We got to have a chat with the band called Sprout, from Bonita, Florida. The first ever exclusive interview with the down to earth south Florida reggae rock band. And, just an FYI, their drummer is the founder of Sugarshack Sessions!
Yes — true story!
This band has contributed to their local music scene with their talent and love for music, featured on the Sugarshack Channel are their videos that show their fantastic rhythm and pure soul.
Sprout is: Eddie Kopp (drums/percussion), Daniel Spring (bass), Jacob Rubinton (lead guitar/vox) and Corey Neilsen (vox/guitar).
Hey Corey, thanks so much for sitting down with me today! Tell us about your experience with music.
- Corey: Oh man, I played in another band called CHaeFIN — you know, like the rash you get when you go surfing? We used to play shows with a surf movie behind us called Sprout by Thomas Campbell. So, when the band eventually died, I decided the next project was going to be called ‘Sprout’.
How long ago was that?
- This project has been pretty steady and started about eight years ago with a different lineup. Then, we started getting more in tune with it and writing more songs. This current lineup has been going strong for two to three years, I think?
Are you guys all from Bonita, Florida?
- We are a mix of Naples and Bonita… which is pretty close to each other. By the way, this is the first official interview for Sprout.
Heck yeah! Tell me about the Reggae Rise Up show. Your crowd was enamored!
- We were not invited originally, but when your drummer is an OG of Sugarshack, it is a little easier to get your foot in the door! Iration was scheduled to close out the Reggae Rise Up Sugarshack Popup spot! I was actually working at the Sugarshack booth all day and found out we were filling in for Iration. So, then we got onstage!
Oh my god, that is awesome! What a great set at Reggae Rise Up!
- Yeah, it was awesome!
That first song “Only One” on the Reggae Rise Up video… tell us about that.
- I am pretty much the slowest song writer on the planet. I will come up with an idea and work on it for a month at a time. There isn’t a lot of venue support for local original music over here. You have to play for three hours and do the whole sha-bang with some cover songs. We started playing that “Only One” riff and it just blossomed from there. More like a freestyle on the lyrics, that stuck with me! That song came from a writer’s block influence.
How has your year been with music?
- We are a very relaxed band when it comes to pushing our music. We have some fun locally. When the opportunity comes, we rise to it! We just played with KBong and Johnny Cosmic in Port Charlotte, Florida and [have] another fest coming up soon. We are just really focused on recording and putting it out there on all the music platforms; that has definitely slowed the process. Not a lot of people know about us yet.
I know you guys have careers on the side as do other artists. How do you juggle music and your careers?
- We pretty much show up to our local gigs… with no practice. Like, we literally play shows and that is our practice for the next gig.
I would love to have your band play on the east coast in Cocoa Beach, Florida at the Shack!
- I think that would be super cool! Maybe we could practice!
What was your favorite experience in the past year or so with music ?
- I would say my favorite was at Jannus Live in St. Pete, thanks to KBong! He invited us out to play that one.
I can see you are such a tight-knit group — a part of the Sugarshack family. I bet that is amazing!
- It’s jaw-dropping to see it from day one… to see where they have gone and see who they have helped along the way. They don’t push in one direction; it just happened naturally with the reggae genre. I have worked and helped out over there, and drank beers on that porch. It’s pretty amazing to see how it has grown. It’s humbling.
If there was a place in the world you could play, would anything come to mind?
- I would say my high school dream, which was to travel the globe with my guitar!
Anything is possible! If your band could tour, would you drop it all to go on the road indefinitely?
- Oh, hell yes, man!
Any words of inspiration?
- You gotta go head-first and just do it if you really want to make a career at [playing music]. I’m still waiting for that with us. But for right now, we are just enjoying doing music, hanging with the guys, drinking some beers, and just rocking it out man. At the end of the day, it is just about playing music.
Artist links: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Share this article
or
Get music updates in your inbox