Who is in the band?
The band has five members. Cobey Brown, singer and guitar. Derek Johnson, guitar and keys. Quinton Hoagland, bass. Kyle Devers, keys and saxophone. Aidan McCormick, drums.
How did you guys meet?
Cobey and Derek started the band in high school playing small coffee shop acoustic gigs. They have been friends since middle school. The story of how they became friends is amusing, but for another time. As the band progressed, they started reaching out to other musicians to create a full band. For a long time, however, additional pieces to their band would only jump in part time for shows. Now that Quinton, Kyle, and Aidan are in The Odyssey, they have been able to work and feel like a band they’d always wanted to be. Quinton has been part of the Tulsa music scene for several years now, and this is how he came into contact with Cobey. However, on the day Cobey asked Quinton to join The Odyssey, they ran into each other in the TCC parking lot and it was brought up. Kyle was a music major at TCC when The Odyssey had an acoustic show coming up. Cobey asked him to join them for the show, and it went so well that Kyle stuck with us and has brought new dimensions to our songwriting and shows. Aidan graduated at Owasso high school with Derek and Cobey. They had played together in a youth church band when they were in high school, and Aidan had actually played in The Odyssey for several shows previously as a fill-in. Once Aidan became available to be the official drummer for the band, the group as it finally stands came together!
Artist Spotlight: The Odyssey
Tell us a little bit about your history.
The Odyssey started in Tulsa, OK in 2017. The coffee shops that we began playing in as we started up were good experiences to build on, but we were limited to playing a more laid back acoustic style. What we really wanted was to crank the amps and play some rock music, and we finally got that chance for the first time on June 12, 2018. We played a show at the late Spinster Records (RIP) in Tulsa, and we played some rock and roll. The crowd was standing right in our face since the stage was so small, and their energy was amazing. For the first time, we felt what it was like to play however we wanted to. From there, more opportunities came our way as people in downtown Tulsa heard us for the first time. It was very exciting to be playing in places in which we could be ourselves. Live performance is the heart of The Odyssey, and it’s what gave us confidence to start taking music seriously. We began recording and releasing music. Our families and friends have always supported us, but to find out that people we didn’t know were starting to enjoy our music too was very exciting. We are very thankful that new opportunities continue to come our way, and we’re thankful to be recording and releasing new music right now!
How would you describe your sound?
We sound like five guys being dudes. Okay, dumb joke out of the way, we’ve got a very alternative rock vibe! We have rock and roll guitar riffs and solos, but the songwriting is more structured so that the songs don’t ramble on. Our music is energetic and fun. We make a lot of songs that are sort of anthem songs, the kind that you play in a car super loud with the windows down. A lot of heart goes into these songs though. They are all meant to be very emotional and uplifting, even if it is a sad song.
Who are some of your influences?
Our biggest influences are definitely Kaleo, Young the Giant, The Black Keys, Jimi Hendrix, Hippocampus… this is always such a hard question, because I’ve never felt like we try to emulate the sound of many other bands, but there are so many interesting things to take from other bands. For example, Young the Giant has such interesting songwriting that inspires us. Kaleo has an amazing energy that is very on the nose. There’s something specific that we take from a lot of acts! But I think our sound closely resembles Kaleo and The Black Keys.
Do you have any favorite/memorable road moments?
My (Cobey) current favorite road moment was when we very recently got to take a trip out to the salt flats in Oklahoma to record a section of our new music video for our song “Breakout.” It was so much fun setting up our gear and just playing along to our song out in the middle of the salt flats. We were kind of worried someone was going to come kick us out the whole time, but the stars aligned.
What do you like about playing house concerts?
Some of our favorite shows ever have been house concerts. It seems that the people who come to house shows are truly invested in the music. Sometimes people show up to venues just to be social, which is totally fine, but a house show is more intimate and personal between the artists and crowd.
Why should people come to your house show at Phil’s House?
Because our new set claps, and we are playing with Fox Royale. That’s just it.
Visit The Odyssey at their Facebook Page