Andrew Patrick of The Carolyn
The Carolyn is a pop-punk trio from Atlanta, Georgia playing Fest 20 in October. Andrew Patrick, the singer/guitarist, and I spun up a fast friendship completely by chance via Instagram Messenger in early 2022.
Their songs’ lyrics resonated with me, so I had a lot of questions about their music. Andrew struck me as a LOT of fun, so we sat down for a Zoom Q&A to talk about writing pop-punk in the end times, secrets behind his song titles, and “beekeeping” on tour.
Fest 20
If the Fest guide still had a bullet called “for fans of” to guide new folks to things they would like based on what they already listen to, which bands do you think would be a gateway drug to yours?
Sincere Engineer, The Lawrence Arms…
I am literally wearing their shirt right now.
They’re my favorite band. I referenced them a little too much during podcasts, but yeah, they’re probably the number one band. That album they put out in 2020, Skeleton Coast, was so appropriate and they didn’t even write it with the pandemic in mind.
Also, Gaslight Anthem and Rise Against. These might be pretty obvious answers, but The Menzingers and Alkaline Trio – we get comparisons to them often. I kinda would be a fool to leave them off the list.
If your set at Fest was an absolute dream come true, what would that look like?
Aside from not playing poorly? (laughs)
I feel like playing in Gainesville, the community is just a night and day difference [from Atlanta].
I know this is not an eloquent way of answering the question, but honestly, we have no expectations. If five people are in the audience and don’t hate our set, that’s the perfect set for me.
What are the top 5 bands you’re most excited to catch at Fest?
Bouncing Souls, Iron Chic, War on Women, The Menzingers, and Hot Water Music. This year, I’m really, really pleased with the lineup.
War on Women, I’ve never seen them live, but holy shit. The last record they put out is great.
Do you have a favorite part of Fest that someone else might think is quirky or unusual?
I’m about to out myself right now. To be fair, probably for the first 15 years of Fest, I’m not totally sure – I was too young to get in. When I really, really started to get into this specific niche part of punk, I was in school.
So this is a long-winded way of me saying this will be my first Fest.
That’s some boss shit to be like, “it’s my first Fest! My band is playing!” I’ve been going since 2009 and this is my first time doing anything actively contributing to it. I think I’m a lot older than you though.
Like another President or two, but not significantly. I forget my age.
Origin basics for new folks
What record or artists made you want to learn guitar and write your own songs?
Enema of the State, that was the “learn guitar” part, but in terms of songs, I’m sure there were many of those little lightbulb moments along the way. But the one thing I really remember is that “I can do this shit” feeling. I remember listening to Bloodied Up by Alkaline Trio.
I think it was on a compilation or something, but I was like, this is clearly the best music ever, and this is kind of easy. I think I can play this. So that was that. Ever since I got heavily into that band, I thought, I can play guitar and try to sing a little bit nice.
How did you meet each other?
I met Dave in middle school. We were in Guitar Club, which was really just like 20 kids getting together in the auditorium and making a bunch of bad noise.
I met Oli through mutual friends. He was in the punk scene in Atlanta, I’d see him at shows and stuff. And when I was looking for an official lineup for this band, he was one of the first people I called.
I have a personal stake in this question because my sleep hygiene is horrible. Your Instagram bio says “The Carolyn is a sleep deprived punk trio from Atlanta, Georgia”. There’s an entire song on (2019’s) This Will Begin to Make Things Right called Every Move where sleeplessness is the main theme.
Why is your sleep schedule so messed up? Were you always like that?
When all we would write stuff, addressing this particular theme, Oli was bartending as his main gig. And he obviously was up till four in the morning and he was, you know, living a non-conventional life.
I really started writing songs about sleep deprivation when I was in grad school. That’s when it really, really started to hit me. But in regards to nursing school, all of the students that just got accepted at my school got an email stating that my institution does not have the staff to have a cohort this fall.
So we’ll have a nice long break; we’ll see what happens in 2023, but I have no plans currently. They said “we don’t have the staff to support the right guys doing like on the ground training, so you’d have to wait”, essentially. So they put you through like a prerequisite program.
You got to take your anatomies, bio, etc. So I did that for the last year and did really well. And, yeah, they kind of just gave us the middle finger, in a sense. I don’t know if it’s totally their fault. So that was my major schedule development.
But over the past year I’ve been really dedicated to learning science. I’ve never studied science in my life and I sleep a lot. I took a lot of Adderall, drank a lot of coffee at four in the morning trying to prep.
So yeah, that somehow made him a way into our music. We’re always not sleeping.
I do stand up, but, and I like being on stage, but my actual favorite part is just writing the jokes. I could write jokes forever and if I never went on stage again, I kind of wouldn’t care.
Do you think the best component or main appeal of being in this band is writing new songs or playing in front of people?
The former for sure. I’m very much in the same boat as you. I think it kind of drives everyone involved in this band kind of crazy. Dave loves playing shows, which I understand. But writing is like the “spiritual” component for me. That’s the reward.
That’s the salary. Right? 1000%, the whole reason I’m even in a band. It’s not that I don’t dig playing shows and seeing new places, but writing is kind of the main thing. Almost to a fault, almost to the point that I wouldn’t give a shit if anyone heard it – I can just put [the song] on my phone and have it for me.