at Mr. Smalls. You guys played a great show! What was that like opening for them?
Mitch: It was cool to play the main room. We got an email from their manager booking agent asking us about our availability. We were like, ‘Yes, 100% we will do it!’ It was awesome, man. Good crowd, you know, there was a lot of people there. Momma was great. They were awesome to hang out with.
Memorable shows
J: Any memorable shows stick out to you?
M: Right before Feeble Little Horse put out “Girl with Fish,” we played a basement show with them. It was just absolutely packed. We couldn’t move. And last summer we played with Guided by Voices in Dayton, which was just a dream. It was cool to be playing with them and hanging out with those guys, and having an unlimited supply of Miller Lite (laughs).
J: (Laughs) That’s a good combination.
M: Yeah, that was cool. This past March we actually did a run in California with Ex-Pilots. We kinda took advantage of the fact that we’re all on the same thing and just did a kind of double run.
J: How was it playing in California?
M: It was funny seeing so many people that we knew, like old friends in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles. So it’s kind of cool to do that, and California is gorgeous, you know, we took a day and a half to just drive up the coast, from Los Angeles to San Francisco. We did the Pacific Coast Highway and got our beach day in.
J: Do you have any favorite stops for food?
M: Driving on the road in between cities, we would stop at a gas station and there would just be some unnamed taco truck parked outside. It was so cheap and it was just unbelievably good!
Original songs
J: Your self-titled EP from 2018 features “Snowblower.” How did that song come about?
M: That was the peak of me really trying to get shoegazy with it. I bought a Vox AC 30. I would just stand in between the two amps and just kind of really lay on the whammy bar.
J: Do you guys play “Twenty-Two” live?
M: Yeah, that really caught on with a lot of the local radio stations. That was one that people could recognize a little easier. We always try to slip that one in just so it’s a song you know. If you do listen to the band, you’ll know that one.
J: “Somewhere Down Below” is a solid LP.
N: Thank you. That was a lot of fun. That was our first time actually going to a studio. We went to this place called “The Bunk.” Our buddy Matt, who’s in a band called Gladie, him and his wife have a studio in the Poconos. We stayed there for four days. We had half the album written. I was kind of panicking because it wasn’t ready. We just kind of sat down and hung out and it all came together. Everybody kind of contributed a lot to that.
J: I love the guitar lead in “Oh Wonder.”
M: Yeah, that’s a fun one. That’s one that we always try and play live because Andy really rips that lead.
New release
J: “Tour Tape” just came out. Sounds really good!
M: Thank you! A lot of the stuff was home recorded demos. Some of the demos meant to be on the next album and then I was like, ‘I don’t know if I necessarily want these on here.’ So we threw “Tour Tape” together. We’re all happy with it and looking back on it now, I’ll listen to both sides of it and I’ll be like, ‘Man, it was actually pretty solid.’ The next album I’m very excited about right now. I’ve been spending a lot of time taking it slowly, making sure everything’s right. Making sure that everybody else is happy with it. It’s been a bit of a long process, but it’s starting to really come together. I think we’re all pretty darn excited.
Cassettes
J: I saw that there were cassettes of “Tour Tape”!
M: Yeah, Ethan personally dubbed all those. We made a special tour shirt and tour tapes and those all sold out pretty quickly.
What’s next?
J: So what’s next for the band?
M: Our next show is gonna be August 21st at the Mattress Factory with our friends SAME, who have been a big Pittsburgh staple for me since I moved here.
J: I’m sure all of your Pittsburgh fans will be pumped.
M: We all adore Pittsburgh. We go to New York, Philly, DC. We do that run pretty often. It’s so fun to see different cities like that. But we’re all like, ‘All right, we’re ready to go back home to Pittsburgh.’ We all love it here—really good music scene and good people.
Check out Gaadge’s music on Bandcamp and streaming platforms. For the latest on the band, follow them on Instagram.
Check out last month’s artist of the month here!
This content was provided by a local, independent contributor to Made in PGH, a lifestyle blog.
