The young men of Slam Donahue recorded a series of pop songs on a boom box at home and now are playing SXSW in March, and have an album in the works. LINE catches up with Thomas Somerville of the band on where they have been, and where they are headed.

LINE: How did the members of Slam Donahue meet?

Thomas Somerville: To introduce ourselves my name is Thomas, I write and play bass in Slam Donahue. Dave writes and is the lead singer and clearly the most good looking, and Keenan plays drums and adds a je ne sais quoi, our color commentator.

In high school, I was traumatized by my parents and moved to a small town and away from all my friends. Gravitated to the four kids who played music; Dave was among them. We became fast friends. Mutual respect and encouraged each other to write better. We ended up touring the country in our first flailing attempt at a band. We’ve known each other for ten/eleven years. Keenan was introduced to us later when we moved to Brooklyn from Connecticut. I think he didn’t like us at first (still?), but his second show with us was at SXSW. A thirty-six hour drive pretty much cemented our relationship.

LINE: Where did the name Slam Donahue come from?

TS: We kept it in the break up of a short-lived, previous band. It does kind of feel like a dog you end up with in a divorce. You love it but look at it from time to time and just sigh.