It reads like a classic coming-of-age story about a couple of creative kids, connected and then tragically torn apart by the realities of life with military parents. Gunnar Magnus (vocals/guitar) and James King (bass) learned to play and write together in middle school, playing some of their earliest shows together to fellow military kids in the neighborhood. A mandatory move took Gunnar to North Carolina, but the dedicated duo remained stubbornly close; knowing they had something special to share with the world. Gunnar rejoined James in New Orleans in adulthood, and the two quickly got to work completing their lineup and cranking out songs for a band that would ultimately become Donate Your Friends. With a unique sound that blends classic midwest-emo vocals with instrumentals with a heavy punk-slant, Donate Your Friends delivers powerful tracks that will delight your ears and make you want to sing along right from the start. Their growing discography, including one EP, a full-length record, and a sprinkling of fantastic singles, addresses important topics with artful honesty and plenty of depth. With new music on the horizon, and an endless supply of passion and ambition, Donate Your Friends is ready to take over your playlists; mark my words.
Keep scrolling to check out my lightning round interview with Donate Your Friends. Be sure to follow along on socials (@donateyourfriends on Instagram and Tiktok) and tune in to Spotify and Apple Music. Don’t forget to save the Under Exposed playlist on Spotify to listen to my favorites from Donate Your Friends, and the rest of the Under Exposed lineup!
Interview
Cameron Conrad sits down with Blaise Davison, Gunnar Magnus, James King, Jimmy Cook, and Donate Your Friends
What’s your dream venue, the place that will feel like you’ve “made it” once you've played there?
Smoothie King Center
The Sphere
Madison Square Garden
Red Rocks Theatre
If you could pick any band or artist, past or present, to tour with, who would it be?
Pierce the Veil
DIIV
Pierce the Veil
Foo Fighters
If each of you was a Disney character, who would you be?
Dory from Finding Nemo
Genie from Aladdin
Jack Skellington
Crush the Turtle
What’s the craziest, cringiest thing you’ve done for the sake of your music?
It has to be the TikToks. Content is so hard to film sometimes lol
If we gave out high-school superlatives today, what would each of you win?
Most likely to fall off a cliff
Most likely to lose their hair due to hairspray exposure
Most likely to get away with murder
Class clown
Any new music or upcoming tours we should know about? Anything brewing behind the scenes you can give a hint about?
Yeah! We've got a new single in the works right now that we're aiming to release about a month from now (Writer's note, hear this single NOW on the Under Exposed playlist)! There's a LOT more in the vault though, and we've been cooking up a lot of big things so that's your hint!