“Always changing, never the same.” Listen to the music journey of Much 2 Much, an indie-folk collaboration between Erin Thelen and Angie Holliday, longtime friends from Austin, Texas. Their songwriting, vocal harmony, and smooth sounds transform poetry into enchanting songs. In this episode, they talk about travel, gigs, business, sisterhood and so much more. Get ready for a high-energy, soulful conversation as you listen to the music and journey of Much 2 Much from a duo to a four-piece band.
“Always changing, never the same.” Listen to the music journey of Much 2 Much, an indie-folk collaboration between Erin Thelen and Angie Holliday, longtime friends from Austin, Texas. Their songwriting, vocal harmony, and smooth sounds transform poetry into enchanting songs. In this episode, they talk about travel, gigs, business, sisterhood and so much more. Get ready for a high-energy, soulful conversation as you listen to the music and journey of Much 2 Much from a duo to a four-piece band:
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Much 2 Much Album ROOTS: https://much2much.bandcamp.com/album/roots
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Visit Much 2 Much:
Website: http://much2muchmusic.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/much_2_much_band
Email: much2muchband@gmail.com
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Rosie:
Welcome back to Life 100 Podcast. This is Rosie, and you are listening to the music of Much 2 Much, a collaboration of longtime friends right here in Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World. So let's get to know more about Erin and Angie and how their life journey has inspired their music. So here they are. Welcome to the show.
Much 2 Much:
Hi Rosie. Thank you for having us. Happy to be here.
Rosie:
I have been here in Austin about 10 years now, but you are Texas natives, correct?
Much 2 Much:
I was born and raised in Austin. I was born in Houston and made my way through Texas to Austin, which is where Erin and I met.
Rosie:
I first heard you back in 2018. I went to this park, Mueller Park and there you were. And your music, your harmony and the lyrics, the soul and everything all together. It was just art. I remember I had to sit down just to listen because I haven't heard that fusion in a very long time. So tell me how you met?
Much 2 Much:
I moved here to Austin in high school, and I was lucky enough to be able to go to Austin's Performing Arts High School because I was a musician and I was also into theater. And that is where I met Erin. We were in high school choir together. So we started off singing together and has really just evolved from there.
Rosie:
And that friendship, how from performing arts, where there's so much talent, what was about each other that you know it was the perfect harmony?
Much 2 Much:
Well, I think in high school we were both in choir, but we also were really busy and other extracurriculars. Angie was really active in the theater community at our high school McCallum Fine Arts Academy here in Austin, and I was more involved in sports. So the friendship didn't really blossom until actually college. We both ended up going to the same university in Denton, Texas UNT, (Rosie "prime for arts"), is definitely a top music school, and what I wanted to study was music education, and that's what I got my degree. And we actually even, there was a semester or a year where we sang in choir together at UNT as well. Really freshman year, we kind of encountered bumped into each other and we're like, "Oh, wait, you go here. Oh my gosh, I know you." And then we just started hanging out and came buddies and then realized we have voices that blend very well together. And throughout college is when we started to kind of explore those collaborations a little bit more. We even were roommates together for three years in college, both in the dorms and off campus. And we really just got to know each other on a deep level and became sisters, which really opened, only deepened our musical collaboration and our musical journey together.
Rosie:
Did you start writing your music together in college or it was just after graduation.
Much 2 Much:
I personally started writing music around freshman year of college, just kind of independently. I was processing some heartbreak with the first love. That heartbreak kind of when I just started putting the pencil to the paper and writing with the song writing idea. And so it can be both just kind of individually we're writing and writing songs. We didn't really start collaborating as far as writing music together until towards the end of college. And then especially after we graduated. So after we graduated college, we split ways for a little bit. I went and traveled abroad and then Erin met me in Southeast Asia, which is really where we had, a deepening of sisterhood and more shared experiences that really inspired us to write together to collaborate. We also found music as a method of connecting with people as we were traveling. And we became known in one really lovely place as Ob-La-Di and Ob-La-Da. We sing that Beatles tune and people kind of latched onto the sisterhood in harmony that we brought to it. So that was really where we started writing together.
Rosie:
Yes. And the beauty about it is that when you were in a different environment like that unifies people that have similar interests and the music is universal, they might not understand the lyrics, but the harmony and the melody is universal. It's just touches the soul in the same way. And one thing that I like is what you said about "Always changing, never the same", that touched my heart because I love to know about different cultures to travel different countries. Where have you travel and what music was inspired by it?
Much 2 Much:
I traveled, I backpacked solo in Western Europe. I started off my travels, really having never traveled alone. I started in Spain, walking the Camino de Santiago trail and spent a month alone, surrounded by lovely people, but alone in my journey, walking across Spain, which was really just baptism by fire as far as being independent, being in a new country and learning to really be grateful for the connection to other people, because I had a lot of alone time and, and feeling alone and isolated and really grateful for those connections. So I traveled in Spain, France, Switzerland, Croatia, and the UK. And then I flew to Thailand, which is our Erin met me and Erin, where did we travel? So we started out in the busy, buzzing city of Bangkok, Thailand, and then we traveled through Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. That journey was really amazing. We encountered so many different languages and navigating bartering with different currencies based on where we were and meeting locals and connecting to locals who we couldn't communicate in their language. We did try. You can tell they appreciate the effort, but kind of laugh at us.
Rosie:
They laugh with you.
Much 2 Much:
Yes. We had so many moments where we were just moved to tears. I'm almost speechless just by the connections we made with other travelers, but I always have these memories in my mind, in Cambodia when we just encountered the local there, their kindness, and just willingness to sit there and learn about the ukulele because Angie brought her travel size ukulele with her. We just met some really beautiful people and made lifelong connections with people. And I felt like in those times where we were traveling together, I just looking back on it now, I just feel like I was, eyes were wide open. My heart was expanding. It was just so beautiful to experience different culture and see just life in a very different way and know that man, there's so much love here. There's so much peace and happiness in countries, such as Cambodia. There are small towns that only have dirt roads that we traveled through, and there's so much love and peace and beauty and happiness.
Rosie:
I can't imagine how that influenced your music. Did you write music there when you were in those countries?
Much 2 Much:
We actually wrote the first song that we ever co-wrote is kind of a parody song called Backpackers Lament, and more or less, it's just kind of about, you know, we would every now and then as we were traveling, we would check our Facebook and see that someone, our age from high school or college was getting married and having kids. And meanwhile, we were backpacking. Our first co-write was this little satirical number, just talking about how our parents were pressuring us to get a job and have babies.
Rosie:
Backpacking that's one song, and any other song was given birth during those times?
Much 2 Much:
We mostly collaborated on covers. And we love to make what we call mashup, cover songs that will arrange together into one song, because covers were really great way to connect with people who recognize that music and could sing along. And that was a really great way to kind of connect as we traveled. But we did, I know personally I wrote a lot of poetry and we both wrote in our journals as we were traveling. And I later was able to turn that poetry into songs based off of those shared experiences that kind of from my own writings and musings and observations while we were traveling.
Rosie:
And who knows maybe from remembering all those days now, maybe a new song will come up because sometimes, maybe revisiting that years later, what year was this that you were in Cambodia and these places (Much 2 Much "2015"), so it's been long enough to see quite a few changes in America and worldwide. Who knows, maybe on your son will come out of this. And if it does just let me know, because I love to hear it.
Much 2 Much:
Of course.
Rosie:
How long did you stay traveling like that?
Much 2 Much:
We traveled together for three months.
Rosie:
And then you made it back to Austin?
Much 2 Much:
We came back home to Austin and after those experiences where we had our first time so right, and then how we continue to navigate how we vocally harmonized together. I feel like in Southeast Asia, we were both writing and exploring individually and collaborating with our writing that we were just honing in on the fact that our voices harmonized really well together. And even on the covers, as Angie mentioned, we just love harmonies. And that, that was our focus while traveling as far as our music collaborating goes. But when we got back home to Austin, we kind of were like, you know, why don't we just do what we were doing in Asia but do it here at home. Why don't we just become a band? We were so moved, honestly, by just seeing how people reacted to our musicality as we were traveling.
Much 2 Much:
And like Erin said, the harmonies were the way that we collaborated together and seeing how people reacted to that to this day, is the most moving and affirming thing. Just that really speaks volumes to the gifts of music that we have individually and together. I've never met another person or another voice adds so much to mine and really amplifies it.
Rosie:
And it just makes beautiful harmony. Because even when I first met you, I remember that I was sitting down just grasping everything. And I saw people walking by and stopping, and looking back, and going back to where you were singing, and it's just move them. And next thing you know, we all were dancing and having a great time. And that's what music does. It's like a soulful experience that takes you to another place or make you enjoy even more where you are. So the band was formed, and then what happened from that time to now, with your music?
Much 2 Much:
So we came back home and kind of just got resettled after graduating and traveling. Angie was gone for a year, and we just kind of resettled and met up as much as we could and started kind of writing together and sing together songs that were written in the past that we then collaborated more on. I was starting my career as a music educator, and so I ended up getting a job in Cedar park, which is North of Austin. So while I was kind of, full-time doing my first teaching job, which any teachers out there listening, bless you, especially right now in the pandemic. You know, that's what I got my degree. And I knew when I was about 13 years old that I wanted to be a teacher and that I wanted to teach music and then it boiled down to choir.
Much 2 Much:
So I got to experience that for two years. And, but while that was happening, Angie and I, we were making this band, we started out accepting really kind of any gig that was aligned. So a lot of farmer's market house shows, private house party, things like that. We just took whatever gifts we could and kind of just climbed that mountain as far as gig work in Austin for musicians and taught ourselves the business of music. We were coming from really nothing, no experience as far as managing yourself as an artist, and so we really had to just learn that through living it and trial and error. And I'm so proud of what we've accomplished over these years, (Rosie "It is because it was just the two of you then") definitely started out just a duo. And that is the heart of lunch too much is the duo and the harmonies.
Much 2 Much:
Like Erin said, we started out mostly at farmer's markets and acoustic house shows and we've really worked to develop our sound, develop our music. As we wrote more and more songs and got comfortable within those settings, those like smaller caustic settings, it was just a natural evolution to kind of want to bring a bigger sound, both to allow us to clear different venues, more venues, and your writing style changes over the years. And so we just found ourselves wanting a bigger and more fuller sound. We held auditions and just found the most perfect fit in a drummer. And then we added a bassist eventually when the time was right.
Rosie:
The name Much 2 Much. How did that happen?
Much 2 Much:
Take it away Erin. When we got home to Austin is when we formed a band, decided we're going to make this happen. But actually when we were still in Southeast Asia, we were kind of bouncing around the idea, just kind of like, you know, when you just dream about something and you talk to good friends, we both have this dream. And like, what would it look like? And we were in Cambodia and we were riding on a tuk-tuk, and we were having a day where we were just bouncing ideas of band names back and forth. And one of the many names that popped up and kind of obviously stuck was (Much too Much) because as we were navigating and traveling through Southeast Asia, you have to barter for anything that you purchase. So that became kind of like a saying when someone would overprice it, we would say, "Oh no, no, no, no, that's much too much" and we'd walk away. So we kind of liked that one. And then we were like, well, what if we change the two to a number "2", because we're duo just kind of stuck and I'll be it. We were kind of open to other names as the years went on, nothing better really came up. We've come to love the symmetry and kind of the, maybe lack of seriousness about it because we do like to stay lighthearted in everything that we do. And the name just kind of has our energy about it
Rosie:
Much 2 Much. I personally love the name, the name of the band. It brings meaning for me, as far as the passion towards doing things that you love. What type of venues did you play when they were just the two of you before the other two members?
Much 2 Much:
Well, as just the two of us, it was a lot of farmer's market, kind of pop up boutique market kind of things.
Rosie:
What instruments did you bring when they were just the two of you?
Much 2 Much:
At first Angie traveled with her ukulele and kind of started out with her, a lot of phones having ukulele. And then we both know piano and guitar. So some songs Angie's playing the uke and I'm playing guitar, some songs Angie's playing guitar, I'm playing keys. So it helps that we both have experience with other instruments along with our voice, because I was just given more texture to our music as a duo.
Rosie:
Absolutely. And not only that, but your educational background also adds to it because you know the theory of music, you know how everything works in a different point of view, so there is also that level of appreciation to the sound. When you travel different States, what were you doing, promoting your music or was just for leisure that you were traveling?
Much 2 Much:
We actually did just an independent U.S. tour, just the two of us. We did that the summer before Erin started full-time teaching in Cedar Park. It was after we had started, we had formed the band. We had started writing together and getting serious about the business side of it. Well, we both have the travel bug. So honestly we wanted to travel more, see more things, meet new people and see how our music was received. At that point, we had collaborated on a number of songs and so we just packed up Erin's tiny little Honda Civic, it carried us through to the end. So we traveled for car for three months and went up through the Central U.S., and then down the West coast made our way home. The way we both travel, especially together, it's extremely fluid in that the first day we traveled in Thailand, we had all these ideas to go here and see this and do that. And then day one, everything changed because people suggested something else. So we knew at this time when we traveled in the U.S, we knew that we really couldn't make super strict agenda or itinerary. We just were fluid. And I think honestly, that's inspired a lot of music. And I know a lot of songs that we wrote on that trip, we wrote many songs. Like you mentioned lyrics from Desert Song where we say "Always changing, never the same."
Much 2 Much:
That was one of our first songs. We actually started --- that as we were in the car, driving to our first stop, which was in New Mexico, in Santa Fe, where Angie has family there that we stayed with. And we actually got the form there, but it was, everything was very spontaneous, as far as the venues and our performances, we did a lot of busking, so we would set up in Colorado and play for just the shoppers passing by. And that's really how he met so many interesting, unique people.
Rosie:
And this is so inspiring because right now there are listeners who want to do what you're doing, but they don't even know where to start. And sometimes people tend to think that they're very traditional way. You have to have everything, figure it out.
Rosie:
And sometimes, the best things happen at the moment, right? The best thing happens when we are experiencing something and we have to adjust and overcome and be inspired for what's happening and just make the best out of it. And sometimes that's the masterpieces, because that song, Desert Song, "Always changing, never the same", isn't that what life is like? And now that you are known as Much 2 Much, the Band, and you go to these great venues, what is it like when people are just looking forward to listen to you? That you say we are going to be in this venue and you have people all over, "Yes, yes. I'm going, I'm going to enjoy their music." What is it like for you?
Much 2 Much:
There's certainly a bit of bittersweet sentiment talking about this because the last year has really changed so many things for the face of the music industry, right? We haven't been able to perform in that way in quite a while, but it's really encouraging that people still support us. They still want to see what we do here, they'll be there when we are able to go back to venues and perform live again.
Rosie:
Yes, also in your Instagram, I know that you post things when you are singing in harmony, and people just love it. This year has been difficult for things like this, but you have maintain that relationship with the people who enjoy your music. And I thank you for that because you inspire me all the time. Every time you post on Instagram, your music, that's exactly what I needed today. Thank you for taking the time.
Much 2 Much:
Oh, thank you, Rosie. It really does mean so much to us when we would play a gig and someone would come up to us and say, gosh, your harmonies, your lyrics. But then even just you reaching out to us a few years later and knowing that our music and our connection and our lyrics can touch the heart of other individuals. That is what has kept our band moving forward. Even through this pandemic, like we have other dreams and aspirations as individuals, and there is so much uncertainty, but we both have so much heart and soul into this project. We put so much of ourselves as individuals and as teammates we've done so much. We put so much energy into this project because we've seen the outcome and just seeing how it impacts other people. And to me, that's like the fuel that keeps me going in a dark time like this COVID pandemic. Just something that I know Angie and I together or separately we'll always have in our life in some capacity, this element of performance, because just even as kids, it was a part of our lives. It's a passion of ours. And then just seeing how it can make a positive impact on someone's life, or they can feel connected as human beings to us just through the lyrics. I mean, that's what it's all about. For me at least.
Rosie:
That's what It's all about. And for every person who reach out and let you know, there are dozens who don't because not everybody expresses what they're feeling at the time or are not able, or they just don't feel comfortable doing it, but it's still being done. So for every person that said, I love what you do. There are dozens that quietly enjoy your music. You're are changing so many lives. That's what music does. And that's what your lyric does. So, and the covers also, because sometimes when we hear a cover, we just go back to that time and place that we were the first time we heard that and, it can be a wonderful experience.
Much 2 Much:
Something we really love to see is when we're performing and someone just kind of closes their eyes and maybe sways back and forth, and really just feels the music. And, and like you're saying, even if they don't come up and speak to us after the show, it was a really touching, affirming thing. Something that I know we both kind of struggle with within the music industry, especially the business side of it is the self-promotion and the ego that often accompanies artists navigating this line of being in the spotlight, playing the role of performer, but really what grounds us and I always come back to, is that connection and the heart like Erin was saying, the heart and soul that we put into it, that we can see reflected back at us through the faces of others. And that is truly why we do this.
Rosie:
It is making an impact. And I will encourage people to reach out and let you know, by email or by a post or anything, because it just changes people's lives.
Much 2 Much:
I think that's the beauty of creativity, just in general music, art, podcasts, literature, poetry, like whatever it is when people have that courage to just share it with the world. It really does bridge that gap of we're nervous to communicate, which a lot of us are, or we feel more introverted, which is fine. Everyone's so beautiful the way they are, but creativity, bridges that gap. And it's this unspoken realization that we are connected. And I can go up to that artist, thank them for their gift or, or whatever it is to me. Like we've written a lot about human connection or just connection with the physical world and beautiful nature. And it's really helped me because sometimes I don't know what to say or what to do, but if it's someone who has shared their creative gift, then we have stuff to talk about. I think everybody has that. And some way we all are creative beings. And so that's always the topic. That's always a conversation.
Rosie:
Absolutely. And we'll learn and we evolve, but that creativity that's what set us apart. And when other people enjoy it and they are inspired to be creative in their own way, it just makes the world much a better place we need to connect. And in that connection, I wanted to ask you, what is next for you? What is in the near future for you?
Much 2 Much:
Great question, Rosie. You know, it goes back to the acceptance and the patients because we're not really sure. We're not really sure where the music industry will be at the end of the year, you know, two years from now. And we're not really sure, personally, where we'll be, we certainly want to continue making music together. And we have another album that we're ready to record when the time is right. But you know, it's about moving forward with patients and with grace and acceptance. And I think we're both doing a lot of individual writing right now. It's been difficult to collaborate though. There are a lot of wonderful tools. We've come to know Zoom and tools for collaboration, but it has been challenging to not be able to get together and feel safe, just creating and jamming. And that's been challenging.
Rosie:
From my point of view, I understand what you're saying. And the only thing I humbly request is to please keep showing up, any way that you can keep showing up because you'll give us life. You'll give us inspiration. And when we see you even in a Zoon call or different things, you're there. And when all this is over, we are just going to get together and we're going to celebrate. And we are going to have an awesome time. For our listeners right now, if they are thinking, this is something that I want to do, what two tips you can give them, turning their idea into a reality, either creativity or music related?
Much 2 Much:
The power of collaborating. And even if it's your own solo project or your own solo idea, the ability we had to share our ideas with another, that we trust and not know us and can hear us and just bouncing around ideas and collaborating, asking questions and trying out new things and to make something really come to life. A creative project, at least for Much 2 Much, we had to collaborate. This band would not be the way it is now. We wouldn't have as many gigs as we had prior to COVID. We wouldn't have all that we have now. And that we're so grateful if we didn't collaborate. So I encourage people out there to reach out to your close people and tell them what brilliant idea you have and see what they have to say and absorb that, and then keep processing if you're collaborating with others. And to add to that, as you collaborate and flesh out your idea, really what we have to say from the bottom of our hearts is trust yourself and trust your voice because you have something to give to the world, whether that's a product, a song and idea, and you're worthy of being heard and just trust yourself and allow yourself to be heard.
Rosie:
Beautiful. I am inspired by your creativity, by your music, by your experiences. And I hope if you give me the opportunity, come back to the show in a few months and tell us everything that
Rosie:
You have done and the things that have changed because of this moment that you have gifted to us, a lot more people are going to enjoy the beauty of your music. And I just can't wait for us to meet in person again.
Much 2 Much:
Thank you, Rosie. Thank you. We feel the same. We can't wait to see you in person and get to share music and smiles and hugs.
Speaker 3:
That's right. And in the meantime, let's keep in touch. Tell us about your socials and how people can enjoy your music and how they can get in touch with you.
Much 2 Much:
Well, you can always check out our website, Much2MuchMusic.com, and it is a number 2, instead of too, we also on Instagram, much_2_much_band, with underscores between each word and number. You can find our music, our first album, we released in 2019 and we're really proud of it, it was a labor of love. We're excited for more albums, but for now you can find that one on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, wherever you've listened to your music. And that album is called ROOTS. If listeners are able to contribute financially to artists, please check out Bandcamp.com, our album is also there. And first Friday of every month, Bandcamp as a company gives a hundred percent of the proceeds to the artists. And there really aren't businesses who really do that on --- online platform. So if you really want to help an artist like Much 2 Much or any other artists, please wait until that first Friday of the month and purchase our album on Bandcamp.com, that would be huge for us. You could also purchase our t-shirts and physical albums on Bandcamp.com. So you can choose the digital album download or we'll ship you a CD.
Speaker 3:
Thank you so much for being here with us. And I just can't wait until I'll see you again on your socials, you creating and making music, talking to each other. I just want to know that you're there and that brings us happiness. Thank you so much, and we'll see you next time. What a wonderful time we spent together. So like, comment, subscribe, follow us on our socials and share their music. Let's go ahead, let's make the world a better place. So here they are, one more time, Much 2 Much. Enjoy it (play music...)Â
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Visit Much 2 Much:
Website: http://much2muchmusic.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/much_2_much_band
Email: much2muchband@gmail.com